Using Dan Harmon’s Story Structure for Feeling Nothing | Listener Fav #451
Scooter bakes a Story Mud Pie as Mr. Harmon helps us discover the secrets of structure, musical theatre, and nothing itself.
Heads up, this is an older episode from the archives. The language is a little looser (somewhere between PG and PG-13) and the last 20 minutes or so feature a lot of talk about visiting the Big Farm. Feel free to check out another episode if that’s not your cup of tea.
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Using Dan Harmon's Story Structure for Feeling Nothing | Listener Fav #451
[START OF RECORDING]
SCOOTER: Friends beyond the binary, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it’s time for the podcaster who’s running in circles or ovals or…I don't…again, I think I talked about…I think I used this already as…ellipses or elliptical…? The elliptical podcaster…I don't podcast on an elliptical. The naut…they say, oh boy, that nautilus shape is good for working out. I remember I heard that once, but it’s also…it may be good for pod…I mean, it may be good for a sleep podcast. Not positive about that, either. This episode happens to be a journey into one song from a musical and Dan Harmon’s Story Circle. I didn’t realize this episode was from the 400s.
So, it’s really a deep dive, and there is, later in the episode, some content about post-Earthly existence, 'cause it just is the words from the song, and some…so, it’s…this is like a PG…I don't even know if it’s a PG-13 episode, but you could…there’s always…that’s why we have so many episodes and so many styles of episodes coming out. So, yeah, I hope you enjoy this episode. But yeah, if you listen, keep in mind, it is a older episode of Sleep With Me, so there’s a little bit looser language, but nothing too intense. It’s a very sleepy journey into a song about nothing, oddly enough. Yeah, so, I’m glad you're here, and we…particularly this year, hopefully when you're hearing this, we’ve really geared things up to make the podcast that puts you to sleep, but that’s something we do together.
All the people that are regular listeners, we…us doing it together, it doesn't just benefit you; your actions benefit other people. So, those…if you're one of those people that supports the show directly or supports the sponsors or spreads the word about the show, that goes out and helps so many other people. I cannot do it without you. We're gearing up in 2025 'cause this show is meant to put you to sleep, to keep you company, and really, to ease those hard feelings in the deep, dark night. So, I hope I can do that for you this year, and thanks for doing it, and here’s a couple of the ways that we are able to do it, is the people that listen to this part and say, hey, let me think about that. Thanks.
INTRO: [INTRO MUSIC] Alright, hey, are you up all night tossing, turning, mind racing? Trouble getting to sleep? Trouble staying asleep? Well, welcome. This is Sleep With Me, the podcast that’s here to put you to sleep. We do it with a bedtime story. Alls you need to do is get in bed, turn out the lights, and press Play. I’m gonna do the rest. What I’m gonna do is create a safe place where you can set aside whatever’s keeping you up at night, whether it’s thinking, feelings, sensing, physical sensations, emotional feelings, stuff that happened yesterday, stuff that happened a few years ago or stuff you're thinking about that’s coming up, or if it’s changes in routine or it’s something that…it could be something I don't even know about, but maybe I I can relate to it 'cause I’ve had trouble sleeping. But here’s what I’m gonna do.
Here’s the safe place. It’s a place where I’m gonna try to distract you from that. What I’m gonna do is send my voice across the deep, dark night. I’m gonna use creaky…these creaky, dulcet tones, I have a pair of wings of pointlessness, also overuse of alliteration. I’ll be…there was this song, Pour Some Sugar on Me…I would say Pour Some Alliteration on Me. If I ever do a modelling shoot, they’d say…you know, they’d say, well, jeez, what kind…how do you want to theme your photoshoot? I guess it’s a photoshoot. Excuse my presumption. I’d say, well, I’d like to do it with ‘pour some alliteration on me’. They’d say, I’m sorry, excuse me? I’d say, well, first of all, how come you're taking my photos without a beret on? They say, pour some alliteration on me; what does that mean?
I say, well, I don't know exactly, but I’d like to…I say, are there gonna be fans at my photoshoot? They say, fans like listeners? No, no, no, fans, like blowing fans. They say, well, you don’t have hair. You have fur, so you don’t really need fans to blow your hair. I say, okay, you're right about that. Have you looked into that…pouring alliteration on me? They say, that’s a turning…isn't that a…isn't that something that’s used in the written and spoken languages and not…? It doesn't…it’s heard and it can be seen on paper. Maybe we could do some signs, some alliterative signs? How’s that? No, no, no, how…you can't pour a sign on me, can you? ‘Cause that doesn't sound like a safe idea, but pouring…I didn’t say, pour some signs on me.
I said, I want you to pour some alliteration…oh, excuse me, photographer, I’m in the middle of a podcast. I’ll be right back…a podcast intro. Sorry, everybody. I got distracted once again. If you're new here, this happens pretty often. So, I’ll just set up…so, I’m gonna do a intro here. It’s gonna…if you…it could feel like it’s dragging on, but that’s intentional. It’s also…it’s intentional and organic, just like…I guess it’s like four…I guess I’m more of a forager. Say, describe your podcast method to us. Well, it’s a bit like foraging for…I’m a story forager, and I don't say that in jest. I guess that’s actually what I do, especially Tuesdays, tonight. What I’ll do is I’ll drag out this intro, I’m gonna be foraging for metaphors here, I might get back to that photography shoot. Not sure if I can dig for any truffles or whatever.
‘Cause I think they say, well, geez, foraging was so three years ago. What are you…? I say, yeah, I missed the foraging boom. I’m sorry that I missed the foraging boom. I miss every boom by about three years. I’m not…I’m post-hip. What can I say? They say, post-hip? That is so cool. I say, that’s right. I say, what about…? ‘Cause…you know why I am? ‘Cause I’m a story forager. You forge stories? No, no, no, not a story forger. I’m a story forager. They say, okay. But I say, that’s pretty good, foraging…I’m a forage forager. I said, that’s some alliteration. Did you know I was in the middle of an alliteration photoshoot? They say, you're kidding me. You were shooting alliteration with…you were taking photos of alliteration? That is post-hip.
I’d say, no, I was…I said, actually, I forage for…actually, I’m in the middle of…you're distracting me from a distraction from a podcast intro. Excuse me, whoever criticized my missing foraging boom. But anyway, if you're new here, I’ll be foraging for stories and metaphors. So, we’ll do a little story part, or…this episode’s a little bit more about structure, story structure and songs, or one song in particular. But let’s see, where was I? So, if you're new here, it’s a podcast meant to take your mind off of stuff. I’m not…clearly there’s…if you were expecting something iridite or intelligent or medatative…I got creaky, dulcet tones. What can I…? I can't do much about that. I’m pretty sure I have some mushrooms growing within my brain.
So, you say…I mean, so that’s why I have to forage for stories as opposed to…why don’t you just tell stories? Well, brain mushrooms. That’s where my stories come from, though, so that’s…they say, yeah, I bet you…I can only imagine what kind of mushrooms are growing in your brain. But so, that’s it. I’m trying to get back to this photoshoot thing 'cause it’s…but so, that’s what I’m gonna do, is I’m gonna talk here, but you just make yourself comfortable. You don’t have to listen to me, but you're under no pressure to listen or fall asleep. You just kick back, and it’ll just be like I’m just sitting within the vicinity of your room, chatting you up. You say, well, this is my one friend that I’d be comfortable calling a buffoon. I say, well, let’s use the…bassoon. Why don’t you just call me a bassoon?
‘Cause we're…since we're on the alliteration tip…I’m doing alt-alliteration now. You say, well, what’s that? I say, well, ever since I became post-hip, I’m also into the alt scene. I’m using alt-alliteration. Well, what’s alt-alliteration? Well, you’ll say one word and then I’ll offer an alliterative word that doesn't mean the same thing, but we're gonna…buffoon…we're gonna say ‘bassoon’ from now on. I can hear part of you that…first, your gut reaction is ‘that doesn't make any…’…then you say, wait a second, it almost makes sense, but it’s of no use. I’d say, exactly. You’d say, can…? Now, this is a challenge. You say, well, it’s almost like it’s useless. I’d say, well, it’s…oh boy, what do you call this? I got alliteration performance anxiety.
So, I don't know…I don't have…useless…how did I manage to get one word that starts with ‘use’…that I can't alliterate? But so, let’s just get back to that alliterative photoshoot. So, if you're new here, though, that’s what I’m gonna do. Let me ask you, have you thought of anything other than…? Your brain will kind of…for a little while, if you're new, your brain might try to challenge and say, let’s try to focus on what this guy’s talking about. Then another part of you might get irritated and be like, he’s not talking about anything. But once you see I’m kind of in this middle ground where it’s like I’m talking…and to me it has meaning, believe me. I’m not just sitting here chattering about nothing. To me, this all makes perfect sense. That’s why this podcast works. You say, why again? Mushrooms on the brain.
That’s why it works. You’d say, that doesn't make any sense. I say, yeah, 'cause you have a mushroom-free brain. Congratulations. You probably just use…you probably…you don’t need to use words like alt-alliteration. You don’t have any use for it. Do you know any words that rhyme…that are alliterative like ‘useless’ that I could use right now, this second…? You're not real. You're a figment of my…oh, thanks. I’ll get back to the podcast intro, then. So, I’ll close it out. How would…if we were gonna do a photoshoot where we pour alliteration on me, would we use alphabet soup or SpaghettiOs…? Do they have SpaghettiOs with letters? But we’d have to pick out…we could use…do they still have that cereal? What was it called? Alphabets or something? What was that cereal? It was like frosted letters.
I think they did away with that one. They said, that was too educational. It didn’t taste as…make it into pebbles, or…kids like eating oblong things for breakfast. You say, don’t…letters is too much. But yeah, maybe I could just pour…I mean, I don't know if I really want to cover myself in SpaghettiOs or whatever the heck that stuff is, or soup. No, no, no, I think I’d say, dry cereal, then SpaghettiOs, then soup. I don't want to cover myself in soup. I could see…well, SpaghettiOs…there’s probably…that might be good for my skin. At least I could tell myself that. Dried cereal…I’m trying to think what other…cooked pasta; there you go. That’s what a part of my brain just said. What about just cooked pasta, no sauce? I say, pour that on me, pour that alliteration on me. Then they say, well, that’s not alliteration. That’s just letters.
I say, well, it’s just a photoshoot. Why are you taking it so seriously? They said, well, you're the one that made all the demands. I’d say, well, at least I decided to call it a photoshoot. Remember when I first started and I called it a model shoot? I don't even…well, that’s when you shoot models. I say, yeah, airplane models, I used to shoot them off my roof. So, there you go. I already…I’ve done a model shoot before, and I may have…I wish I had named a plane the USS Alliteration. So, anyway…and I guess a part of you might be like, I don't even think this guy…honey, honey, are you listening? I don't think this man knows what alliteration is. I would say, the more to pity me with, and to say, oof…that’s what you could do. That’s what some people tell me when they're…they say, oof, good thing I’m not Scooter.
Oh boy, oshkosh b’gosh, that guy…and then you say…and then a lot of people, they’ll say, when you do that stuff, are you serious? I say, just being myself, unfortunately. Give me a mic and I start talking, and the truth comes out. But here’s a opportunity; I could use it to help you fall asleep. So, what greater use could I put my misuse of alliteration…? Is that alliteration? Use of my misuse…that’s better than useless. So, we may have…that’s alt-alliteration for sure, for totally. Since I invented that word, I can define it. You say, I think he’s trying to redefine words. I say, well, word scramble…I got mushroom brain. Haven't I said that seven times tonight? But the main thing is I’m glad you're here, 'cause I’ve been sleepless. I’ve been lying there in the deep, dark night.
That’s why I send my voice across it, to help distract you, maybe to hold your hand if you're comfortable, or walk at your side, or just sit back as you float across the threshold into the arms of Morpheus or whatever sleep god you choose…or you say, just Pillow Town. So, I’m glad you're here. This podcast can't…doesn't work for everybody. I hope it helps you. Give it a few tries if you're skeptical. But like I said, I’m glad you're here, and I really hope, I really yearn to help you fall asleep.
Alright, hey everybody, so, it’s…happy Tuesday to everyone. When I’m recording this, it’s September something, so by the time you hear this…actually, this episode may come out right around the time I’m supposed to go on Harmontown, Dan Harmon’s podcast. I was pretty surprised to even be asked to go on, and I was really…I’m really nervous about it, obviously, 'cause I want to be a good guest. Dan’s real funny and I just don't want to ruin his show. So, hopefully I didn’t if this…if you're hearing this afterwards. I don't think…I’ll just do my best, and I could just…just follow his lead. That’s what I keep telling myself; just listen and do your best. But this is…so, it’s been about a month or a month and a half since I knew I was gonna go on the show, and it’s still a month away. I knew a bit about Dan.
I had watched the Harmontown documentary and I listened to the podcast, Harmontown, but…and I had seen Community and read some stuff about Dan, but I guess I was a little bit ignorant of how much Dan’s written about story structure and how well he’s written about it, and I haven't even read everything. ‘Cause once I read a few basic things that he had written about it, it was right around the time…it was exactly the same time as Nuns in Space was about to get started. So, this is gonna be a little bit about story structure, so just…but it’ll be rambling, so, you’ll be set. But for those of you that like structure stuff or story stuff or anybody that’s a fan of the musical…is it A Chorus Line or The Chorus Line?
I don't know, but those are the things we're gonna touch on, Dan’s story structure and a song from A Chorus Line. You're already saying, oh boy. But so, I was reading a lot about Dan’s thoughts about story structure, which we're gonna put to practice here, and I’ll butcher and paraphrase, and…but I’ll look up some of the stuff from Dan…that Dan talks about. But so, right…let’s see, let’s back up. So, every time I start a new series…the Thursday episodes are written ahead of time if you're new or you didn’t…you say, you write this stuff, Scoots? I say, yeah, believe it or not, I make the podcast sound sleepy and like I’m sitting there telling you a story. It takes a lot of work. I’ll probably repeat this point a few times, but believe it or not, the more structured the story is, the more boring and meandering it can be.
‘Cause just like having…'cause it’s a structure; I guess that explains it right there. Just 'cause a story’s structured, it doesn't mean it has to be interesting. It doesn't have to be great structure or perfect structure. So, every time I’ve developed a series on this show that’s written, which is every Thursday series, I’ve tried different ways of plotting them out, and it always comes down to plotting out the…sometimes I try to plot out the season, and then every episode needs to be plotted out. I’ve tried different types of story structure or my own techniques, and I think this is the way anybody…this is how you learn structure, by…keep trying. That’s how I learned to make this podcast, just keep trying different things.
I had had a couple things before I discovered all of Dan’s writing, and I was like, huh, maybe I’ll try that out for this season. Because Nuns in Space is kind of a procedural, it kind of frees me up from having the pressure of having a overarching narrative for the whole season and wanting…being like, okay…'cause I usually try to plot it out for like, twelve or fourteen episodes, and then it always goes long…because the structure in the series…it’s just not…I’m writing…I don't have a lot of lead time. So, it was just a perfect happenstance that I started reading about Dan’s story structure, and I said, wow, this is interesting stuff and it seems really useful and powerful and it’s based on some structure stuff that I already kinda…I mean, and I’ll…maybe I’ll just explain what story structure is to…what it means to me in a second.
But I said, geez, I could test this out with Nuns in Space and just see how it goes and see if I can learn it, and that’s really the only…I’m sure if you're someone that writes for a living already, you're…you have a different perspective on that. Maybe if you're someone that…geez, I want to start writing, maybe you have a different perspective. But I guess I’m like the person that’s like, okay…I still don’t find myself an adept storyteller, but I love stories. I love telling stories. I love dreaming stories and thinking of stories. So, what does story structure mean to me? The classic story structure of most things is stories have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Then you might say it has…stories have a Act One, Act Two, Act Three, beginning, middle, and end, or they have Act One, Act Two A, Act Two B.
That might be more movie structure, which is what I’ve always more focused on, but what’s interesting about Dan’s thing…while he was applying it to…some of his writing’s about his Channel 101 days, so, shorter…I don't know, it’s not just about TV or movies. So, I guess that’s what story structure means to me, is how you start a story and then how you find your way to the end. Even when I’m making up stories on the Tuesday shows, they still need to have some structure. It’s not like I’m stopping and thinking about the structure. That’s what’s so great about practicing writing or using a structure for one thing, is that, oh, then maybe my brain’s learning it.
Because a Tuesday episode, when I’m making up a story, I still need to find my way to the end, otherwise I don't know where I’m going, and then the story…it doesn't have any structure to hang anything on. Or if it’s a puppet, it doesn't have…if it doesn't have a skeleton, like the structure, how am I gonna move it around and pose it and say, hey, top of the day? How am I gonna have it tip its cap if it doesn't have a structure? I talk about a lot of this, and if you're really new, you might be like, holy cow, this guy is very delusional. He makes a boring podcast that he only has to talk about nothing, and he really…and he really believes he has to work hard at it or he really works hard at it. I’d say, see…I do see the irony in that.
I would say, if this podcast wasn’t an extremely challenging thing for me to make, I don't think I could make it three times a week, which I guess is paradoxical, too. But I believe, as a maker of Sleep With Me, that all the work that goes into the podcast and story structure are the things that make it work. Other than hard work and rigor, I think the secret of the podcast is narrative structure or the narrative and our familiarity with narrative. That’s why I say it’s a bedtime-story podcast, because I think we crave story and we tell ourselves stories about ourselves at bedtime or about the noises we're hearing, and sometimes they're simple stories, like geez, how irritating is that? Then you say, what would I say to that person that’s honking that horn?
It’s still a story, and I guess if you break it down, it might not have a classic story structure. I don't know, I guess I’m rambling. That’s one of the other things about this podcast that works, my ability to ramble and go on tangents. So, I thought what would be…so, that…so, I came across Dan’s story structure, started reading about it, but you can only read so much, and the good thing is he’s very concise and simple. I’ll link to the articles. I think there’s only five or six that I read…very well-written and easy to put right into use, which I think is great. So, there is…that’s one thing.
Then not that long after, after maybe a few weeks of playing around with the structure, this other thing came up for me which was that some intro recently, I was kinda half-joking and half-seriously talking about my inability to feel feelings and how a lot of times I don't have a big emotional range. I’m trying to learn how to do that, and sometimes I joke about it and sometimes I’m kidding and sometimes I’m serious that I’m a little bit numb inside or that I have trouble emoting or connecting with my feelings. It’s something I’m working on. I don't encourage it. I say, geez, do…I don't recommend…kids, if you're listening, don’t be…make yourself into an island or a fortress, or a fortress island, which is what I think I have going, and become…don’t follow my path, believe me.
It might look…you say, oh boy, this guy’s boring people…he’s living large boring people to sleep. I gotta…follow those other things. Like rigor…if you have something, just do it every day for a few minutes whether it’s playing the piano or painting model airplanes or telling stories or singing songs. Do it every day. Find some other people that are doing it professionally and see what their thoughts are, especially if they're getting paid to do what you want to do instead of…say, geez, do they have any comments on the professional model airplane? That might be not the best example, but there’s probably people selling model airplane art somewhere. I mean, I would probably buy it for…not full price, by the way. Give me a discount since I just invented this new art genre, model airplane art. Sorry, see? I get distracted.
But so, I was thinking about my…how I joke and I’m serious about my inability to feel feelings. Then our friend Maggie, who’s a poet out on Twitter, we had a little interchange where we were kinda joking around, and I said, what best sums it up for me is the song from A Chorus Line, Nothing, which is this great song which we're gonna…and then I listened to that song. I listened to the original cast version and then the 2000 revival version about, I don't know, a million times in a row. I started to just realize, wow, this song is so well-structured. I said, I wonder how this song applies to Dan’s story structure. I thought about…I said, that would be a good podcast episode, to break down the structure of the song and to kinda talk about what I love about the song, and a way to talk about Dan’s ideas around story structure.
So, I don't know if…I guess we're gonna do it. So, that’s what we're gonna do the rest of the episode. But first, for anybody that says, who’s Dan Harmon and what’s A Chorus Line or The…? It’s A Chorus Line, I believe. Let me just do…let me just consult Wikipedia here so I can get some facts. So, Dan Harmon is an American writer and producer best known for creating NBC’s series, Community. Also co-created, which I just botched, the Adult Swim series, Rick and Morty. He cofounded the alternative television network website Channel 101. That’s where I got a lot of story structure stuff from. Published a book, You’ll Be Perfect When You're Dead in 2013, working on a second book, and he hosts the podcast called Harmontown. He’s from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Brown Deer High in the hizzouse.
He briefly attended Glendale Community College, which became the basis of the show Community. I think a lot of podcast fans know who Dan Harmon is, and if you don’t, you should check out his podcast, which is kinda like something…it’s just…I don't know, it’s kinda one of those podcasts that’s part-comedy show and interview show, kinda like the good days of David…I mean, I’m a David Letterman fan and a Conan fan. I work so much…I don't watch Conan anymore. Sorry, Conan. I know you're not listening, but…but it’s Dan and Jeff B. Davis. There’s also the documentary about it. I think is on Netflix. This guy, Spencer, which is…that’s the part about how…I don't know, I always look at people that can discover talent. They discovered Spencer.
When people have a eye for talent like that, that’s…if you watch this Harmontown documentary, it’s great. But one of the best parts about it is watching this kid Spencer and realizing his wit…I don't know, just realizing, wow, they found…I don't know. Again, I don't want to over-talk it because…so, listen to Harmontown. It’s really funny, really genuine. Watch Rick and Morty. I think the next season is coming soon. Talk about…so, then A Chorus Line is a musical with music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban, and the book was by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante. It’s centered on seventeen Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on A Chorus Line. It’s set on the bare stage of a Broadway theatre during the audition.
A Chorus Line provides a glimpse into the personality of the performers and the choreographer as they talk during their audition. Following several workshops and a off-Broadway production, it premiered at the Shubert Theatre, Broadway…on Broadway in 1975. Directed and choreographed by Michael Bennett. It was a hit; twelve Tony Awards, Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The original production ran for 6,137 performances, the longest-running production ‘til Cats beat it in 1997. Then Chicago passed that. It’s still the sixth longest-running Broadway performance. Now, there’s also the 2006 revival of it, and that’s the performance I listen to the most of. It’s by Natalie Cortez, and it’s just a beautiful…nothing to take away from the original by Priscilla Lopez. Those are the two I listened to the most.
But it was…let’s see, the 2006 revival opened in 2006 and closed in 2008 after 759 performances. It cost $8 million to finance, and recouped its investment in nineteen weeks. Mario Lopez was on the cast for a little while, and it was the subject of a documentary — I didn’t know this — called Every Little Step. It was also a movie in 1985 that I never saw starring Michael Douglas. I guess it says it was unsuccessful. It was directed by Richard Attenborough? Is this right? But so, that’s a little bit about the musical A Chorus Line, but we're gonna be talking about the song Nothing. The song Nothing is sung by the character, Diana Morales, and it is part of Montage #2…Part 2. So, that’s the song. So, let’s talk about now…so, there…it’s a song that we’ll kinda uncover what it’s about in the lyrics here. But so, let’s see.
So, this is where I started with Dan’s story…story embryo technique, is what…I don't know if he calls it that. But this is all over at Dan’s Tumblr, danharmon.tumblr.com. I’m gonna try to find the date over here. It’s posted three years ago, but I don't see a date. But someone…[inaudible] asks that; could you explain your story-breaking process? This is a great place to start, and actually, this is where I started doing some other stuff to get the ideas and then I kinda used this process that Dan talks about with the episodes for…what’s the name of the series I do? Nuns in Space. So, I’m gonna paraphrase. Dan says start with ideas, and that can be anything. In this case, with A Chorus Line, it’s about acting school…I guess is one of the ideas. But Dan says you can use America, pickles, a raccoon, the number six, anything.
Now, some ideas are gonna come up with related ideas. He says, if you think about raccoons, you might say, well, I think about other things about raccoons. He says, clouds of related ideas that your mind recognizes as related in any way are potentially story areas. Look for areas that make you laugh and cry. In the case of A Chorus Line…or a case of Nothing, we’ll see. I guess I’ll read through this, then we’ll kinda talk about how it applies. So, then Dan says, draw a circle to symbolize your area, because your story will take the reader through the…and that’s in quotes. ‘Reader’ means whoever is experiencing the story…through related ideas and a path around a central idea. He says, you don’t have to know what the central idea is. It might be dumb. You're writing about raccoons.
Now he says, divide your circle into a top-half and a bottom-half and ask yourself what those halves might be. In the raccoon example, it might be positive thoughts about raccoons and negative thoughts about raccoons. If that doesn't charge you, pick something else, like raccoon thoughts and…male raccoon thoughts and female raccoon thoughts, or biological-raccoon thoughts and storybook-raccoon thoughts. Then at some point, you're gonna divide that area into two parts that create a personal charge for you, like a battery. Like, oh, I like the idea that there’s a difference between biological raccoons and storybook raccoons that tingled when I drew the line. I want to know more. Dan says, that’s an impression of you nailing it.
Divide the circle down the middle and pick another charged dichotomy for left and right. For instance, the biological storybook raccoon could get divided into dishonest and honest. Now you have four quadrants. Probably not easy to follow this…what’s spoken, so you could just go to sleep. But, you know, if you're…but you can also keep along for the ride and look in the show notes. Divide the circle down the middle and pick another charge, dichotomy for left and right, honest and dishonest. Now you have four quadrants going clockwise. You have biological, dishonest raccoon…that would be the top-right, then storybook dishonest raccoon, then storybook honest raccoon, and then biological, honest raccoon. Any point…this is an important part here; any point which you stop feeling charged, go back a step or start over.
Now, maybe you got this far to realize you don’t want to write about raccoons. He goes, people aren't gonna like all this rewriting and restructuring. He says, stick with it. That’s how you tell stories. He says, when you find an area that yields four charged quadrants, experiment with protagonists. For him, he’s like, okay, what…how about a raccoon? So, once upon a time, there was a dishonest, biological raccoon that became a storybook raccoon that led to him becoming honest before finally going back and becoming biological again. Cool, question mark? If it’s not, go back and start over. Again, he says, note; people aren't gonna want you to start over. He says, don't worry about that. Just keep it up until you feel a charge, I think is his point. Then we’ll go into the structure stuff.
So, this is kinda the…I don't know what you’d call it, the mud or whatever. If we’re gonna make a mud pie, this is like mixing the water and the mud and the other…a little grass and everything. Okay, so, let’s go to the song Nothing. So, the song Nothing is about Diana or Diana. I don't know which one 'cause I don't…it’s the only…actually the only song I listen to in the musical over and over again, for the most part, is this one. But so, if we start to look at the…just what it’s about, like the top and the bottom…he said storybook…biological raccoon, storybook raccoon…you say, okay, what is this about it? It’s about she…getting into this prestigious…the song is about her getting into this prestigious acting program, this high school for the performing arts. So, oh boy, this is…the pressure’s on.
So, how do we break that into four quadrants? Obviously this is like Monday-morning quarterbacking, this part. But I think almost the top and the bottom would be…the top is like, geez, I’m gonna go to high school to be a actress, and then the bottom is like, I can't be an actress or something. I don't know, I guess I’m losing…maybe we should just get ahead to the structure. No, I don't think we…let me…so, I think the contrast…what are the contrasts of the song that are charged for me? I guess because I’m choosing it and it’s important, is the contrast between…it’s about a song and her relationship with the teacher and her relationship with herself.
So, the song is about…she wants to be an actress and she feels like she got into this great high school for the performing arts because she wants to be an actress and she…I mean, when you want to do something, at least part of you feels like you can become a great actress, and of course part of you feels like you can't or is afraid that you can't or you won't. I think that is the top and the bottom of this structure. If it’s the top-half of the circle and the bottom-half, the top-half is ‘I can be an actress’, and the bottom-half is ‘I cannot be an actress’, which would be…that’s pretty charged, you know? That brings the charge to the thing, and then the right-half of the circle would be, ‘I need to be taught to be an actress’. Like, I need a good…I need a teacher. I need a mentor to be an actress.
It’s specific in the song to Mr. Karp. So, I need Mr. Karp to teach me how to act, and on the other half is, I don't need Mr. Karp or I don't need…well, I think ‘I don’t need a teacher’ is not specific enough. But I think that’s the structure, the basic…this isn't the structure. I guess this is the meat of the thing, is like, I can be an actress, I can't be an actress. So, if you were looking at the top-right, if it was four quadrants, the first one would be Diana saying, I can be an actress if Mr. Karp teaches me how. Then the bottom-right would be, I can't be an actress 'cause Mr. Karp says I’m not good enough. Then the bottom-left would be, I can't be an actress…hm…and I don't need…with…hm, I don't know what the bottom-left would be. This is why this is good. I guess it’s a good thing we're not writing a Holly…or a Broadway musical.
But this is…you can see the power of the structure is when I’m saying, huh. The power of this technique is not in the answers it provides but in the lens it allows you to place over your story, to say, huh…and then Dan would say, go back and start over or find what’s charged for you. So, what in the second…first-quarter, second…? So, we're in the third quarter of the song. So, we're still in ‘I can't be an actress’. ‘I should give up’ I guess would be the bottom-left thing, like Karp or no Karp. Then the top one would be, I can be an actress; I just don’t need Mr. Karp. There’s the spoiler. So, where did we get lost? I guess we got lost with the Mr. Karp thing.
The top and the bottom I think are solid, because the top-half is ‘I can be an actress’, and that’s the beauty of the song and the beginning and the end, is that the song starts with her joy of getting into this high school. So, I’m thinking and talking here, but…and then…that she’s like, wow, I got into this school. I must have a chance to be an actress. Then, as we’ll go through the structural points…realizes that…she meets her teacher, Mr. Karp, who’s gonna enable her to be an actress. He’s the representative of the school. Then we get down to the next tangent and it’s like, oh no, Mr. Karp says you can't…you're not gonna be an actress. Then the next one would be, I can't be an actress. I guess this might be…but we don’t…without Mr. Karp…I guess it’s like, Karp and no Karp.
The left side of the structure is ‘no Karp’ and the right side is ‘Karp’, teacher and no teacher. But I guess it’s specific. I guess, yeah, now she’s like, I can't be an actress and Mr. Karp…I don't know. I guess maybe…I’m still stuck on that. Then the top-half, though, is ‘I don't need Mr. Karp to be a good actress. I can be a good actress’. So, okay…so, so far…not doing Dan justice, but you could see that this is more about the lens and being like, okay, luckily I’m not trying to write this. I’m just trying to…but you’d see where I’m getting lost…is like, okay…and maybe it’s 'cause I’m not understanding the meat of the song. So, let’s go to another quadrant here. This is a sleep podcast, so I can talk about whatever I want. The name of the song is Nothing.
So, maybe this is where it’s at, is…yeah, I guess this is where the meat…this is where the subtext of the song is and what does it for me, is this lower subtext. I guess this is somewhat like making a sandwich, and this is like the good part of the sandwich. So, I guess another thing in the quadrant…I think it’s still ‘I can be an actress’ and ‘I can't be an actress’. Maybe all four quadrants are ‘I feel nothing’, but the right side is ‘I feel nothing and that equals bad’. The left side is ‘I feel nothing. That equals good.’ I guess that might be it, because if the top-right quadrant is ‘I can be an actress through Mr. Karp but I feel nothing’, she still tries to overcome that 'cause she says, well, I can be an actress in the first quarter. With Mr. Karp, that’ll help me overcome the fact that I feel nothing.
Then we get into the bottom-right half and it says, no, no, no, I can't be an actress because I feel nothing and because Mr. Karp tells me I can't be an actress. Then we get into the bottom-left where it’s kinda like, huh, well, I don't need Mr. Karp or whatever. Mr. Karp’s not gonna help me. But I don't think I can become an actress, 'cause I feel nothing. But she’s more accepting; she’s like, I feel nothing. Maybe I can't be an actress. Maybe I should just give up. I can't be an actress. Yeah, there…that’s it. So, in the…if you're…this is why you write this stuff out, like Dan says. Get a paper and a pen. But so, the bottom-left quadrant I guess would be…I guess I’m cheating. I’m using three things.
But the top and the bottom-half is…so, the bottom-half is I can't be an actress, but it’s an empowering…she’s saying, geez, maybe I can't be an actress. I don't feel anything, and Mr. Karp says I can't be an actress. But that’s where things turn and that’s where the beauty of the story and the power of this song takes place, is that acceptance allows her to find…whoa, wait a second, I feel nothing. Maybe that doesn't mean…maybe…and that’s where the story rises again. She says, oh, I feel nothing, but I don't need Mr. Karp. I can be an actress and I feel nothing, and that’s where it pays off. Oh, my goodness, it pays off. Okay, so, if you're still with me, that was the basics of the story embryo, just the breaking of the story. You say, geez, you took a beautiful song, Scoots, and you broke it for me. I’d say, well, thank you.
It’s what I do around here, these parts. But then let’s talk about the specifics of structure. So, Dan has I think four articles over at the Channel 101 Wiki, and they're great. I gotta tell you, I hear people that pay a ton of money to learn how to write stories. This will teach you…let me just run through it. So, this is by Dan. It’s called Story Structure 101. Super basic. He, again, talks about…make a circle and make it into four quadrants, and then start with a number one where the number 12 would be on a clock, and then…this one you probably need to see it, but you're basically gonna end up with eight points on the wheel, eight story points. Let me see if Dan explains it better. Storytelling is…comes natural to humans, but since we live in an unnatural world, we sometimes need a little help.
So, he says, yeah, take…draw a circle. Divide it in half vertically, then horizontally. Starting at the 12:00 position and going clockwise, number the four points where the lines cross; 1, 3, 5, and 7. Then number the quarter sections 2, 4, 6, and 8. So, then it goes, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Here’s Dan’s structure, and it goes…I’ll say the numbers and the structure, but it’s pretty…number one, a character is in a zone of comfort. Two, but they want something. Three, they enter an unfamiliar situation, four, adapt to it. Five, get what they wanted. Six, pay a heavy price for it. Seven, return to the familiar situation, eight, having changed. Dan starts to talk about…geez, start thinking about what stories you love, and do they follow this structure? A lot of this is based on the hero within and the mono-myth and all this Joseph Campbell stuff.
Aristotle talked about it and all that. Again, I can hear some people saying, oh…and say, okay, well, I don't write in structure or that’s too formulaic. It’s like, exactly, but you need to learn…if you learn the basic structure, then it won't be…I guess that’s the weird irony or the paradox, is if you really take the time to learn structure, whether it’s Dan’s structure or some other structure, pretty soon you’ll learn that…okay, that’s…I don't know. I guess I don't know how to explain…but you need to learn story structure. You don’t need to copy story structure. Use it like a paint-by-numbers. I guess that’s what I’m saying. So, I’ll get off my high horse and then go to Dan’s Story Structure 102: Pure, Boring Theory.
Dan kinda…this one’s…actually, you should just read this one because this is way deeper and it talks about…geez, the good news and the bad news or the shadow self. Well, let me read a little bit…life and the state of not life and how things are always in change, but it’s usually…change happens…like how we get fossil fuels. There was dinosaurs and then they passed away, and then they got turned into goop, and now we drive around using their stuff. Planet-wide creature…life on Earth has been able to grow and thrive through an evolutionary arms race between the various parts of itself. Some things…we have a circle of life, as that movie once sang. This is what causes evolution and life to advance and spread, and that’s what led to our brains.
He goes, geez, life in passing is 50%. You know, 50% of it…and then he says, well, maybe it’s…and then he kinda uses ‘conscious’ and ‘unconscious’. This is a little easier for me. Like, your mind’s a home with a upstairs and a downstairs. Upstairs, things are well-lit and swept and people come over and you serve hot cocoa and play Scrabble. Downstairs is where you got all the creaky stuff. For me, it’s the story swamp. It’s the unconscious and it’s the stuff you don’t, won't, or can't think about. Whether you use Freud or Jungian…there could be wires and pipes and stuff, and you could say, oh, there’s a cigar down there. I don't smoke cigars. You say, really? But this is also where the life-sustaining energy is, but it’s primitive and it’s stinky and a lot of times we’d rather not think about it.
But Dan says, however, your pleasure, your sanity, and your prosperity kinda depend on occasional round trips, and you’ve gotta change the fuses, get some Christmas ornaments, clean out the litter box. So, you can't keep the basement sealed, otherwise the whole home will become unstable, and then things will get loud and then you’ll try to cover up with neurotic behavior. Huh, this sounds just like me. For some, the basement door could come off the hinges, and then who knows? The whole point is, according to Dan, occasional ventures by the ego into the unconscious, though through therapy, meditation, confession, and other activity…cathartic activities or a good story keep the consciousness in working order. This is the rhythm of psychology; conscious, unconscious, conscious, unconscious.
Then Dan kinda talks about the similar idea with order and chaos, like society’s rhythm with order and then chaos, and then order and then chaos. That’s the rhythm of society. Then he talks about resonance. Now you understand that all life, including the human mind and the communities we create, march to the same very specific beat. If your story also marches to this beat, it will resonate. It will also send your audience’s ego on a brief trip to the unconscious and back. Your audience has an instinctive taste for that, and they're going to say, yum. So, then I’m just gonna read through the last two here. Story Structure 103; let’s simplify, Dan says, and here’s the steps again boiled down to their barest minimum while still being in English.
Step one, when you…step two, have a need…step three, you go somewhere…step four, search for it…step five, find it…step six, take it…step seven, then return, and then step eight, change things. Or even more basic; you need…step one, you…step two, need…step three, go…step four, search…step five, find…step six, take…step seven, return…and step eight, change. So, let’s see if we can just apply that to the song while we…with our last…I guess I rambled a little bit. When you have a need, you go somewhere, search for it, find it, take it, then return and change things. So, what I’m gonna do is read through the lyrics of the song. But just think about…that the song is based on the conscious and unconscious or the chaos and the disorder, the life-and-death thing, of ‘I can be an actress’ versus ‘I cannot be an actress’.
Then also balanced out by this idea of like, I can…I don't feel anything; that’s a bad thing, versus I don't feel anything; that’s just who I am or that’s not a bad thing, that that’s an acceptance versus a denial. Okay, so, this is Nothing by the character Diana. I’m excited because I’m going to go to the high school of the performing arts. I mean it was…and the song is so beautiful. Literally, it gives me the chills every time I hear it, especially when Natalie Cortez sings it. But I was excited 'cause I was gonna go to the high school of performing arts. I mean, I was dying to be a serious actress. Anyway, it’s the first day of acting class, and we’re in the auditorium. The teacher, Mr. Karp…oh, Mr. Karp…anyway, he puts us upstage with our legs around one another, one in the back of each other, and he says, okay, we're going to do improvisations.
Now you're on a bobsled and it’s snowing out and it’s cold. Okay, go. This is when the song itself really gets good. But every day for a week, we would try to feel the motion…feel the motion down the hill. Every week for…every day for a week, we would try to hear the wind rush…hear the wind rush, feel the chill. Here’s where my chills come in; I dug right down to the bottom of the soul, my soul, to see what I had inside. Yes, I dug right down to the bottom of the soul, my soul, and I tried. I tried…and then she does an aside. She says, then everybody’s going, whoosh, whoosh. I feel the snow. I feel the cold. I feel the air. Mr. Karp turns to me and he says, okay, Morales, what did you feel? I’m getting the chills — I’m not kidding — as I speak. I said, nothing. I’m feeling nothing.
He says, nothing could get a girl transferred. They all felt something, but I felt nothing except the feeling that this was absurd. But I said to myself, hey, it’s just the first week. Maybe it’s genetic. They don’t have bobsleds in San Juan. Second week, more advanced, and we had to be a table, be a sports car, ice cream cone. Mr. Karp, he would say, very good, except Morales. Try, Morales, all alone. I dug right down to the bottom of my soul to see how an ice cream felt. Yes, I dug right down to the bottom of my soul and I tried to melt. The kids yelled nothing. They called me nothing, and Mr. Karp allowed it, which really makes me burn. They were so helpful. They called me hopeless. You know what part of the song this is, right? Holy…until I didn’t…really didn’t know where else to turn.
Mr. Karp kept saying, Morales, I think you should transfer to girls’ high. You’ll never be an actress, never. Morales says, went to church praying to Santa Maria, send me guidance. Send me guidance on my knees. Went to church, praying, Santa Maria, help me feel it. Help me feel it, pretty please. A voice from down at the bottom of my soul came up to the top of my head, and a voice from down at the bottom of my soul…and here is what it said. This man is nothing. This course is nothing. If you want something, go find another class. When you find one, you’ll be an actress, and I assure you, that’s finally what came to pass. Six years later, I heard that Karp had died, and I dug right down to the bottom of my soul, and I cried, 'cause I felt nothing.
You can…immediately, if you've been listening, you can see — I mean, holy moly — how many payoffs this song has in a structural story way and how much it just gives us. Yes, I’m being a fanboy about Dan’s structure and about this song, but I mean, holy moly. So, let me just run through what the song is about, just in case…I mean, basically, Morales, she goes to the high school of performing arts. She’s got this teacher, probably the top teacher, Mr. Karp, and he says, here’s how you act. You pretend you're on a bobsled. That’s how you become a great actress. In this story, that’s the only way to become a great actress. So, they do this bobsled-pretend thing and she feels…she goes, this doesn't work for me. He says, no, no, no, it’s not that it doesn't work for you. It’s that you're not an actress. Try again.
‘Cause she was like, I don't feel anything. This is just strange. But she said, okay, let me try again. Then the second week…be a table, be a sports car, ice cream cone. He said, everybody’s doing great except for you, Morales. Can you try one more time up on stage by yourself? She dug right down to the bottom of her soul to see how an ice cream felt. She tried, and not only could she feel nothing, but then she was subject to humiliation by the class, saying, you're nothing, and Karp allowed it. They called me hopeless until I really didn’t know where else to turn. Karp said, you're never going to be an actress, Morales. Then she was at a point where she fell to her knees and she said, Santa Maria, send me guidance, pretty please. She dug right down to the bottom of her soul, and here’s what it said; this man is nothing.
This course is nothing. It’s not you. It’s this fool, Karp. If you want something, if you want to be an actress, go find a better class. Then the empowerment part…and I assure you, that is what finally came to pass. Then the beauty of the final structure point, which we’ll get into, is that it has the last payoff. You say, well, geez…okay, she became an actress. No, no, no, there’s more. Six months later, I heard that Karp had died, and I dug right down to the bottom of my soul, and I cried because I felt nothing. So, let’s just pause there, 'cause that’s the end part. I mean, we're at the end, eight, and change. When you have a need, you go somewhere, search for it, find it, take it, then return and change things.
In step one…or step 104, Dan kinda talks about the more specifics, but you, as the character in a zone of comfort…so, you, in this case, is Morales, Diana, and she is…she just…she’s in a zone of comfort. She just got into the high school of performing arts. Need…they want something. She wants to be an actress and she wants to do well in Mr. Karp’s class because he’s her acting teacher. Go…they enter an unfamiliar situation. In her case, it’s this method acting with this stupid bobsled thing where you sit there and you pretend you're on a bobsled. So, you, need, go…Diana wants to be an actress, goes to the girls’ high to acting class, starts Karp’s class. Step one, pretend you're a bobsled. She feels nothing. This is where you get into the middle part of…this is like the Act Two.
So, then search…you, need, go, search…which is I guess step two…I guess step one and step two of the…second week, we tried to be an ice…sports car, be a table, ice cream cone. She dug right down to the bottom of her soul to see how a ice cream felt, and she felt nothing. So, find…she finds…two tries; she still feels nothing. Not only does she feel nothing, but that’s a bad thing, according to Mr. Karp and according to Mr. Karp letting the class bully her and say, you're hopeless. They were so helpful, they called me hopeless, and Mr. Karp allowed it. So, even then, we get a little bit of the find. Find what they want, in step five, and step five is at the bottom of the circle, which in this case is ‘I can't be an actress’. She feels nothing. Mr. Karp allowed the class to make fun of her. He’s repeated that she’ll never be an actress.
She should transfer to girls’ high, and she’s almost lost all hope. She’s gone…and this is deep in the subconscious or wherever your belief system is, in the…deep in the underworld. She falls to her knees. It’s even witty how she says, Jesus Christ, I have anger…and then goes straight into this prayer to Santa Maria. It just shows the quality of the right song…the lyric writing. But find and then take…you have to be…you have to pay the price to acquire what you want and take, which is step six, which is the first step…yeah, so, she’s down on her knees and then she makes the call out to Santa Maria or the universe. It’s also this repeat of this…the chorus where she says, and I dug right down to the bottom of my soul. She tried…were the first two ones, and then she says, Santa Maria, please help me feel it, pretty please.
This time, instead of digging, the voice comes up from the bottom of my soul, came up to the top of my head, and the voice from down at the bottom of my soul, here’s what it said. It says, this man is nothing. Now this is where I get, I guess, mixed up in the story structure, is that, I mean, she’s paying the price. At this point she’s given up. She’s fallen to her knees and said, geez, without external help from either the depths of my soul or from Santa Maria up in heaven or whatever, I have no hope. The earthly, conscious power of Mr. Karp and my classmates…and this is the best acting…school of performing arts have said, you will never be an actress. But as this soul or this gut thing, she…geez, that’s where…but I crave to be an actress so badly.
Then the answer comes back to her; so, this is take and find. I think…is that the next one? Take…oh, and return. So, she almost has to give up hope and also say…the answer comes back and not…it’s a hard one. It sounds easy 'cause it’s in a witty song, but actually, this is where most people…the answer comes back. It says, hey, this man is nothing. This class is nothing. Go find a better class. Don’t give up. She’s actually living the story structure, 'cause it’s saying, hey, you gotta get…you gotta start climbing up this fricking half-circle here, Dan Harmon’s half-story embryo. Return…return to…you gotta get outta this ‘I can't be an actress’ and climb just up past that threshold to ‘I can be an actress. I just have to find a better class’.
So, return to the world and go in search of what is going to let you become a great actress. But as I said, the brilliance of story doesn't just stop there. It says, okay, so Diana Morales is out there now looking for a better class. You say, well, no, no, what about that other part of the story where she feels nothing? Wasn’t that a central part of the resonance of why…? That’s why I connect with the song. So, if that’s not resolved somehow…it also doesn't make any sense. It’s like, okay, so, she went to find another class, but can't she…? She just doesn't feel nothing. So, how is she gonna be a great actress? I think this is where…this is why this song was…I mean, I’m sure this is reflected in the rest of A Chorus Line. This little difference is maybe where greatness comes through.
This is a way to put a lens on it, with Dan’s structure here, to say, okay, so, she went back and she looked for a new class. No, no, no…and then how does it read again? It says, six months…well, first she says, finally it did come to pass. I did go out, I did return, and I did search and find another class. But then she says, six months later, I heard that Karp had died. I can't believe how good this is. As someone that writes stuff, I just can't believe how good this is. Six months later, I heard that Karp had died, and I dug right down to the bottom of my soul, and I cried. Oh…you say, okay, that makes sense. So, she’s finally feeling something. I say, no, no, no, that’s not where truth lies and change lies.
The real resonance is we know we're broken people and we identify with other broken people that are struggling and rising…if it’s a character in a story, you say, well…I mean, this is what you hear a lot of people complain about about pop-culture stuff. We're not doing that, but I’m having…six months later, I heard that Karp had died. I dug right down to the bottom of my soul and I cried. Well, why did you cry, Diana? ‘Cause I felt nothing. It even leaves it open a little bit. It’s like, okay, she’s achieved success, the circular journey we went on in the song has paid off, and our character’s rising back up again into the world of ‘I can be an actress’. In some sense she’s been healed because she says, well, I don't need Mr. Karp. But then it goes beyond that.
It goes to the change thing that Dan was talking about and the mono-myth and why we…why do I get the chills? Because she’s come to somewhat of an acceptance that she feels…she hasn’t changed. You say, well, now I chew gum and I’m just so darn happy. Maybe this is me projecting, but to me, she says…and I felt nothing. I cried at Karp’s funeral because I didn’t care. I mean, that’s definitely projection, but that I’ve achieved what I wanted, but I’m still a human being and I’m still…I’ve achieved both an acceptance but not a comfortableness. There’s a difference between being comfortable with something and accepting it. Those are things that are just so human and relatable. Oh boy, this is so good. I know I’m gushing here about this, but it’s like…I’m just gonna close out.
I’m gonna read the lyrics one more time and just think about the structure. I’ll read Dan’s structure and then the lyrics and then goodnight, okay? So, just think about this. When you have a need, you go somewhere, you search for it, you find it, you take it, then return, and change things. You need, go, search, find, take, return, change. These are the lyrics from Nothing from A Chorus Line. I’m so excited because I’m going to go to the high school of the performing arts. I mean, I was dying to be a serious actress. Anyway, it’s the first day of acting class and we're in the auditorium. The teacher, Mr. Karp…oh, Mr. Karp…anyway, he puts us up on stage with our legs around one another, one in back of another, and he says, okay, we're going to do improvisations. Now you're on a bobsled. It’s snowing out and it’s cold. Okay, go.
Every day for a week we would try to feel the motion, feel the motion down the hill. Every day for a week we would try to hear the wind rush, hear the wind rush, feel the chill. I dug right down to the bottom of my soul to see what I had inside. Yes, I dug right down to the bottom of my soul and I tried, I tried. Everybody’s going, whoosh, whoosh. I feel the snow. I feel the cold. I feel the air. Mr. Karp turns to me and he says, okay, Morales, what do you feel? I said, nothing. I’m feeling nothing. He says, nothing could get a girl transferred. They all felt something, but I felt nothing except this feeling that this was absurd. But I said to myself, hey, it’s only the first week. Maybe it’s genetic. They don’t have bobsleds in San Juan. The second week, more advanced; we had to be a table, be a sports car, ice cream cone.
Mr. Karp, he would say, very good, except Morales. Try, Morales, all alone. I dug right down to the bottom of my soul to see how an ice cream felt. Yes, I dug right down to the bottom of my soul and I tried to melt. The kids yelled, nothing. They called me nothing, and Karp allowed it, which really makes me burn. They were so helpful. They called me hopeless until I really didn’t know where else to turn. Karp kept saying, Morales, I think you should transfer to girls’ high. You’ll never be an actress, never. I went to church, praying, Santa Maria, send me guidance. Send me guidance on my knees. I went to church, praying, Santa Maria, help me feel it. Help me feel it, pretty please.
A voice from down at the bottom of my soul came up to the top of my head, and the voice from down at the bottom of my soul, here is what it said. This man is nothing. This course is nothing. If you want something, go find another class. When you find one, you’ll be an actress. I assure you, that’s finally what came to pass. Six months later, I heard that Karp had died, and I dug right down to the bottom of my soul and I cried 'cause I felt nothing. Alright everybody, goodnight.
[END OF RECORDING]
(Transcription performed by LeahTranscribes)
-
Trending Tuesday
Foraging
https://springs-rcc.org/seeing-with-a-foragers-eye/
https://civileats.com/2020/07/09/interest-in-foraging-is-booming-heres-how-to-do-it-right/
https://civileats.com/2023/10/10/ai-is-writing-books-about-foraging-what-could-go-wrong/
Dan Harmon Story Structure
https://boords.com/blog/storytelling-101-the-dan-harmon-story-circle
https://www.squibler.io/learn/writing/dan-harmons-story-circle/
Model Airplane History
https://www.buildcobi.com/blog/2021/3/3/the-history-of-the-model-airplane
https://www.trade-a-plane.com/history-of-model-airplanes
https://freeflightarchive.com/index.php/history-of-model-airplanes
A Chorus Line
https://bethcollier.substack.com/p/how-a-chorus-line-saved-broadway
DOWN TO BUSINESS
The Elliptical, Nautiloidical Podcaster
PLUGS
Calm History; Sleep With Me Plus; SleepPhones; Story Only Feed; Emily Tat Artwork; Crisis Textline
SPONSORS
Helix Sleep; Zocdoc; Progressive; Anker Soundcore; Dave’s Killer Bread; Acorns
INTRO
Emotion feelings
Stuff that happened in the past or that is coming up
I’m gonna try to distract you from whatever it might be
Wings of Pointlessness
“Pour Some Alliteration On Me”
That song would accompany my very chaste photo shoot
Discussing Photoshoot Details
If it feels like it’s dragging on, that’s intentional
Intentional and Organic
The Story Forager
Foraging for metaphors
What can I say I’m post-hip
Taking photos of alliteration
The story structure of one song in particular
I’m pretty sure I have mushrooms growing within my brain
Brain mushrooms inspire my stories
Alt Alliteration
Is alt alliteration just bad alliteration?
Alliteration Performance Anxiety
I promise this show makes sense to me
Congratulations on having a mushroom-free brain
Picking the letters out of Spaghetti-O’s
Was there a letter-based cereal?
I don’t want to cover myself in Spaghetti-O’s, please
Do I even know what alliteration is? Good question
Use of my Misuse
STORY
This episode might come out right when I come on Harmontown
I hope I didn’t ruin his show in my appearance
I’ve had about 2 months to prep for my appearance
I was ignorant of how much Dan has written about story structure
I was exposed to this just as I was starting Nuns In Space
We’ll use it to discuss a song from A Chorus Line
Explaining how I write shows
Just because a story is structured doesn’t mean it’s interesting
Plotting out the stories
I usually run too long when I’m plotting seasons
Dan’s structure was useful when I was writing Nuns In Space
Perspectives on Story Structure
What does Story Structure mean to me?
Beginning, Middle, End
If it wasn’t hard to make, then it wouldn’t be worth it to me
Structure and Narrative Familiarity is so important to me
We crave story
My inability to feel feelings and my small emotional range
I can have a hard time connecting with my feelings
Kids, don’t make yourself into a fortress island
Don’t follow my path, kids
Find something you like and do it every day
Joking about the ability to not feel anything
The song “Nothing” from A Chorus Line
Breaking down the structure of that song
Some background facts
Dan Harmon Facts
Check out Dan Harmon’s podcast
Like the good old days of Letterman
And Dan Harmon found this really talented kid named Spencer
A Chorus Line facts
Learning about the performers
Michael Bennett directed and choreographed
Ran over 6,000 performances on Broadway
2006 Revival is what I listened to most
There’s a 1995 movie of A Chorus Line??
“Nothing” – Diana Morales
Part of Montage, Part 2
I think he calls it the Story Embryo technique
Dan starts with ideas – it can be anything
Clouds of related ideas
Look for areas that makes you laugh and cry
Draw circles that symbolize the area
A path around a central idea
Divide the circle into a top and bottom section
How are you dividing the idea?
What division excites you?
Then create 2 charged dichotomies
If it stops interesting you, go back a step or start over
Stick with the restructuring
What kind of protagonist goes through all these quadrants?
Keep going until the story sounds cool
A Story Mud Pie
The song is about Diana getting into a prestigious high school for the performing arts
Retroactively finding the Story Embryo of this song
Top Half – I can be an actress
Bottom Half – I can’t be
Right Half – I need a mentor
Left Half – I don’t need anyone
Dian’s journey through the circle
I guess it’s good we’re not writing a Broadway musical
Find what is charged for you
Diana’s relationship with Mr. Karp
Karp and No Karp
I can’t say I’m doing Dan justice here
What are my quadrants?
I feel nothing – good or bad?
Could not being an actress be empowering?
I’m happy to take a beautiful song and break it for you
The specifics of Story Structure at the Channel 101 Wiki
Make a 4-quadrant circle
8 Story Points on the Wheel
- Character is in a zone of comfort
- Wanting something
- Enter an unfamiliar situation
- Adapting to situation
- Getting what they wanted
- Paying a heavy price for it
- Return to the familiar situation
- Having changed
Do stories you love follow this structure
Related to Joseph Campbell and Aristotle
Pure Boring Theory
Conscious and Unconscious
The Upstairs and Downstairs of Life
The stuff you don’t, won’t, or can’t think about
Pleasure, sanity, and prosperity depend on you going downstairs every once in a while
Occasional adventures into the Ego
Balancing order and chaos
If a story has that balance, it will resonate
Audiences like this
You, Need, Go, Search, Find, Take, Return, Change
Applying these 8 steps to the song
She’s excited to go to LaGuardia
I really love this song
I’m getting the chills right now
Feeling nothing could get a girl transferred
Mr. Karp says Morales isn’t trying hard enough
And I don’t need Karp!
There’s so many payoffs in this song
Running through the song and it’s cycle
Defining herself as an actress
This fool Karp is nothing
Through the 8 Spokes of the Wheel
Feeling nothing is bad, according to Mr. Karp
Down into the subconscious
She’s without external help
She’s living the Story Structure
Climb and return to the world
Her feeling nothing has to be resolved, too
Greatness lies in that little difference
Broken people identifying with other broken people
She cries because she felt nothing
That’s circular growth!
She’s come to an acceptance of herself
I’ve achieved what I’ve wanted but I accept myself
Reading the structure and lyrics one more time
SUMMARY:
Episode: 1318a / 451
Title: Using Dan Harmon's Story Structure for Feeling Nothing | Listener Fav #451
Plugs: Calm History; Sleep With Me Plus; SleepPhones; Story Only Feed; Emily Tat Artwork; Crisis Textline
Sponsors: Helix Sleep; Zocdoc; Progressive; Anker Soundcore; Dave’s Killer Bread; Acorns
Notable Language:
- Wings of Pointlessness
- The Story Forager
- Post-Hip
- Brain Mushrooms
- Alt Alliteration
- Mushroom-Free Brain
- Use of my Misuse
- Model Airplane Art
- Story Embryo
- Charged Dichotomies
- Karp and No Karp
- Pure Boring Theory
Notable Culture:
-
- “Pour Some Alliteration On Me”
- “Pour Some Sugar On Me”
- Spaghetti-O’s
- Alpha-Bits
- Oshkosh B’Gosh
- Dan Harmon
- Harmontown
- Community
- Nuns In Space
- A Chorus Line – “Nothing”
- Rick & Morty
-
- Channel 101
- Conan O’Brien
- David Letterman
- Marvin Hamlisch
- Every Little Step
- Joseph Campbell
- Aristotle
- “Circle of Life” – The Lion King
- Sigmund Freud
- Carl Jung
Notable Talking Points:
- Emotion feelings
- Stuff that happened in the past or that is coming up
- I’m gonna try to distract you from whatever it might be
- Wings of Pointlessness
- “Pour Some Alliteration On Me”
- That song would accompany my very chaste photo shoot
- Discussing Photoshoot Details
- If it feels like it’s dragging on, that’s intentional
- Intentional and Organic
- The Story Forager
- Foraging for metaphors
- What can I say I’m post-hip
- Taking photos of alliteration
- The story structure of one song in particular
- I’m pretty sure I have mushrooms growing within my brain
- Brain mushrooms inspire my stories
- Alt Alliteration
- Is alt alliteration just bad alliteration?
- Alliteration Performance Anxiety
- I promise this show makes sense to me
- Congratulations on having a mushroom-free brain
- Picking the letters out of Spaghetti-O’s
- Was there a letter-based cereal?
- I don’t want to cover myself in Spaghetti-O’s, please
- Do I even know what alliteration is? Good question
- Use of my Misuse
This episode might come out right when I come on Harmontown
I hope I didn’t ruin his show in my appearance
I’ve had about 2 months to prep for my appearance
I was ignorant of how much Dan has written about story structure
I was exposed to this just as I was starting Nuns In Space
We’ll use it to discuss a song from A Chorus Line
Explaining how I write shows
Just because a story is structured doesn’t mean it’s interesting
Plotting out the stories
I usually run too long when I’m plotting seasons
Dan’s structure was useful when I was writing Nuns In Space
Perspectives on Story Structure
What does Story Structure mean to me?
Beginning, Middle, End
If it wasn’t hard to make, then it wouldn’t be worth it to me
Structure and Narrative Familiarity is so important to me
We crave story
My inability to feel feelings and my small emotional range
I can have a hard time connecting with my feelings
Kids, don’t make yourself into a fortress island
Don’t follow my path, kids
Find something you like and do it every day
Joking about the ability to not feel anything
The song “Nothing” from A Chorus Line
Breaking down the structure of that song
Some background facts
Dan Harmon Facts
Check out Dan Harmon’s podcast
Like the good old days of Letterman
And Dan Harmon found this really talented kid named Spencer
A Chorus Line facts
Learning about the performers
Michael Bennett directed and choreographed
Ran over 6,000 performances on Broadway
2006 Revival is what I listened to most
There’s a 1995 movie of A Chorus Line??
“Nothing” – Diana Morales
Part of Montage, Part 2
I think he calls it the Story Embryo technique
Dan starts with ideas – it can be anything
Clouds of related ideas
Look for areas that makes you laugh and cry
Draw circles that symbolize the area
A path around a central idea
Divide the circle into a top and bottom section
How are you dividing the idea?
What division excites you?
Then create 2 charged dichotomies
If it stops interesting you, go back a step or start over
Stick with the restructuring
What kind of protagonist goes through all these quadrants?
Keep going until the story sounds cool
A Story Mud Pie
The song is about Diana getting into a prestigious high school for the performing arts
Retroactively finding the Story Embryo of this song
Top Half – I can be an actress
Bottom Half – I can’t be
Right Half – I need a mentor
Left Half – I don’t need anyone
Dian’s journey through the circle
I guess it’s good we’re not writing a Broadway musical
Find what is charged for you
Diana’s relationship with Mr. Karp
Karp and No Karp
I can’t say I’m doing Dan justice here
What are my quadrants?
I feel nothing – good or bad?
Could not being an actress be empowering?
I’m happy to take a beautiful song and break it for you
The specifics of Story Structure at the Channel 101 Wiki
Make a 4-quadrant circle
8 Story Points on the Wheel
- Character is in a zone of comfort
- Wanting something
- Enter an unfamiliar situation
- Adapting to situation
- Getting what they wanted
- Paying a heavy price for it
- Return to the familiar situation
- Having changed
Do stories you love follow this structure
Related to Joseph Campbell and Aristotle
Pure Boring Theory
Conscious and Unconscious
The Upstairs and Downstairs of Life
The stuff you don’t, won’t, or can’t think about
Pleasure, sanity, and prosperity depend on you going downstairs every once in a while
Occasional adventures into the Ego
Balancing order and chaos
If a story has that balance, it will resonate
Audiences like this
You, Need, Go, Search, Find, Take, Return, Change
Applying these 8 steps to the song
She’s excited to go to LaGuardia
I really love this song
I’m getting the chills right now
Feeling nothing could get a girl transferred
Mr. Karp says Morales isn’t trying hard enough
And I don’t need Karp!
There’s so many payoffs in this song
Running through the song and it’s cycle
Defining herself as an actress
This fool Karp is nothing
Through the 8 Spokes of the Wheel
Feeling nothing is bad, according to Mr. Karp
Down into the subconscious
She’s without external help
She’s living the Story Structure
Climb and return to the world
Her feeling nothing has to be resolved, too
Greatness lies in that little difference
Broken people identifying with other broken people
She cries because she felt nothing
That’s circular growth!
She’s come to an acceptance of herself
I’ve achieved what I’ve wanted but I accept myself
Reading the structure and lyrics one more time