This year on Studio Insider, I going to do something different.
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I'm going to use Breaking Bad Season 2 as a vehicle to demonstrate different storytelling principles then show how they can be applied to B2B content marketing.
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I'm doing this because it's become painful to me to see how shallow most of the "B2B Storytelling" advice is out there.
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Most of it is some reskinned version of The Hero's Journey, which, while it is a popular framework, it's not a universal reflection of the human experience.
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Also, the way most "B2B storytellers" talk about it lacks depth.

They'll cover the main story beats (call to adventure, refusal of the call, meets the mentor, etc) but doesn't go much further.
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From what I've seen, this has left plenty of marketers scratching their head and doubting their own ability, because they can't figure out where their place is in the customer's story.
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What we're going to do is get down into the atomic level of different storytelling principles so you can see the mechanics of what makes content engaging and bring those principles into your own work, without having to worry if they fit into some arbitrary story beat.
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I'm choosing Breaking Bad because:

1. It is widely considered one of the best television shows of all time.
2. Vince Gilligan and his writing team use every tool in the writer's toolbox.
3. The ongoing nature of TV shows perfectly mirrors the publishing schedule of a content program.

I'm starting with Season 2 because while Season 1 was amazing at setting the stage for the series, Season 2 is where they first become consistent with their episode count, and it's where the real story kicks in.
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Spoilers ahead.

The Super Objective & Central Conflict

​In December's Lightning Lesson on Maven I made the argument that companies should structure their content calendar in accordance to the four act structure.

I believe that because we're exposed to well over 1,500+ things competing for our attention online everyday, having a narrative consistency in a content calendar is critical for our own sanity as creators, but also because it gives people reasons to click deeper, read more, and come back more often.
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Also... four quarters, four acts...

Keeps everything pretty neat I think.
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The broad scope of the yearly calendar is governed by two things:

• The Super Objective: What does the reader ultimately want?
• The Central Conflict: What is getting in their way?

For Walter White, he states his Super-Objective for the season exactly 3 minutes and 51 seconds in first episode; he needs to make $737,000 so he can make sure his family is secure before he passes away of cancer.
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The Central Conflict is that for him to do this, he'll have to reconcile his role as a moral family man while dealing with the brutal realities of the drug trade.
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Now let's say you, dear reader's Super Objective is to be viewed as a strategic leader by the end of the year, your Central Conflict might be "a boss who doesn't understand content marketing."

These two elements serve as guardrails for the story you're trying to tell over the year.
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It can also help you determine the smaller phases of the story you need to tell as your protagonist (the reader) works toward their goal.

The Four Act Structure

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Breaking Bad Season 2 is made up of 13 episodes.
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The first six make up Acts 1 & 2, the final six make up Acts 3 & 4 with a midpoint episode in the middle.
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Each Act is a phase within the journey of reaching the Super Objective, and the Acts come with their own sets of objectives and conflicts Walt and Jesse must face if they want to make their drug operation viable.

The Act objectives create the focus for the characters, while the conflicts, or more specifically, how the characters respond to the conflict, shape the narrative purpose of the Act.
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In Breaking Bad Season 2 that looks like:
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Having a pre-defined focus and purpose for the Act gives each episode a job to do, either by establishing a character trait or introducing a critical plot point that'll get paid off somewhere down the line.
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When all the episodes within an Act do their job, character choices feel organic no matter how far removed they are from the character's original state, because they're the result of the cause and effect that got them there.
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When the episodes within an Act do not do their job, character's choices and plot elements feel forced or unnatural.
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That's why Walt watching Jane die in the second to last episode of Season 2 feels natural and Daenerys Targaryen burning everyone alive in the second to last episode of Game of Thrones does not.
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While we're likely not talking about justifying your reader's reasons for murder, the same idea of Act focus and purpose apply just as well to a narrative driven content calendar as well.

Here, if the reader's Super Objective is "to be seen as a strategic leader" and their Central Conflict is "a boss who doesn't understand content marketing," we can break the Acts down into four broad phases of what needs to happen for them to achieve their goal, with each Act having its own focus and narrative purpose.

1. Build a foundation
2. Master operational excellence
3. Demonstrate strategic value
4. Negotiate a raise

This is already getting a little long, so I'm going to speed this up a bit so you get the gist.

After we've broken the year up into for Acts, we're going to break each Act down into 3 sequences, or themes for each month that will help complete the act.

Wthin each sequence, determine what your "A-Plot" and "B-Plot" themes need to be to help the reader achieve their goals.
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In the case of a content marketer wanting to be seen as a trusted expert, they need to focus on the technical skills (A-Plot) and personal skills (B-Plot) if they're going to get that promotion.
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Just like before, now we set the objectives and conflicts for A-plot has objectives, using The Three Layers of Conflict, I also determine early on what the conflicts for that plot will be.
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