Protagonist – the narrator Antagonist – his son Inciting incident – awareness of no feeling in hand Desire – to explain his action Crisis – ‘He asked … if I wanted him to forgive me’ Climax – ‘I said yes. He said no’ Resolution – ‘Like trumps’.

Select and build these units correctly and you will create a plausible, thrilling, moving work that in portraying a tiny fraction of a life captures the essence of its whole.