Storytelling Gems: 10 Story Types (Buddy Love)
Part 1 - Buddy Love
Crafting captivating stories is an art form that many of us muddle through. Forgetting punchlines, meandering off-topic, and struggling to hook our audience’s attention...
Yet, at the heart of every great story lies a journey.
Allow me to share a storytelling gem I unearthed years ago, a tool that has fuelled my creative journey across different mediums - from online adverts and documentaries to short films, podcasts, and interactive events.
The catalyst?
Blake Snyder’s book ‘Save The Cat’.
It is a great source of inspiration for storytellers. Among its many treasures, Snyder shares 10 Story Types;
Monster in the House (e.g. Jaws) - A monster in a confined setting.
Golden Fleece (e.g. Star Wars) - A hero on a quest.
Out of the Bottle (e.g. Bruce Almighty) - "I wish I had a ..." fantasy fulfilment story.
Dude with a problem (e.g. Die Hard) - Just a normal day and then something bad happens.
Rites of Passage (e.g. Superbad) - Transitioning, often painfully, through stages of life.
Buddy Love (e.g. Dumb and Dumber) - Two characters, halves of a complete whole.
Whydunit (e.g. Knives Out) - A search for answers.
The Fool Triumphant (e.g. Forrest Gump) - An overlooked character, who triumphs.
Institutionalised (e.g. The Godfather) - About groups, families and institutions.
Superhero (e.g. Spiderman) - An extraordinary person in an ordinary world.
These Story Types are not the same as genre labels like horror, action, comedy or romance.
Consider the similarities between Die Hard and Finding Nemo. One is an action-packed-fest featuring Bruce Willis beating up bad guys and the other is a kid-friendly animated adventure about a missing fish but they both embody the Dude with a Problem story. One moment everything is fine and then BAM! Tragedy strikes our ordinary hero.
Similarly, Star Wars, Tangled, Argo, Rocky, True Grit and Inception share the narrative DNA of the Golden Fleece story.
Meanwhile, The Godfather, Encanto, Point Break, Sicario, The Help, and Free Solo convey Institutionalised stories.
But how does this revelation help us? ... Well, understanding these Story Types serves as a guide and in this article, I will share how I apply them.
When crafting your next narrative, ask yourself, which Story Type does it align with?
During interviews, I try to figure out what type of story each interviewee is telling, so I can tailor my questions. This is particularly important if the interviewee struggles to tell stories or talk on camera.
Let's examine four phrases spoken by interviewees on the topic of starting a career.
a) “I founded my business five years ago with my business partner …”
b) “It took me a long time to figure out what I wanted to do ..."
c) “I always wanted to work in education …”
d) “My first job interview was a lucky mistake …”
Can you match each one with a Story Type?
Here are my answers ...
a) Buddy Love
b) Rite of Passage
c) Institutionalised
d) Fool Triumphant
Ultimately, what I seek is a compelling promise followed by a satisfying payoff. Any mention of aspirations or changes in routine are hints at a promise. Whereas, conflict is a good indicator that there will be a payoff. Each Story Type offers unique trajectories for promising setups and fulfilling resolutions.
If the first interviewee had said, "I founded my company five years ago," but never mentioned their business partner, then there's little to no reason for me to pursue a Buddy Love story. That small detail makes all the difference.
I should add, that other Story Types may equally resonate with the provided phrases. Who's to say these phrases can't be Golden Fleece or Out of the Bottle stories? The key lies in asking the right questions to unveil the most compelling stories.
If you are an avid film enthusiast, you may already possess an innate ability to recognise Story Types. However, utilising the information takes practise. Try this next approach with one of your own stories.
Example: 'Buddy Love' story
Buddy Love stories like Romeo and Juliet, Pretty Woman and Titanic are romance stories. Whereas, Buddy Love stories like Zootropolis, Dumb and Dumber and The Green Book are love stories in disguise.
In Zootropolis, the main characters Judy and Nick are individually "incomplete" characters. They need each other to grow and succeed.
Nick and Judy's story includes four key achievements...
Nick helps Judy solve a crime.
Judy saves Nick’s life.
Nick helps Judy overcome her prejudicial views.
Judy helps Nick see that he can be so much more.
You can see a similar relationship in Green Book.
Despite their differences, the two men soon develop an unexpected bond while confronting racism and danger in an era of segregation.
Tony helps Dr Don complete his concert tour in the deep south.
Dr Don helps Tony overcome prejudicial views about race.
Tony helps Dr Don combat loneliness.
Dr Don helps Tony write letters to his wife.
If you want to tell a Buddy Love story, consider how the characters complete each other, and what success and growth (externally and internally) they have achieved together. That's the starting point! I have listed achievements for Zootropolis and Green Book. I recommend that you try and list achievements (ideally 1 or 2 per character) for the Buddy Love story you are crafting.
Next, explore the character arcs.
When interviewing the person who said, “I founded my company five years ago with my business partner ...", I took a gamble on the Buddy Love story and followed up with these questions:
Q. "How did you meet?"
Q. "What was your first impression of your business partner?"
Q. "What were the main differences in the ways you approached running the business?"
Q. "Was there ever any talk of quitting? What kept you going?"
Q. "What were you like back then?"
All of this is forming the setup of the story. The idea was to capture a before-and-after snapshot of the two main characters, establish the motivation for founding a company, and list the compelling reasons to stick together and see it through.
Often, in Buddy Love stories, the characters dislike each other at first or at the very least, can't see eye to eye on certain matters. What keeps them together is often primal, such as the need for survival, companionship, understanding, or ambition to succeed.
Dysfunctional pairings - or chalk and cheese characters, as I call it - are the most interesting to watch. Characters of different ages, genders, cultures, backgrounds, specialisms, ideologies etc - all have potential for mutual influence.
A great example of mutual influence in a professional setting can be viewed in The Intern. It is a story about 70yr old Ben (De-Niro) seizing the opportunity to become a senior intern at an online fashion site, founded and run by Jules (Hathaway). Over the course of the film, the two characters rub off on each other, imbuing the other with lessons and qualities.
The meat of the story is presented within critical acts that shape the development of the buddy relationship. i.e. What does each character do for the other?
This information can be harder to pull out in an interview but it is essential content for the story. I find myself rewording questions in a variety of ways to prompt interviewees to recollect key memories.
Q. What were the biggest highs and lows in the first year of business?
Q. Who was responsible for solving 'that' problem?
Q. What do you know now, that you didn't when you started the company?
There's a popular quiz show called 'Mr and Mrs,' designed with dozens of questions tailored for couples to test how well they know each other. It serves as an entertaining game, particularly insightful when exploring the dynamics of a Buddy Love relationship.
I take inspiration from this game because it is very effective at provoking interesting reactions, with questions like:
Q. One word to describe their first impression of you?
Q. Most annoying habit?
Q. Who's the better driver?
Q. Who is the tidiest?
Q. Who is most likely to buy the other person a present?
Everything rides on the relationship in a Buddy Love story, therefore every effort must be made to explore it and find the golden nuggets that makes the relationship special.
Another Buddy Love example that I have to include is the "Did we just become friends?" scene from 'Step Brothers' with Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly.
It makes me laugh every time I watch it 😂😂😂
Most Buddy Love stories have an 'All is Lost' moment towards the end, marked by separation, conflict, or farewells. However, the Buddy Love journey underscores their mutual reliance - they realise they are incomplete without each other, forming a complementary whole.
But! ... Not every story concludes with such reconciliation.
Finding resolution may prove challenging in certain instances, yet every journey offers invaluable lessons learned and profound transformations.
I encourage you to watch Damien Chazelle's films 'Whiplash' and 'La La Land'. Neither has quite the ending you might expect but the resolution is clear.
And that is why I concluded my interview with the following questions:
Q. What is your relationship with your business partner like today?
Q. What have you learned from the experience?
That concludes today's article but don't worry if you're not crafting a Buddy Love story. Remember, there are 9 more Story Types to explore.
I hope this article has provided a useful introduction to Blake Synder's 10 Story Types. If you want to learn more, you can check out his book 'Save The Cat' .
Alternatively, get in touch with me if you want more information on how to apply Story Types to your own projects.
I am a self employed video producer and digital skills coach based near Manchester. My goal is to support the creation of positive, creative, digital cultures. Storytelling is a huge part of that vision and has much to offer when it comes to communicating and connecting with customers, audiences and communities.
Thanks for reading!
Tom
