So just what are Progressive Story Points? Chances are, you are already familiar with them. They are Acts, Sequences, Scenes, and Events. The Progressive Story Points are not unlike the way we measure time in Days, Hours, Minutes, and Seconds. We can see that a Minute does not stand independently, but nests within an Hour, which in turn nests within a Day. Similarly, Scenes are story points that happen within an Act. Events nest in Scenes that nest in Sequences that nest in Acts.

No event stands alone, but bears something of the flavor or identity of the larger units in which it exists and the smaller units it contains. If this begins to sound like the thematic story points we have already explored, it is no accident. Throughline, Concern, Issue, and Problem narrow the issue of the story when we see the story as a state. Act, Sequence, Scene, and Event narrow the issue of the story when we see the story as a process. The Static Story Points tell us what a story is about. The Progressive Story Points tell us how a story unfolds. Taken together, the Static and Progressive Story Points transport a story's meaning.