Storytelling Guide: Dan Harmon’s Story Circle Explained

The act of telling stories has always been with us. Anthropologist Joseph Campbell collected stories from around the world and found that they all share the same basic structure. Campbell’s “Hero’s Journey” lays out each fundamental step of this story structure. Decades later, Dan Harmon drew on this idea and created the “Story Circle.” In Dan Harmon’s Story Circle, there are 8 basic steps that can guide almost any story from fade in to fade out.

The Universal Language of Storytelling

There are two universal languages. One is mathematics… and the other is story. Storytelling is part of the human experience. We tell stories to pass on history, learn how to live, and answer questions about “right” and “wrong.”

You don’t need a PhD in English literature to know whether a story works. We all have an instinct for what a story should do, even if we can’t clearly articulate it. Perhaps the most common narrative element that determines a story’s success is structure.

Today our goal is to lay out a narrative formula: Dan Harmon’s Story Circle. Let’s begin with a simple definition.

What Is Dan Harmon’s Story Circle?

Dan Harmon’s Story Circle is a story structure divided into eight distinct parts that describe the protagonist’s journey. These eight steps, also known as the “story embryo” or “plot embryo,” map out how a character pursues a goal outside their ordinary life. Whether or not they achieve the goal, they ultimately return to normal life changed.

Writer-director Dan Harmon is best known for Community and Rick and Morty.

The 8 Steps of Dan Harmon’s Story Circle:

1. You — A character is in a zone of comfort,

2. Need — But they want something.

3. Go — They enter an unfamiliar situation,

4. Search — Adapt to it,

5. Find — Get what they wanted,

6. Take — Pay a heavy price for it,

7. Return — Then return to their familiar situation,

8. Change — Having changed.

Granted, the eight steps of the Story Circle above are very simplified. The diagram below shows the order and shape of the structure.

Why is the story structure a circle? Why not a straight line from Step 1 to Step 8? The circle gives the story an invisible momentum, almost like a roller coaster.

The protagonist starts at the top of the story and inevitably undergoes a symbolic descent, which the Story Circle also depicts literally. At the bottom of the circle, the protagonist is at a “low point” both literally and metaphorically, and their eventual rise to success is also visually represented in the circle.

You’ll first notice how closely Harmon’s Story Circle mirrors real life. The stories we tend to tell often (quite naturally) follow Dan Harmon’s Story Circle. The legendary writer himself once described the Story Circle and how it works in an episode of Rick and Morty.

You need to go, search, find, take, return, and change. These eight steps make up Dan Harmon’s Story Circle, because narrative is how we make sense of the world around us. You can also think of the Story Circle as a streamlined version of Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey. Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat! also follows a similar three-act pattern.

Campbell’s work profoundly influenced George Lucas in creating one of the most successful film franchises in history, Star Wars. You can also see echoes of Campbell’s work in The Matrix, Harry Potter, and The Lord of the Rings.

Step One: You

The essence of “You” is establishing the protagonist of the story. The protagonist doesn’t have to be a single person; it could be a family or a team. This is our introduction to the main character and our chance to get to know them before the story truly begins.

This is crucial for building a compelling character arc. A major component of storytelling is the “transformation” the protagonist undergoes during their journey. At this stage, we clearly set up the character arc so we can assess this transformation at the end of the story. It’s also the key time to understand the character’s environment—the world they inhabit, the rules of that world, and how they fit into it.

If we look at our case studies, we can see what “You” looks like:

• Toy Story — We meet Woody and see the joy he gets from being Andy’s favorite toy.
• Inception — We meet Cobb and learn that he’s a contractor who steals information from people’s subconscious minds.
• Star Wars — We meet Luke, who is stuck working on his uncle’s farm and longs to explore the outside world.

Step Two: Need

Once we know who the protagonist is and what their world looks like, the next step is to figure out what they “need.” Something happens to the protagonist that triggers a problem or question (in other words, an inciting incident). This is where the story starts to take shape—if “You” is the “who” of the story, then “Need” is the “what.”

Here we learn the protagonist’s main goal, and the pursuit of that goal will drive the rest of the story.

• Toy Story — With the arrival of Buzz Lightyear, Woody needs to figure out how to become Andy’s favorite toy again.
• Inception — Cobb needs to decide whether to accept Saito’s job, which could give him a chance to return home to his children.
• Star Wars — When R2-D2 delivers Princess Leia’s message, Obi-Wan invites Luke to join him in delivering the Death Star plans.

Step Three: Go

Need drives us to act. “Go” marks the protagonist’s first step toward fulfilling that need. That’s why you always hear that “we need a proactive protagonist.” If there’s only “Need” without “Go,” the story is over. When writing your own story or screenplay, make the need so urgent that it’s impossible to resist.

Crossing into this third step also means the protagonist enters the lower half of the Story Circle, leaving their original world and stepping fully into the unknown.

• Toy Story — After Woody knocks Buzz out the window, the other toys turn on him. Andy takes Woody to Pizza Planet.
• Inception — Cobb starts assembling a team to carry out Saito’s mission, including a new architect, a forger, and a chemist.
• Star Wars — After Luke returns home to find his aunt and uncle murdered, he sets out for Alderaan with Obi-Wan.

Step Four: Search

In the Search phase, things start to get more complicated, both in the story and in the telling of it. Characters can try to satisfy their need by looking for answers. But good stories rarely present this search in a straightforward way. In Harmon’s Story Circle, the key is to keep the narrative active and direct.

In an epic film or novel, “Search” is far more than a simple scavenger hunt. It means the protagonist must overcome a series of obstacles. This is where we truly test whether the protagonist can achieve their goal.

• Toy Story — Woody finds Buzz, but they end up trapped in Sid’s house, facing imminent destruction.
• Inception — Cobb’s team is ambushed, Saito is shot, and they have no choice but to continue with the plan.
• Star Wars — Alderaan is destroyed by the Death Star, and the Millennium Falcon is caught in the Death Star’s tractor beam.

Step Five: Find

They’ve found it! After a difficult search, the hero finally finds what drove them to embark on this journey. But is the story over? No. Because in a good story, the hero doesn’t find what they truly need.

They may get what they thought they wanted, but it turns out they need something more—something bigger. This is often where plot and character development intersect.

• Toy Story — Woody plans to escape from Sid’s house and talks with Buzz about the joy of being a toy.
• Inception — Cobb uses his target, Fischer, to help him enter his own subconscious, but Robert is killed and sent to limbo.
• Star Wars — While planning their escape from the Death Star, Luke and Han rescue Princess Leia from the detention block.

Step Six: Take

Take what you’ve found! Then run! Campbell might call this part of the story the “magical flight.” Even if the hero succeeds in obtaining what they need, there is a price to pay. Even after initial success, the protagonist suffers serious losses.

Depending on the genre, these “losses” could be temporary setbacks or the death of major characters.

• Toy Story — As Woody and Buzz try to get back to the moving truck, the RC car runs out of battery, leaving them stranded.
• Inception — To rescue Fischer and Saito, Cobb and Ariadne risk going into limbo. Cobb ultimately lets go of his guilt over Mal’s death.
• Star Wars — During their escape from the Death Star, Obi-Wan sacrifices himself so that the others can get away.

Step Seven: Return

The Return phase is the beginning of the end. The character brings what they’ve found and taken back into the normal world. Whether it’s a magical object, a person, or a lesson, as a result of bringing it back, they are now… changed.

• Toy Story — Woody and Buzz return safely to Andy.
• Inception — Cobb and Saito wake up from limbo and find themselves on the plane; their mission has succeeded.
• Star Wars — The Rebels launch an attack on the Death Star, and Luke succeeds in destroying it.

Step Eight: Change

This change may be personal, or it may affect the surrounding world. In a film or long-form story, it’s often both.

Sometimes the change works in opposite directions. The world may become a better place, while the protagonist becomes worse off. Clever use of this step can be very powerful.

• Toy Story — Woody learns to coexist peacefully with Buzz.
• Inception — Cobb lets go of his guilt and returns to his children.
• Star Wars — Luke grows from a farm boy into a Rebel pilot.

Ending the Story Circle

Change is what makes a story good. Change is the key to any story. The eight steps of Dan Harmon’s Story Circle are designed to enable that change.

What are we doing when we tell stories? At the most fundamental level, we’re trying to understand the changes around us—those we can’t control. Why do people die? Why does the sun rise every day?

We use stories to better understand the world around us. In a way, stories are also how we cope with change. They remind us, again and again, that change will come, and life will go on.