A story is simply this: a HERO wants a GOAL despite an OBSTACLE.
These three elements are the core DNA of any story. And, like DNA, even a small change to any of these elements will have a massive impact on how the story manifests.
These three story elements follow three fundamental principles.
There can only be one of each element. One hero, one goal, and one obstacle in the way of that goal. This is crucial to understand to be able to tell a story in any context. There can only be ONE of each element.
This means that whatever the hero wants, it’s what is wanted MOST. It’s necessary, visceral, life-and-death (or close). And, whatever the obstacle is, it’s the HUGE #1 problem that seems impossible to overcome.
In a story, the goal the hero wants so deeply, badly, and urgently, is very closely related to the hero’s identity. The hero is, in some sense, the person who wants that particular goal the MOST.
At the same time, the hero’s obstacle is profound, vexing, and insurmountable because of the hero’s nature. The hero is, in some sense, the person who suffers MOST because of this obstacle.
The three elements have to fit together because the goal and the obstacle are both equivalent, in some sense, to the hero. Thus, each of the three elements implies the other two, and when you know one element, you can often deduce the other two.
This definition of three elements following three principles pertains to storytelling for entertainment and storytelling for business. However, entertainment provides more of the source material.
Storytelling needs to be understood first from an entertainment perspective because in entertainment, specifically film, TV, and new media (read: anything online), the story itself is something you can actually get paid for – i.e., you can get a “Story By” credit distinct from “Created By, “Screenplay By,” “Teleplay by, “Written by,” or “By.”
While there are varying perspectives of course, in my experience, professional screenwriters speak this language: hero, goal, obstacle.
So…
When someone says, “what’s the story here?” or “what story are we telling?” the answer has this shape: it’s about ONE hero who wants ONE goal despite ONE seemingly insurmountable obstacle.