Promptoria

Dan Harmon's Story Circle

A simplified, circular story structure perfect for episodic storytelling and character-driven transformation — 8 stages.

What Is the Dan Harmon's Story Circle?

Dan Harmon's Story Circle distills the Hero's Journey into 8 simple steps arranged in a circle. Harmon (Community, Rick and Morty) developed it because he needed a practical tool for writing TV episodes—something simple enough to use under deadline pressure.

The eight steps:

  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: Go back to where they started
  8. CHANGE: Having changed

The circle divides in half: top = order, bottom = chaos. Characters descend from comfort into chaos (steps 3-6) to find what they need, then rise back to order transformed (steps 7-8).

Why a circle? Because the character ends where they began—but different. Step 8 mirrors Step 1. This makes the structure perfect for:

  • Episodic television (character returns to status quo, but changed)
  • Series where characters need ongoing development
  • Stories that need to work standalone while building continuity
  • Any narrative where internal change matters as much as plot

Harmon argues this pattern is hardwired into human psychology—it's how we intuitively understand growth. That's why it feels satisfying even when we can't articulate why.

The Dan Harmon's Story Circle, Stage by Stage

  1. 1. YOU (A character is in a zone of comfort)

    Establish the protagonist in their status quo. This is their comfort zone—not necessarily happy, but familiar. It's where the story will end, so make it clear.

  2. 2. NEED (But they want something)

    The character lacks something—and they realize it (or we realize it for them). This desire will drive them to leave comfort. The NEED should connect to the CHANGE they'll undergo.

  3. 3. GO (They enter an unfamiliar situation)

    The character crosses a threshold into a new world, situation, or mindset. This is the point of no easy return. The rules are different here.

  4. 4. SEARCH (Adapt to it)

    The character struggles to adapt to the unfamiliar world. They look for what they need using old methods that may not work. They face the road of trials.

  5. 5. FIND (Find what they wanted)

    The character gets what they were looking for—but at the story's midpoint, this is usually a false victory or partial understanding. They think they've succeeded.

  6. 6. TAKE (Pay a heavy price for it)

    Getting what they wanted has consequences. The character must pay the price for their success. Something is lost. The chaos of the lower circle reaches its peak.

  7. 7. RETURN (And go back to where they started)

    The character returns to their familiar world, but they—and potentially their world—are different. They carry what they've learned back with them.

  8. 8. CHANGE (Having changed)

    The character demonstrates their transformation. They're in the same situation as step 1, but their approach or understanding is different. The circle is complete.

Outline Your Novel with the Dan Harmon's Story Circle

Turn this template into a working outline: pick the Dan Harmon's Story Circle in our free interactive plot builder, fill in each beat with genre-aware scene suggestions, and export your outline.

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Dan Harmon's Story Circle Examples

Breaking Bad - "4 Days Out" (S2E9)

1. YOU: Walter and Jesse are running low on money. Walt's cancer treatment is expensive. Status quo: they need to cook.

2. NEED: Walt suggests a marathon cook session in the desert—four days, $672,000 worth of meth. He wants to secure his family's future.

3. GO: They drive the RV deep into the desert, far from civilization. They cross into isolation, away from everything familiar.

4. SEARCH: They cook and cook. Jesse struggles to keep up. Walt pushes relentlessly. They're adapting to the harsh conditions, focused on the goal.

5. FIND: They finish the cook—the meth is ready. Success! $672,000 worth.

6. TAKE: Jesse left the keys in the ignition; the battery is dead. They're stranded in the desert with no water, no help, and their product will spoil. Their "success" becomes a death sentence.

7. RETURN: Using science (building a battery), Walt gets the RV running. They barely survive and return to civilization.

8. CHANGE: Walt gets his scan results—his cancer is in remission. He should be happy, but he punches a paper towel dispenser. He's changed: he was almost FREE of the lie, almost done. Now he has to keep living his double life. The need that drove him hasn't gone away; it's deeper now.

Community - "Remedial Chaos Theory" (S3E4)

1. YOU: The study group is at Troy and Abed's new apartment for a housewarming party. Jeff suggests rolling a die to see who gets the pizza. Status quo: group dynamics in comfortable tension.

2. NEED: Each character has something they want—connection, validation, significance. Abed observes that the die roll creates different timelines.

3. GO: We enter six alternate timelines based on who leaves to get pizza. Each timeline is an "unfamiliar situation" where the group dynamic shifts without one member.

4. SEARCH: In each timeline, characters try to navigate without the missing person. Secrets emerge, conflicts surface, relationships shift.

5. FIND: Each timeline reveals what happens when one person is absent. We see the true importance of each group member—and the hidden tensions between everyone.

6. TAKE: In the "darkest timeline," Pierce is shot, Annie is traumatized, and the apartment burns. In the "best" timeline where Jeff leaves, everyone bonds and Britta sings. The price of Jeff's controlling behavior is revealed.

7. RETURN: We return to the original timeline before the die is thrown. Abed catches the die—preventing any single timeline.

8. CHANGE: Jeff learns (subtly) that his need to control the group (rolling the die, assigning pizza duty) is actually destructive. The group is better when he lets go. The party succeeds when nobody leaves—when Jeff doesn't exercise control.

The Mandalorian - "Chapter 1" (Series Premiere)

1. YOU: The Mandalorian (Mando) is a bounty hunter. He's efficient, solitary, and follows the Creed. His comfort zone is professionalism and distance.

2. NEED: He needs credits (external), but his internal need is connection—something to protect beyond himself. He takes a mysterious high-value job.

3. GO: He travels to a distant planet to collect an unusual bounty. The Client wants the target alive, and the tracking fob leads to a fortified compound.

4. SEARCH: Mando storms the compound with help from a droid (IG-11). He fights through guards, searches room by room, adapts his tactics.

5. FIND: The target is a Child—a baby of Yoda's species. IG-11 moves to kill it. Mando shoots IG-11 instead, protecting the Child.

6. TAKE: By saving the Child, Mando has complicated his life immensely. He was supposed to bring it in. He's made an enemy of IG-11's people. He's broken his bounty hunter code.

7. RETURN: Mando brings the Child back toward the Client—returning to his bounty hunter role, but everything is different now.

8. CHANGE: The episode ends with Mando looking at the Child, uncertain what to do. He's no longer just a bounty hunter—he's become a protector. His need for connection has found an object. The series question is established: will he deliver the Child, or keep it?

How to Apply the Dan Harmon's Story Circle

Harmon's Process

  1. Start with CHANGE (Step 8): How is your character different at the end? Be specific.
  2. Work backward to YOU (Step 1): What's the opposite of that change? That's where they start.
  3. Define NEED (Step 2): What do they consciously want? This should connect to what they unconsciously need to change.
  4. Place GO (Step 3): What threshold do they cross? The shift should be unmistakable.
  5. Fill in the rest: SEARCH is struggling, FIND is false victory, TAKE is the price, RETURN is integration.

The Secret of FIND and TAKE

Steps 5 and 6 are where many writers go wrong:

  • FIND (Step 5) is NOT the happy ending. It's getting what you wanted—at the midpoint. The character thinks they've succeeded.
  • TAKE (Step 6) is the price. Getting what you wanted has consequences. Something is lost. This is the bottom of the circle—maximum chaos.

The real story is in Step 6. Anyone can get what they want. The question is: what does it cost?

Making Steps 1 and 8 Mirror

For the circle to close properly:

  • Step 8 should echo Step 1's situation but with different meaning
  • The character faces the same circumstances but responds differently
  • External situation similar, internal state transformed

For TV Writers

Harmon uses this for every episode of every show:

  • A-story and B-story each get their own circle
  • Circles interweave—A-story's FIND might coincide with B-story's TAKE
  • Character development accumulates across episodes
  • Status quo returns (for episodic TV) but character has grown

For Novelists

Apply the circle to:

  • The overall novel arc
  • Each act or section
  • Individual chapters or scenes
  • Each POV character's journey

Further Resources

More Plot Structures