– Notre Dame, site of another Victor Hugo story. No, not ‘Rudy’.
There is a part of storytelling that all the greats know. Get this right, and you will overwhelm your audience with emotion. Tears will be shed.
People will love your characters more than their own family.
Okay, I embellished a bit. Still, the lesson is important to any great novel, movie, or series.
And I learned it from a musical.
One Day More
Last year I saw Les Miserables
Well, I saw it in England back in 2009, but this time it was the movie version.
Two-thirds of the way in, there’s a song called ‘One Day More’. In just four minutes, I learned a lesson about storytelling that’s easily worth a million dollars.
In most stories, plot climax happens around 75-80% through the story.
The ring of power is destroyed.
The Nazis reap the consequences of tampering with the Ark of the Covenant.
Michael Corleone takes out his enemies while attending a baptism.
In most of these situations, the main character fully realizes the outcome of pursuing his goal, and the conflict in his story diminishes after it is over.
That’s a good story.
But what about a great story?
All Story Arcs Meet at the Top
A great story weaves the plots of all the characters – all their hopes, dreams, fears, and ambitions – and guides them towards one eruption point.
In this short segment of Les Mis, here is what happens:
Jean Valjean is trying to leave France before it erupts in civil war, all the while fearing that he will never escape his past.
Marius makes a lifelong commitment to a girl who is leaving the country, while deciding to join an under-equipped, and under-prepared side of the rebellion.
Cossette realizes she loves someone other than her father, then is pulled away from it before she could ever enjoy the relationship.
Eponine realizes she will never be with the man she loves, and she truly has nothing left to lose by joining the rebels.
Enolras leads a group of young men all willing to die for freedom from tyranny – and the fight starts tomorrow!
Javer has put all his faith in an institution he thought couldn’t be beaten. Now that it may crumble, he sees his very source of security and identity under attack. He will spy against the rebels in what is probably the least convincing covert op in history.
Mr. and Mrs. Thernadiere risk their lives more than ever to profit from the chaos around them
Society: The upper class abandoned responsibility and replaced it with selfishness. They like the status quo. The lower class, on the other hand, will do whatever it takes to make things right.
See my point? All the story arcs meet at the top near the same moment. In my opinion, this is why Les Miserables affects people so deeply.
If you want to one day create a story just as powerful, do not ignore this lesson.
Every character must feel like the story is about them, and each character must face their demons at the same moment.
One day more builds suspense about all these characters and the world they live in –in about four minutes. If a good plot was like opium, then ‘One day more’ in Les Mis is storytelling heroin.
For a dose of what I’m talking about, check out this song here. Nobody knows the day or hour of judgement day, but for the characters in your story – you should!
REVERSAL: With any rule, there is always an exception. This may be too elaborate for any story that could be read/seen in just 30 minutes. Also, this technique could become predictable if you overuse it. Nonetheless, you should be able to create an epic masterpiece if your story calls for it, and this plot technique will serve you well.
Have you ever seen a story that followed this rule really well? Let me know in the comments below.