Coffee With Cole: The Digital Writing Podcast

Episode: Fiction Color Mapping Exercise (Storytelling Structure Secrets!)
Host: Nicolas Cole
Date: January 30, 2026

Overview

In this episode, Nicolas Cole introduces listeners to his "color mapping" exercise—a visual and analytical tool for deconstructing fiction stories at the scene level. Drawing inspiration from expertise science and skill acquisition, Cole explains how writers can move beyond the traditional holistic or emotional approach to narrative and instead use granular, objective analysis to systematically improve storytelling. Using examples from Star Wars: Episode 9, he breaks down the method, character archetypes, and the broader implications for skill improvement in writing and the integration of AI in narrative craft.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Writers Plateau—and How to Unstick Yourself

• Skill Isolation & Deliberate Practice

  • Referencing the book Peak: The New Science of Expertise, Cole argues that volume alone doesn’t guarantee improvement.
  • Many writers, like novice golfers or chess players, believe "just doing the thing" (writing stories) equals skill gains. Seasoned experts know that progress comes from isolating and refining specific sub-skills.
  • Quote:

    “A surgeon or a lawyer who has 50 years of experience isn’t necessarily better than someone who has 10... If you’re not actively growing, some of your skills deteriorate.” [03:36]

• Traditional Story Teaching Is Vague

  • Conventional narrative education focuses on broad structures (beginning, middle, end; three- or five-act format) without actionable granularity.
  • Much of the advice boils down to "trust your gut," which Cole finds unhelpful and frustrating.
  • Quote:

    “The most actionable thing that was shared was just a different version of ‘trust how you feel.’... That is not helpful. It’s not actionable, it’s not objective.” [13:50]

2. The Color Mapping Exercise: What & Why

a. Defining Color Mapping

• A visual analytical method where themes and character archetypes are color-coded and mapped scene by scene along the story’s arc.
• Goal: To break the “big story” into manageable, observable, improvable units.

b. Character Archetype Palette

• Enemy: The largest antagonistic force (e.g., Palpatine/Sauron)

• Rival: Counter to the hero; executes the enemy’s will (e.g., Kylo Ren)

• Army: Mindless evil minions (Stormtroopers, Orcs)

• Mentor: Leadership or guiding good force (Jedi Masters, Gandalf)

• Hero: Main protagonist

• Allies: Underdog helpers

• Comedic Comrades: Friends who fill the hero’s gaps (e.g., Han Solo, Samwise Gamgee)

• Unexpected Rogue/Ally: Wild cards—an antagonistic bounty hunter or an old friend returning briefly

  Quote:

  “In sci fi and fantasy, there’s really only seven or so character archetypes that you’re going to follow throughout the story... 80, 90% of the cast.” [30:24]

c. How to Build a Color Map

• Assign each archetype a unique color.

• Map the story scene by scene, assigning colors to scenes based on which archetypes are primarily featured.

• Analyze frequency, cadence, and interaction patterns between archetypes throughout the acts.

  Quote:

  “Every color I add, you should be able to see how the story gets assembled a little bit more. That is ultimately the goal.” [46:16]

3. Benefits of Color Mapping

a. Actionable Story Structure

• Enables writers to break stories down to precise, objective units rather than broad, ambiguous chunks.
• Fosters the identification and practice of sub-skills (pattern crafting, archetype balancing, scene construction).

b. Creation of Visual Cognitive Models

• Like chess players and memory champions, color mapping helps writers develop robust mental templates of story types and scene sequences.

  Quote:

  “When you have a visual model in your head, you’re able to retrieve information significantly faster and more effectively.” [57:44]

c. Pattern Recognition & Writing Flow

• Writers start to notice recurring templates (“rival desire opener”, “hero-in-training opener”, etc.)

• Supports quick ideation: Instead of musing “How do I start?”, you pick from a bank of known openers and sequences.

  Quote:

  “Writing becomes very easy because then you go, ‘Oh, well I pick this opener arbitrarily, and then I go execute it.’” [01:00:40]

4. Future Implications: AI and Storytelling

• Cole predicts that the future of digital writing lies in a writer’s ability to articulate, model, and assemble stories at the unit and pattern level.

• The more specifically a writer can break down and “feed” their frameworks/scene maps to AI, the higher the quality of AI-generated writing.

• Prompts like “write my story” are too ambiguous for AI—effective collaboration demands ultra-clear, granular templates and rules.

  Quote:

  “Where I think this gets to the point where AI writing and human writing... becomes indistinguishable, is when you are able to build your own IP down to this level of clarity.” [01:09:15]

5. Practical How-To: Get Started with Color Mapping

• Choose a favorite (preferably SF/fantasy) film or book.

• Every time a scene changes, pause and log:

  • Which archetypes appeared
  • What interaction or goal was achieved
  • Summary in archetypal, not story-specific, language (e.g., “Rival seeks fantasy device”)

• Build a spreadsheet or visual schema scene by scene, color-coding each cell.

• Over time, these maps become a repository of patterns to remix in your own work.

  Quote:

  “Turn on your favorite sci fi or fantasy movie... Every time a scene changes, pause... create a new cell, write inside of the cell what happened from an archetype perspective.” [01:14:03]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “You might be able to write novels [by trusting your intuition], but you are not going to be able to unlock the same level of leverage as other people.” [01:12:53]
• “The true benefit of doing this is you end up building these visual maps inside of your brain.” [01:03:54]
• “If you can isolate individual scenes and then frameworks within each scene... AI is going to be able to write this as good, probably better than the vast majority of humans... but only if you give it so much specific, objective, tangible direction.” [01:10:18]

Timestamps for Major Segments

• 00:00–11:10 — Introduction; why volume ≠ improvement; issues in creative writing education
• 11:11–22:40 — Flaws of intuition-based instruction vs. isolated skill training
• 22:41–36:15 — What is a color map? Explanation and setup
• 36:16–50:20 — Deep dive: SF/F archetypes and how to assign colors/scenes
• 50:21–01:09:00 — Applying color maps: scene mapping, recognizing patterns, comparison to chess/memory champions
• 01:09:01–01:13:23 — AI, future of storytelling, and the necessity of detailed frameworks
• 01:13:24–end — Step-by-step color mapping for writers; call to action and closing thoughts

Conclusion

Cole’s color mapping exercise offers a concrete, actionable method for fiction writers who aspire to master story structure at the DNA level. By dissecting stories scene by scene, color-coding character archetypes, and cataloging recurring patterns, writers develop both a mental library and a practical toolkit to accelerate their craft. With implications that reach from skill acquisition to advanced AI collaboration, color mapping is positioned as both a creative breakthrough and a strategic advantage in the modern writing landscape.