It is not enough, however, to develop a complete Story Mind. That only creates the argument the audience will consider. Equally important is how the audience is positioned relative to that argument.

Does an author want the audience to examine a problem dispassionately or to experience what it is like to have that problem? Is it more important to explore a possible solution or to weigh the benefits and drawbacks of alternative solutions? In fact, you must develop all of these points of view for a story to be complete.

An author's argument must go beyond telling audience members what to look at. It must also show them how to see it. It is the relationship between object and observer that creates perspective.

In stories, perspective provides context, and context creates meaning.

There are four different perspectives that must be explored as a story unfolds to present all sides of the issue at the heart of a story:

 

•Third person perspective ("They")

•First person perspective ("I")

•Second person perspective ("You")

•First person plural perspective ("We")

Each perspective offers a unique context in which problems can be identified and resolved. Together, these four perspectives represent all the ways in which we experience the real world

When we connect these perspectives in stories, they create four "story lines" that reach from the beginning of the story to its end. We call these story threads, Throughlines. Each throughline has a different name. They are the Overall Story Throughline, the Main Character Throughline, the Impact Character Throughline, and the Subjective Story Throughline.