#72: The 6 Scenes Every Morality Story Needs

In today's episode, I’m covering the key scenes that every morality story needs. I’ve also included examples of how they show up in the movie Flight. Here’s a preview of what’s included: 

[01:45] Morality stories center around a protagonist with a moral compass that’s about to change, for better or for worse. They’re either seeking redemption from past mistakes or they want to silence their inner conscience so they can keep doing selfish things.

[03:00] Readers choose these types of stories because they want to see what another person will do when given the choice to act selfishly or altruistically. Will they make the “right” choice? Or the “wrong” one?

[05:15] Key Scene #1: The protagonist faces an opportunity or challenge to be selfless

[06:05] Key Scene #2: The protagonist commits to doing nothing about the greater need (and may even move in the opposite direction)

[07:30] Key Scene #3: The protagonist learns what the antagonist wants and why, and the greater external need is starting to become uncomfortable

[08:40] Key Scene #4: The protagonist reaches an all-is-lost moment where it seems like their selfish ways will no longer work

[09:35] Key Scene #5: The protagonist either sacrifices something in service of an individual, or they decide once and for all to maintain their selfish way of being

[11:00] Key Scene #6: The protagonist is either rewarded with forgiveness, or they’re punished for sticking to their selfish ways

[12:15] Key points and episode recap.

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Links mentioned in this episode:

• Episode Freebie: Morality Genre Cheat Sheet
• Ep. 2 - How to Choose the Right Genre for Your Story (article)
• What are Obligatory Scenes and Conventions? (article)

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