# Breaking Down Story Units for Novels **URL:** \ **Category:** Writing\ **Created:** [April 29, 2018, 9:10pm UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/breaking-down-story-units-for-novels/1718 "2018-04-29T21:10:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 12
**Author:** ![jhull](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex010/user_avatar/discuss.dramatica.com/jhull/32/3_2.png) [@jhull](https://discuss.dramatica.com/u/jhull)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2018, 6:02pm UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/breaking-down-story-units-for-novels/1718/12 "2018-04-30T18:02:46Z")
> [@adanawtn](#): > > But I’m not quite sure at this point because, do Events within the scenes have their own quad? For instance, if I have a Situation Event, does that also need to hit Past, Progress, Future, and Present within that Event? If that is the case, then my “Scenes” are actually Events, which would work. The answer is yes. Because the model loops in on itself, when you move into greater detail you’ll find the model repeated ad infinitum. It was once explained to me as a train car on a track - that is, our minds can only hold four levels in context at once and be able to ascribe some greater meaning to everything. The train “track” is the constantly repeated fractal nature of: Domain - Concern - Issue - Element - Domain - Concern - Issue - Element → and so on You can’t go into greater detail of each Element without losing sight of the top, and vice versa. You can move the “track” of the story up and down, but just know that the further detail you go into the easier it is to lose track of the bigger pieces. That’s why the model holds those four as what is needed to gather meaning. > [@adanawtn](#): > > I guess what’s really bugging me is that I don’t see how the 24/28 Magic Scenes fit into the 64 Scenes that would be created using the PSR method that everyone is so fond of. Forget about the 24/28 Magic scenes. They mix both subjective and objective views of the storyform and therefore are no bueno. That’s why you can’t resolve it all. Signposts and Journeys don’t mix - you’re either looking at Signposts OR you’re looking at Journeys. The typical “28” major beats found in a story are a combination of: - Four signposts from every Throughline - Overall Story Sequences from the Overall Story Throughline - 4 or 5 Story Driver beats That gets you the usual 28-32 from a STRUCTURAL perspective – without having to resort to a Journey appreciation of the narrative. I would leave that for the Audience. --- _[View the full topic](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/breaking-down-story-units-for-novels/1718)._