Story Study: Down with Love
The Story
Barbara, a small-town New England girl, travels to New York to launch her new book: Down with Love. The book is a feminist manifesto, teaching women how to achieve equality in the workplace by saying “no” to love, and “yes” to success.
But Barbara may have trouble following her own rules when she starts butting heads with renown journalist (and known playboy), Catcher Block.
Let’s take a look at how this story utilizes the 3 fundamental steps of storytelling…
Step 1: Catch Their Interest
Familiar + Fresh
We crave familiarity and comfort in our stories. Equally, we crave freshness and originality. Luckily, these are easy things to achieve. All we need to do is look to those that have gone before us.
One of the things that can be most helpful when beginning to brainstorm a story (or at any stage in the story development and writing process) is thinking about the stories from which you can draw the most inspiration.
This allows you to figure out how to combine two seemingly disparate stories/tropes/ideas in a way they may not have been combined before. Rather than box you in, this formula can be the very thing that gives you an edge, that makes your story feel fresh, that creates that elusive high-concept idea.
It can also save you a lot of time. You don’t need to figure out how to completely reinvent the wheel. You simply need to ask yourself:
What do I want to capture in this story?
The nostalgia of first love? The witty banter of early romantic screwball comedies? The eerie thrill of a mysterious ghost story? The heartbreak of an unexpected illness? The terror of an alien invasion? The wistfulness of Jane Austen? A man/girl unlikely pairing against the elements? A mother fighting for her son? A charming seaside summer?
Come up with two core ideas and then figure out what stories best utilize them and what it might look like if they were mashed together and twisted into something completely unique.
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The writers likely took the majority of their inspiration from classic 1960’s Rock Hudson-Doris Day rom-coms, such as Pillow Talk.
In this story, they are paying homage to these films, but also parodying them for comic effect. Many stories paved the way for the parody film, such as those from director Mel Brooks.
BONUS: If you’re ever stuck, you can look to these influencing stories for inspiration and guidance on:
conflict, stakes, or tension
relationship dynamics
story structure
character arcs
setting motivations
and more.
PLUS, when it comes time to pitch your story, you’ll have the simple X meets X formula locked and loaded. (For example, Superman meets Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, etc.)
All You
The stories you draw from will naturally bring that sense of comfort and familiarity. But the way you choose to twist, contort, flip, spin, mash, layer, and subvert those influences will make your story completely original.
Even better, by grounding your story in a clear and intentional tone, you’ll have something that is streamlined—and all yours.
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The tone of the story is vibrant, cheeky, romantic, and campy.
Step 2: Keep ‘Em Hooked
The best way to move a story along is to…well…move a story along. Just don’t make it too easy. Remember: “Sweeter after difficulty.”
As such, each scene needs to push the story + character arcs forward while also throwing in enough obstacles to keep things interesting.
In addition, there will be some bigger or more significant revelations/setbacks/introductions/plans at the 5 major plot points.
I like to call this formula, “Progress, BUT…”
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Scene 1:
PROGRESS: Barbara arrives in NYC to promote her book. She is a small-town girl with lofty ideas about creating equality between men and women by giving up on love.
BUT: She clearly has a lot of obstacles to overcome as evidenced in the condescending men’s world of publishing.
Scene 2:
PROGRESS: Catcher arrives at work after disappearing for days. He fills his boss in on what he was up to, and the story he was able to scoop while partying the weekend away.
BUT: He clearly has a lot of misogyny to overcome as evidenced by his attitude toward the women he comes in contact with.
Scene 3:
PROGRESS: Barbara vents her frustration at her publishing team’s lack of interest in promoting her book. Her friend tells her it will be fine—she got her a cover story with star journalist, Catcher Block.
BUT: In Catcher’s perspective, we see his unwillingness to offer the interview.
Scene 4:
PROGRESS: Barbara is invited by Catcher to the interview.
BUT: By the time she arrives, he has left. This becomes a pattern until Barbara, fed up, informs Catcher over the phone that she will never interview with him.
Scene 5:
PROGRESS: Barbara arrives at a bookstore to see her finalized book on the shelves.
BUT: There is only one copy available, and she must think of a way to promote the book without her team’s assistance.
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1 | Inciting Incident
INTRODUCTION: We meet Catcher Block (Barbara’s Interesting Opponent.) Barbara and he get off on the wrong foot. Barbara’s book becomes a massive, worldwide success.
2 | First Plot Point
INTRODUCTION + PLAN: Barbara and Catcher spontaneously meet in real life. He assumes a false identity in order to seduce her and expose her as a fraud.
3 | Midpoint
REVELATION: Barbara and Catcher (still under his false identity) go on many dates in a short period. Meanwhile, she denounces Catcher on television, turning all women against him.
On one particularly romantic date, Barbara realizes she may have actual feelings for Catcher, disrupting her plan to be a “down with love girl,” and tells him it’s getting too serious.
4 | Third Plot Point
REVELATION: Catcher gets Barbara to confess her feelings while he secretly records her. During this, one of his many girlfriends shows up and unwittingly reveals his true identity to Barbara.
Barbara then reveals her name isn’t actually Barbara. In truth, she was Catcher’s former secretary, Nancy. During the two weeks she worked for Catcher, she fell in love with him and plotted to write a controversial bestseller that would get his attention and prompt him to conduct one of his famous exposés, giving them time to get to know each other.
Barbara then reveals that in executing her plan, something happened that she didn’t bank on: she became a true “down with love girl,” and consequently, she no longer wants him (though Catcher now realizes he loves her).
5 | Climax
REVELATION + PLAN: Catcher, lovesick, tries to win Barbara back, but she refuses to see him. Instead, she starts her own magazine and hires all of the women away from his magazine.
Catcher writes a new kind of exposé, this time exposing himself as a man who has fallen in love, and uses it to apply for a job with Barbara.
She rejects his application, then sneaks up on him again and reveals she does love him, but she also loves her new life and career.
THROUGHLINE:
I find it most helpful to look at the 5 major plot points in the stories I study because it allows me to see the spine of the plot.
If this spine touches on the same theme and overall conflict in each plot point, the story will have a much better chance of feeling strong, streamlined, consistent, and emotionally impactful and satisfying.
In this case, the theme for Down with Love is that it’s possible to have both romantic and professional success. The conflict asks the question of whether or not Barbara will succumb to love.
Step 3: Leave ‘Em Satisfied
A story will never leave a lasting impact if it doesn’t include the resolution of an interesting character arc.
This may mean a character…
grows into their potential
achieves a dream
falls in love
becomes more realistic/optimistic/powerful/bold/outspoken/humble/selfless/etc.
becomes corrupted
gains much-needed perspective
resolves an emotional trauma
…or something else entirely (or a combination of these).
But no matter what, the arc needs to tap into the character’s emotions, traits, stage of self-awareness, and perspectives, giving us a clear snapshot of who they were Before their journey started, and who they become After it’s over.
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Barbara starts as a naive, idealistic, small-town girl with lofty ideas about her ability to change an entire history of misogyny by writing a single book that teaches women to say “no” to love. In the end, she gains more independence and perspective, and learns love can be a complement to her goals, rather than a hindrance.
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While Catcher thought he was pulling one over on Barbara, in truth, she was the one pulling the strings all along (in an effort to make him fall in love with her).
Through her journey, she realizes that, while she does love Catcher and wants to be with him, she also craves a career and independence.
In the end, she learns she can have both love and success. But this revelation only comes as a result of her journey and the way it made her believe in herself.
(See the 5 Major Plot Points above for specifics on how this plays out.)
And those are the 3 fundamental storytelling steps!
Catch Their Interest
Keep Them Hooked
Leave Them Satisfied
Of course, this isn’t to say that nothing else in the writing and storytelling process is important—there are lots of moving pieces that are helpful to understand and useful to master.
But it is to say that if you nail these 3 things, audiences will feel pleased with their journey (and will therefore be willing to forgive a lot in terms of weaknesses or oversights). They will love the story, remember it, and come back to it again and again.
