Dan Harmon Story Circle: 8 Steps and a Free Template
The Dan Harmon story circle is a simple way to plot a story in eight steps. A character wants something, goes and gets it, pays for it, and comes home changed. That’s it. It works for a feature, a TV episode or a two-minute short. This guide walks you through each step, shows the whole circle mapped onto Star Wars (1977), and gives you a free fillable story circle template to plot your own.
TL;DR: Eight Steps, One Loop
Your hero starts somewhere safe, wants something, crosses into an unfamiliar world, adapts, gets what they wanted, pays a price, returns home and has changed. Print the template, write one sentence per step and read the eight sentences out loud. If they make a story, you have a spine.
Download the Free Story Circle Template
Two fillable pages: the circle with all eight steps, then a bigger box for each one. Type in it or print it. The Star Wars example shows it filled in.
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What Is the Dan Harmon Story Circle?
The story circle is a plot structure made by Dan Harmon, the creator of Community and co-creator of Rick and Morty. It's a stripped-down version of Joseph Campbell's hero's journey. Campbell's version has 17 stages. Harmon's has eight.
He sums it up in one line: "A character is in a zone of comfort, but they want something." The rest of the steps follow from that.
The circle is split into two halves:
- The top half is the familiar world. Your character's normal life, where the story starts and ends.
- The bottom half is the unfamiliar world. The place, problem or situation that forces them to change.
Steps 1 and 5 sit opposite each other, and so do 4 and 8. That's on purpose. What your hero finds in step 5 answers what was missing in step 1.
The 8 Steps of the Story Circle
- You. A character is in a zone of comfort. Show us who they are and what their normal day looks like.
- Need. But they want something. This is the itch that gets the story moving.
- Go. They enter an unfamiliar situation. Something pushes them out of their comfort zone.
- Search. They adapt to it. New rules, new people, trial and error.
- Find. They get what they wanted. Often it's not quite what they expected.
- Take. They pay a heavy price for it. A loss, a sacrifice or a hard truth.
- Return. They go back to their familiar situation. The world may look the same, but they don't.
- Change. Having changed. Show the difference between the character in step 1 and the one in step 8.
If a step feels weak, check the one across the circle from it. A thin step 8 usually means a vague step 1.
Try this before you outline a single scene.
Write the eight steps as eight sentences, one per step.
If you can't do it in a sentence, the step isn't clear yet. Fix that before you write pages.
Story Circle Example: Star Wars (1977)
Star Wars fits the circle almost perfectly. Here's how the template looks filled in for Luke Skywalker.
- You: Luke is a farm boy stuck on his uncle's moisture farm on Tatooine.
- Need: He wants off the planet and a life of adventure, like the father he never knew.
- Go: Stormtroopers kill his aunt and uncle. He leaves with Obi-Wan Kenobi and they hire Han Solo.
- Search: He trains with a lightsaber. Then the Millennium Falcon is dragged into the Death Star, and he has to improvise.
- Find: He rescues Princess Leia. The adventure he dreamed of is real.
- Take: Obi-Wan is struck down by Darth Vader so the others can escape.
- Return: Back with the Rebels, he climbs into an X-wing. He's a pilot again, like he was at home.
- Change: He switches off his targeting computer, trusts the Force and destroys the Death Star.
Look at steps 1 and 5. Luke wanted adventure, and in step 5 he gets it. Then look at 4 and 8. In step 4 he's learning to use the Force. In step 8 he trusts it completely.
How to Use the Story Circle Template
The template has two pages. Fill it in on screen or print it.
- Page 1: the circle with all eight steps, plus a box for your story in one sentence
- Page 2: a bigger box for each step, so you can list the scenes that belong there
- Start with steps 1 and 8. Decide who your character is at the start and who they are at the end. Everything else connects those two points.
- Fill in step 2. Make the want specific. "Adventure" works for Luke because the story makes it concrete.
- Pick the price in step 6. The loss should hurt, and it should be tied to what they found in step 5.
- Fill in the rest. Steps 3, 4 and 7 are the journey between the big moments.
- Write the one-sentence version. If it reads well, move to scenes.
You can run the circle more than once in the same script. The circle works at any size, from a whole season down to a single scene. For a feature, try one circle for the main plot and a smaller one for each major subplot.
Here's where most outlines go wrong.
Step 6 is the one writers skip.
A hero who gets what they want for free doesn't change. Make them pay.
Story Circle vs Hero's Journey vs Three-Act Structure
All three describe the same basic shape. They just zoom in by different amounts.
| Structure | Steps | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Story circle | 8 | TV episodes, shorts and quick outlines |
| Hero's journey | 12 (Vogler) or 17 (Campbell) | Adventure, fantasy and quest stories |
| Three-act structure | 3 acts, 5 turning points | Timing a feature script by page |
Want to go deeper? Map the same story with our hero's journey template or our three act structure template. Both use Star Wars too, so you can compare all three side by side. For the rise and fall of the tension, try Freytag's pyramid.
For a more detailed map, try our Save the Cat beat sheet template. It splits a story into 15 beats with page targets for any script length.
FAQs About the Dan Harmon Story Circle
Does Every Step Need Its Own Scene?
No. One scene can cover two steps, and one step can take ten scenes. The steps track your character's change, not your scene count.
Can the Story Circle Work for a Character Who Doesn't Change?
Yes. In a sitcom episode, the character often slides back to step 1 by the end. What changes is the situation, or a side character. The circle still gives the episode its shape.
Where Does Dan Harmon Explain the Story Circle Himself?
He wrote a series of Story Structure posts on the Channel 101 wiki, the site behind his monthly short film festival. They're free to read and short.
The Final Cut on the Dan Harmon Story Circle
The Dan Harmon story circle gives your story a clear shape in eight steps.
Print the template, write one sentence per step and check each step against the one across from it.
Then ask yourself: what does your character lose in step 6?
Jay Neill
Jay Neill is the founder and managing editor of iFILMthings and believes everyone should have access to the film resources they need to plan their filmmaking project, which is why he’s dedicated iFILMthings to helping all filmmakers.
Jay Neill, I found your breakdown of the Dan Harmon Story Circle incredibly insightful! It simplifies the storytelling process in a way that’s both accessible and profound. Can’t wait to apply this to my scripts.
Totally agree, Rebecca! This model has changed how I approach writing. It’s a game-changer.
I’m new to this concept, but super intrigued. How flexible is the Dan Harmon Story Circle? Like, does it work for any genre of storytelling, or is it more suited for specific types like comedy or drama?
This analysis presents a cohesive view of the Dan Harmon Story Circle, however, I wonder about its application beyond traditional narratives. How might this structure adapt or show limitations in interactive or non-linear storytelling formats?
Thank you for this thought-provoking question, Geneva! You raise an excellent point about the Story Circle’s application in non-traditional formats. What’s fascinating is that the Story Circle can actually be quite flexible in interactive and non-linear storytelling, though it requires some creative adaptation.
In interactive narratives, like video games or choose-your-own-adventure content, each major choice point can represent a mini-circle within the larger story structure. For example, in a branching narrative, while the player/viewer might take different paths (different ‘Go’ and ‘Search’ phases), they’re still fundamentally experiencing character transformation through their choices (the ‘Change’ phase).
Non-linear storytelling can actually leverage multiple overlapping story circles – think of shows like ‘Black Mirror: Bandersnatch’ or modern RPG games. Each branch maintains the emotional core of the circle (comfort zone → challenge → transformation) while allowing for different specific outcomes.
The beauty of Harmon’s structure is that it’s based on fundamental patterns of character growth and change, which remain relevant regardless of format. The challenge isn’t so much adapting the circle itself, but rather finding creative ways to maintain its emotional impact when the audience has agency in the story.
What’s your experience with interactive narratives? I’d be curious to hear specific examples where you’ve seen non-linear storytelling either embrace or challenge traditional structure!