The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller

by John Truby

Dr. Strangelove,

Catch-22,

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,

Designing Principle

Theme Line Techniques

Moral Choice

Moral Problem

Characters as Variations on a Theme

(the first three steps have to do with creating the story space,

last two with the world over time):

The story world is everything surrounding the characters all at once. In other words, it represents simultaneous elements and actions.

and expand it three-dimensionally to make the story world.

Creating the Arena

1. Create a large umbrella and then crosscut and condense.

Casablanca,

Alien, Spider-Man, L.A. Confidential, The Matrix,

A Streetcar Named...

Send the hero on a circular journey through generally the same area.

The Wizard of Oz

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,

Field of Dreams,

Alice in Wond...

4. Make the hero a fish ou...

Beverly Hills Cop,

Crocodile Dundee,

Wi...

visual oppositions.

the oppositions among the characters and the values they hold.

conflict of values,

two different versions of the same town.

Pottersville is what you get with one-man rule and unchecked greed.

Bedford Falls is what you get with democracy, decency, and kindness.

Fitzgerald adds another contrast of subworlds when he depicts the city of ashes, the hidden detritus of the great capitalist, mechanistic engine represented by New York City and Long Island.

Kong.

the island of New York,

Skull Island, the extremely harsh state of nature where Kong,

James Ellroy,

cops and killers.

police detectives

justice and a murderous police captain and a corrupt ...

Bud White,

Jack Vincennes,

Ed Exley,

sub-worlds

rich, white, corrupt

(natural settings),

(man-made spaces),

(to...

time, is the way your unique world develops over the co...

Natural Settings