Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
Great stories define us.
The better they are, the bigger their audience.
So let us studyCatsand learn its secrets.
Plot, he says, is the very thread of design that makes the tapestry of narrative possible.
Yes perhaps, deceptively so.
A great part of the secret of dramatic storytelling structure lies in this one word:tension.
The items in this junk pile are noticeably, even disturbingly, large.
There is a massive, crumpled, empty bag of chips, possibly Doritos.
There is an enormous, dirty bra.
What is all this garbage, and why is it so big?
I dont know about you, but Im already nervous.
The tension has begun.
Who the hell are these cats, and why do they have human breasts and genitalia?!
The master storyteller has me right in his clutches.
From these thrilling first moment,Catsleads us through the archetypal journey that all great stories tell.
), what a ride we are on … a ride that onlyperfect storytelling structurecould make possible.
Character
Now for something that we in the storytelling biz call a twist.
We have been talking about plot, yet what is plot, really, but character?
What is an event but a change in a life, an action undertaken, achoice?
Well, inCats, there are only cats, and there is only one choice to be made.
Made by the Jellicle Cats, at the Jellicle Ball, under the Jellicle Moon.
And since this is literally the only thing that happens in the whole show?
Cats are always stealing jewelry!
Thats a beautiful detail ripped from the headlines of real life.
So how does a writer create a character?
Or really, atribeof characters, who are all cats with human genitalia?
Lap up some milk.
Youre now a cat who is also a rabbi.
Just fucking go for it.
One of the questions asked byCatsis, wouldnt it be nice if that someone was named Bustopher Jones?
To understand hisquest, you must ask yourself: Who is Bustopher Jones?
What are Bustopher Joness intentions?What does Bustopher Jones want?
Quest
to get to draw a character out with absolute precision, try an exercise.
This is a normal occupation for a cat and nobody has any questions about it.
In fact, the train literallycannot startwithout Skimbleshanks, which is what gives Skimbleshanks his political power.
If he fails, he will no longer be considered the cleverest of all the cat magicians.
Which, obviously, would suck.
I would have all the cats introduce themselves, one by one, so I could consider my options.
Then I would call it a night.
Which is why the show is over.Thatsmastery.
You may hope to weave a tale so compelling that, likeCats, it will last now and forever.
Maybe you could even adaptCatsinto a TV show!
But be warned, success in the storytellers craft can be bittersweet.
In the words of Jenji Kohan, showrunning is a pie-eating contest where the prize is more pie.
And in this case, the prize … is more cats.
