Years ago, during marriage counseling, I was given an unusual assignment.
Instead of a worksheet or communication exercise, the therapist suggested something unexpected: learn screenwriting.
At the time the idea felt strange. I wasn’t trying to become a filmmaker. I was just trying to understand why my life felt unstable and confusing.
Still, I followed the suggestion and began studying story structure.
Screenwriters analyze stories using concepts like catalysts, turning points, rising tension, and the emotional arc of a character moving through difficulty toward transformation.
Stories, it turns out, follow patterns.
There is usually an ordinary world where life feels predictable. Then something disrupts that stability. The character resists the disruption, struggles through uncertainty, and eventually reaches a moment where something inside them must change.
Only after that internal shift can the story move forward.
Years later, when I began journaling during a period of illness and uncertainty, I wasn’t thinking about storytelling at all. I was simply trying to stay mentally clear while navigating a difficult season of life.
But as I reviewed those journal entries later, something fascinating appeared.
Many of the moments I had written about matched the same structural beats screenwriters use when mapping character transformation.
There were catalysts, internal debates, dark nights of the soul, and small breakthroughs in understanding.
Without realizing it, I had been documenting my life like a story.
The structure had been there all along.
Alignment Before Outcome
Alignment often begins with understanding the narrative we are living inside.
When difficult experiences appear random or chaotic, they can feel overwhelming. But recognizing patterns within those experiences can restore clarity and direction.
Story structure becomes a way of making sense of transformation.
The structure of the story had been there all along.
If this resonated, pull up a chair. I send one letter a month with new writing and honest updates on my novel, Paul’s Penance. Sign up at danhansen.com.
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