‘Yes, And’-ing Your Story Into Existence: The Hunger Games Edition

When watching a movie or TV show, I’m always thinking about how and why a story works, and how and why the writer made those particular story choices. I’m also intrigued by how the concept began. How small was the kernel of the idea when they began to formulate the story and how did they go about expanding on the original premise to populate their world and find the protagonist’s ultimate journey? 

I had the thought that the ol’ Improv 101 method of “Yes, and” could make for a great method to build a story from the first bud of an idea. At least, to get it started. This would probably work best with a writing partner or a group as you talk aloud and just keep the conversation and ideas going, but you can also do it on your own. (I also call this method “concept stacking” because it’s a process of adding new elements on top of an original premise.)

The only rule is that you have to add a unique element each time. Hopefully, it makes logical sense within the dramatic world that you’ve started building and it roughly works with your theme, but you may not even have your theme or your world yet, so just focus on contributing something new. As with Improv, don’t think about it too much and try not to use any judgment. Ideally, your new story detail would also generate some conflict for the protagonist, but it doesn’t have to at this point. It can just flesh out the hero or present a new way of showing us a familiar element.

Like an improvised scenario, once you’ve established the thrust of a scene, the main dynamic, you want to try to “heighten” the conflict by asking, “If this unusual thing is true, then what else is true?”

Let’s try it with one of my favorite popular books/movies of recent years, The Hunger Games, originally written in book form by Suzanne Collins, who was then joined by screenwriters Gary Ross and Billy Ray for the film adaptation.

Here goes. First, you begin with a dramatic scenario that involves a lot of conflict, high stakes and heavy consequences. Maybe this is something really crazy and new, or maybe it’s a familiar, classic scenario. Such as…

There is a contest where a group of interesting people with unique skills fight each other.

Yes, and the contestants are teenagers.

Yes, and it is a contest to the death with only one person left standing at the end. Kill or be killed.

Yes, and it’s televised.

Yes, and our hero becomes the ‘star’ of the telecast and the audience really starts to root for her.

Yes, and she even has her own stylist because slay, queen.

Yes, and she has an amazing skill.

Yes, she’s an incredible archer, deadly with a bow.

Yes, and she’s able to shoot down many of the contestants with her bow, from afar, which immediately gives her an advantage.

Yes, and this doesn’t last long because alliances are formed and now there are teams and they quickly figure out she’s the one to eliminate.

Yes, and amongst the teams there is the Big Bad villain contestant who is crazy deadly and has no remorse and she tries to kill him, but she fails and barely escapes with her life.

Yes, and there is also one competitor that she can’t kill because she knows them, there is a personal connection and so they become her only ally.

Yes, and it’s a boy from her hometown and there is some kind of romance between them, maybe she has a crush on him.

Yes, and we grow to really like him because he saves her life and is a good guy.

Yes, but the romance needs to be more unique, so what if it’s the other way around, he likes her more.

Yes, and she fakes like she likes him for the cameras, so they’ll both become stars in the hopes that the audience will somehow save them, and also because she has a true love back home.

Yes, but since her ally is not faking his attraction to her, there is a tension between them, but the audience eats it up, anyway.

Yes, and the audience can somehow send them gifts or weapons that up their chances of survival.

Yes, although there’s a limit and the advantages run out, leading to a final fight against the Big Bad.

Yes, and the two “lovers” fight Big Bad together and win.

Yes, but now it’s just them and the rules stipulate that only one contestant can escape with their life, which really sucks on an emotional level because our protagonist has really started to fall for her partner because she’s watched him risk his life to save her time and time again, and maybe true love is blossoming?

Yes, and everyone is watching and on the edge of their seats to see if the lovers will kill one another.

Yes, and this has never happened before, it’s unprecedented and the Overlord who runs this game is really angry that they’ve screwed it up and the audience is turning on him.

Yes, and the Overlord can’t intervene without breaking the rules of the contest which would really piss off the audience and he’d look weak and the telecast might be canceled forever.

Yes, and the two lovers know this, so the two lovers plan to both commit suicide in solidarity to give the ultimate screw you to the Overlord and the sadistic regime that allows this horror show and maybe get this horrible annual event canceled forever so they save future lives.

Yes, and taking a page out of Romeo & Juliet, they decide to both take poison.

Yes, and they both die tragically, and the story ends and there is not a dry eye in the house.

Yes, that’s one way to go, but this is Hollywood and we need sequels... so somehow they both need to figure out how to survive without sacrificing their integrity or we won’t respect them or feel satisfied by this story and also remember sequels.

Yes, so they fake like they’re going to take the poison, and the audience and the Overlord buy it and he’s steaming mad because they’ve screwed up his carefully-calculated sadistic game.

Yes, and just as it looks like they’re going to take it, the Overlord stops the game and they are rescued.

Yes, but wait! Isn’t that a textbook “Deus Ex Machina” where some other force comes in and saves the day for the hero, thus robbing them of their holy right to defeat the villain and achieve their goal and also because the writer is lazy?

Yes, so let’s back up, they’re not faking like they’re going to take the poison, they actually were about to do it, which is why we have respect for them, and this action pushed the Overlord to stop the game for the first time, declaring them both winners, which ruins his evil plans and makes him look weak because a couple of teenagers outwitted him. Oh, if not for those meddling kids!

Yes, they won. They stuck it to The Man, even though he’s still in power which means he, and they, will live to fight another day, which means we need a sequel.

Yes, and cha ching, which is the universal sound for making bank because this mother is now a Franchise.

Yes, but it’s also a really good story, right?

Yes, it is.

Stay tuned for more Yes, And-ing of popular stories! Meanwhile, you can read more analysis of The Hunger Games and many more popular movies in the new, Updated Edition of Calvisi’s book Story Maps: How to Write a GREAT Screenplay exclusively available at his website.

If you’re interested in writing a new Horror or Thriller story with the help of several industry professionals with credits that include Final Destination, Cabin Fever, Blumhouse, Amazon and Lifetime, enrollment is now open in the Story Maps Horror & Thriller Seminar.