The Essential Elements of Writing a Fish Out of Water Story

What is a Fish Out of Water Story?

A ‘fish out of water’ story is the idiom referring to a character who is removed from their daily lives and forced into a new world and new outlook. In a fish out of water film, for example, a character will be taken out of their ‘normality’ and plunged into a new environment and/or reality, with the conclusion providing the eventual outcome of this juxtaposition.

The character is forced to change and adapt to their new environment. It’s a common way to show character progression.

Fish out of water stories are popular amongst all genres. And in some ways, the fish out of water narrative structure is the basis for most stories in general – a character taken on a journey and forced to learn and adapt to new, changing situations. They feature in both films and TV. And especially for example, in TV show pilots in order to plunge the audience into the story world quickly and assertively.

Because of the versatility of fish out of water stories, it’s difficult to decide how to use the structure most effectively in your screenplays to reap the biggest rewards from this highly entertaining, familiar idiom.

So we’ve compiled a guide on the essential elements of writing a fish out of water story, so that you’re using everything the narrative arc has to offer to its full potential.