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The Cinematic Curriculum Method Toolkit · Design core

The Story Circle Mapper

Map your learner’s journey on Dan Harmon’s eight steps, for a whole course or a single module.

The Cinematic Curriculum Method Toolkit · 39 tools

£19.99

Also in 2 other products, from £14.99.

Your learners finish the course. It isn’t clear they ever left their comfort zone.

A journey with no price and no return is a tour. The mapper is built on one test: the learner leaves comfort, pays a price and comes back changed.

What it does

The Story Circle Mapper takes the eight steps: You, Need, Go, Search, Find, Take, Return and Change. Write each for your course or one module. It scores every step out of 10, maps the circle as a path, flags steps sketched in a line or two and ranks three moves.

Dan Harmon’s Story Circle. Eight steps: You, Need, Go, Search, Find, Take, Return, Change. It works at every scale: course, module, lesson, even assessment.

The Cinematic Curriculum Method, Appendix §5, Story Structures for Curriculum

What you’ll do

  1. Write each of the eight steps for your course or one module.
  2. Press «Map my circle».
  3. Work through the three moves and map again.

What you get. A circle-strength score out of 100 with a verdict, the eight steps mapped as a path, what the analysis noticed in your own words, and three priority moves. The report downloads as a one-page PDF.

Before and after

The Story Circle Mapper — empty, as it opensThe Story Circle Mapper as it opens: every field empty, each with its own question.☾ACADEMIC METHOD TOOLKIT · DESIGN COREThe Story Circle MapperDan Harmon's eight-step circle, applied to learning. It's fractal — it works atcourse, module, and lesson scale.The Eight StepsWrite each step for your course (or one module). The circle only works if the learner genuinely leavestheir comfort zone and pays a price to return.11 · YouThe learner in their zone of comfort.Who is the learner in their comfort zone?Describe how you handle this stage...0 words22 · NeedThey want or need something.What do they need or want?Describe how you handle this stage...0 words33 · GoThey enter an unfamiliar situation.What unfamiliar situation do they enter?Describe how you handle this stage...0 words44 · SearchThey adapt, struggle, and search.How do they search and struggle?Describe how you handle this stage...0 words55 · FindThey find what they were looking for.What do they find?Describe how you handle this stage...0 words66 · TakeThey pay a heavy price for it.What price do they pay?Describe how you handle this stage...0 words77 · ReturnThey return to their familiar world.How do they return?Describe how you handle this stage...0 words88 · ChangeThey have changed.How have they changed?Describe how you handle this stage...0 wordsMap my circle →Load Worked ExampleReset
BeforeAs it opens: eight steps, each with its own question.
The Story Circle Mapper — the result for the worked exampleThe Story Circle Mapper: the result the app returns for its worked example, from a live run on 4 Oct 2026.69CIRCLESTRENGTHNearly closedThe circle is mostly there; the 'take' or 'change' step isthin. Make the price and the change real.What the analysis noticedRead from your own words — patterns, tells, and blind spots in what you wrote.›3 · Go, 5 · Find, 6 · Take, 7 · Return are sketched in a line or two. Stages this thin tend toevaporate in delivery — thicken them with a concrete move.›8 · Change never mentions changed, and this stage depends on it.›1 · You is your most developed stage — “A confident lecturer who has taught the same way forfifteen…”. Use its level of detail as the template for the rest.1You2Need3Go4Search5Find6Take7Return8ChangeYour three priority movesRanked by leverage — the weakest areas first.15 · Find (6/10)You wrote “They find that less content, better spaced, outperforms their dense lectures” — gooddirection, now push it further. Let them find it through effort, not delivery. Found knowledgesticks; given knowledge fades.21 · You (7/10)You wrote “A confident lecturer who has taught the same way for fifteen…” — good direction, now pushit further. Establish the comfort zone clearly so the departure has weight.32 · Need (7/10)You wrote “They need their students to actually remember the material past the…” — good direction,now push it further. Name a real need, not a course objective. The need is what pulls them around thecircle.Summary. Circle Strength 69/100 across 8 stages. Every stage has a design.⤓ Download PDF✉ Email me this report↗ ShareSave ProgressExample: the app’s own worked example, as it loads
AfterThe app’s own worked example, run: a score of 69, «Nearly closed», and the eight steps mapped as a path.

Watch it work

1 / 6Open The Story Circle Mapper. Eight steps, each with its own question.

How to use it

  1. Open The Story Circle Mapper from My tools.
  2. Under «The Eight Steps», answer the question for each of the eight steps. Watch the word count and the flags under each answer. «Load Worked Example» shows a finished set.
  3. Press «Map my circle».
  4. Read the score, the verdict, the path and what the analysis noticed.
  5. Work through the three priority moves, strengthen the weakest answers and run it again.
  6. Press «Download PDF» to keep the report.

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