A murder is committed or someone gets sick the detective or doctor must find the killer or make their patient well. It reveals itself most clearly in the framework of the classic crime or hospital drama. It might be big and pronounced, as in Alien or Jaws, it might be subtler, as in Ordinary People, or it might represent a reaction against it ( Jean-Luc Godard's Weekend) – but it will be there. You'll see this shape (or its tragic counterpart) working at some level in every story. On the way they may learn something new about themselves they'll certainly be faced with a series of obstacles to overcome there will be a moment near the end where all hope seems lost, and this will almost certainly be followed by a last-minute resurrection of hope, a final battle against the odds, and victory snatched from the jaws of defeat. The story is the journey they go on to sort out the problem presented. Your character has a problem that he or she must solve: Alice has to get back to the real world our spooks have to stop a bomb going off in central London Vladimir and Estragon have to wait.

It's usually something that throws your protagonist's world out of kilter – an explosion in the normal steady pace of their lives: Alice falls down a rabbit hole spooks learn of a radical terrorist plot Godot doesn't turn up. The 'something' is almost always a problem, sometimes a problem disguised as an opportunity.

Jack discovers a beanstalk Bond learns Blofeld plans to take over the world. So you have a central character, you empathise with them, and something then happens to them, and that something is the genesis of the story. What an archetypal story does is introduce you to a central character – the protagonist – and invite you to identify with them effectively they become your avatar in the drama. O nce upon a time, in such and such a place, something happened.' In basic terms that's about it – the very best definition of a story.

Whats a good drama movie