The Five Invitations

We can pretty much guarantee that in order for your story to work, your Chosen One will receive an Invitation in one of the following five ways and act on it accordingly.

The way that they accept the Invitation is intrinsically bound up with their character and that character will be the foundation upon which your entire screenplay is built. Get this moment right and your Chosen One will begin to take over because if they are well rounded, credible and based upon truth then their reactions to all of the obstacles, dangers, temptations and stimuli between this point and the end credits will be written into their character. That is who they are. That is how they must act.

Take Me Instead - The Willing Chosen One

In Beauty and the Best there is a danger out there. Everybody knows about the danger and  they live with it, but it takes the unhappy accident of Belle's father falling prey to this danger that kick-starts the story. But he, crucially, isn't the Chosen One. It is Belle who receives the Invitation. Her father's imprisonment is that Invitation and her reaction is the only reaction that this confident, intelligent, loving hero could have. She offers herself up as a prisoner of the Beast in place of her father. She accepts her Invitation into the Dark Forest willingly and immediately.. That doesn't mean to say that she wants to participate in this story. Most Chosen Ones don't want to be in your film. Sorry. It's just a fact. But Belle is an example of the Willing Hero.

Down the Rabbit Hole - The Accidental Chosen One

Alice falls Down the Rabbit Hole in Alice in Wonderland and finds herself in a strange land that she has very little understanding of. It's some strange accident that lands her up in this world and at first there doesn't seem to be any rhyme nor reason around the event, beyond Alice's curiosity. However, this is a story about self-discovery. Despite the strange nature of the narrative, ultimately the story of Alice's adventures, along with those of all Accidental Chosen Ones, is one of self-discovery. Wonderland exists for a purpose. The purpose reveals itself as the narrative progresses, and it is Alice's continuing curiosity and inquisitive nature that leads her deeper into the world. The Invitation is thrust upon the Accidental Chosen One. They don't have a choice as to whether they accept it or not. It just happens.

Become a Swan - The Unable (to Believe) Chosen One

Hans Christian Andersen's tale of the ugly duckling chimes so deeply with the human condition that the character is almost a cliche. We recognize the personality type readily - they don't think they are pretty/clever/strong/diligent enough to succeed, but there is something lurking beneath the surface which we notice. It will just take some time for it to come out. However, we haven't entitled this Invitation 'The Ugly Duckling,' we have entitled it 'Become a Swan,' because that is the path laid out before the Chosen One as they begrudgingly accept the call of the Dark Forest. These Chosen Ones have no real sense that the journey into the Dark Forest will be of any use - because they are a duckling and they are ugly or at least that's what they think.

Drink the Potion - The Unknowing Chosen One

The Little Mermaid strikes a deal with the Sea Witch in order to woo the human she has fallen in love with. On the face of it she enters willingly into this bargain, but the Unknowing Chosen One's Invitation is disguised as an invitation to an entirely different ball. The Little Mermaid thinks that she is heading fairly and squarely into the Dark Forest in order to complete a simple task, but the Unknowing Chosen One's task is never simple. They are subject to an uneven bargain. Others are in possession of more information and the Dark Forest is much wider, darker, more confusing and more dangerous than they know when they accept the Invitation. The Little Mermaid, without her voice and with the Sea Witch as an antagonist, has a much longer journey to go on than she could ever have imagined. 

Kill the Goose - The Mistaken Chosen One

When the farmer kills The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg he is greedy for more. He wants to see how the goose works from the inside, but geese are geese, even ones that lay golden eggs, so he kills the goose. And that's the end of his golden eggs. The story is simple and the message is clear. This is the story of the anti-hero - the Mistaken Chosen One - the Chosen One who sees an opportunity and grasps it even though it is destined to take them on a path that most of us would never consider taking. This is the Chosen One whose Dark Forest is darker, larger, more complex and more tempting for them than any other.

We see each of these Invitations played out in film again and again. These fairy stories come to us disguised as horror, sci-fi, action-adventure, romantic comedy, coming of age - a hundred different genres and settings, for these are stories that begin from the point of view of the character as the heart of the narrative. Knowing your genre is of limited use to you as a storyteller. Genre is often little more than window dressing. These Invitations provide you with something of real value: a narrative arc.

If your story begins with a decision, as it should, then the character making that decision will be the same character who must negotiate all of the problems and obstacles that will be awaiting them in the Dark Forest. They will probably change as the story progresses, but they will still, essentially, be the same person. Their change will be nuanced around the tale that is being told - to learn to love or be loved, to learn to fight or forgive, to discover their own inner strengths, but this change or growth does not fundamentally alter them as characters.

Your Chosen One must be fully realized character from their Once Upon a Time because they are going to have to carry the next 100 pages of your screenplay. The correct character having the correct response to the correct Invitation will provide the opening for your film from which all other choices and decisions will emanate. Your character will build the structure of your screenplay because they are the driving force behind it.