Stay On the Spine

by Diana Osberg

Stay on the spine. As a writer, how many times have you heard this? You may have a general idea of what it means, but do you really understand it in a practical sense? How do you spot when you’ve veered off course? How do you fix it?

Think of a story as being like the spine of a human body. Every bone that you place in the story spine (plotline) must fit together in the right order and push the story toward its completion. Any bone that does not fit and support the story must be eliminated. You have to be that brutal.

You may also think of a story as being like a connect-the-dots game where you are placing dots in a specific manner in order to create a picture. Each dot must contribute to creating the picture. If it does not, delete the dot.

Alternatively, the story may be viewed as a game of dominoes in which each domino must be placed carefully and specifically so that they will fall from beginning to end—cause and effect. Each domino must be placed in the right position in order to fell all dominoes from beginning to end. If they are placed incorrectly, the motion stops and you don’t complete the mission.

You may ask, “How do I know if I have the right bones (dots, dominoes)?” Let’s take a step back in order to answer this question.

First of all, your protagonist MUST have a clear goal. Ask yourself, “What does my protagonist want?”

Next, you must determine what steps your protagonist needs to take in order to achieve his goal. Ask yourself, “Where is my protagonist now and where do I want him to end up?”

Keep the following in mind. Make every scene count. Each scene must further your protagonist’s goal. For each scene in your script, ask yourself, “Why is this scene in here?” “How does it move the plot forward?” Do not write a scene just to develop character or theme or to step up on your soapbox to prove a point about some subject. Each scene MUST move the plot forward. If it doesn’t, get rid of it. Again, you have to be that brutal.

Now, this does not mean that your protagonist must be present in every scene. Other characters will impact on how the protagonist’s story moves forward, especially the antagonist—your villain. In act two, your villain is responsible for putting up every obstacle he can possibly perpetrate in order to keep your hero from achieving his goal. Each time this happens, the protagonist must rethink his tactics and find a way around the obstacle. That is a bone in your spine.

Often the protagonist’s goal will change in the course of his journey. This is okay and often desired. It’s is a natural development as your character learns and grows. Let your spine adapt to those changes.

The most important guide to staying on the spine is to keep your protagonist’s goal in mind. Keep asking yourself the above questions and the story path will become clear to you.