Position of first Story Driver in regards to MC Throughline

theory
#1

Just a quick question about the position of the first driver – apologise if this has been discussed before, but I couldn’t find anything on it.

In regards to drivers/signpost/PSR – does the first driver have to be the first point?

It totally makes sense to me that the first driver would be the first point in the overall story

Ie First driver, signpost 1 (PSR beginning, middle, end), First plot point, etc etc etc…

However, I just wanted to check if that was the case with MC throughline

For example, with a MC using the situation domain (present), with a signpost 1 of past and a PSR of (instinct, senses, interpretation, conditioning), could you have the following

Signpost 1 – past
Instinct in regards to past
Senses leading to interpretation in regards to past
First Story Driver
Conditioning in regards to past

Or does it always have to be

First Story driver
Signpost 1 – past
Instinct in regards to past
Senses leading to interpretation in regards to past
Conditioning in regards to past

I hope this makes sense – not sure I’m being that clear on what I’m trying to say.

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#2

Yes, you can have some of the MC beats occur prior to the First Story Driver. I believe this happens in Zootopia and Chris Huntley mentions it during the Zootopia analysis which is available on video.

And in The Princess Bride I’m pretty sure there’s a bit of each of MC, IC, and RS prior to the First Story Driver.

Of course you wouldn’t have any Act 2 beats prior to the First Driver. And the OS beats should occur after it (though keep in mind the Driver can be, and probably is, a beat itself).

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#3

Thank you! This is awesome.

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