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

by John Truby

CREATING YOUR PREMISE—WRITING EXERCISE I • Premise Write down your premise in one sentence. Ask yourself if this premise line has the makings of a story that could change your life. • Wish List and Premise List Write down your wish list and your premise list. Study them together to identify the core elements of what you care about and enjoy. • Possibilities Look for what is possible in the premise. Write down options. • Story Challenges and Problems Describe as many of the story challenges and problems that are unique to your idea as you can think of. • Designing Principle Come up with the designing principle of your story idea. Remember that this principle describes some deeper process or form in which the story will play out in a unique way. • Best Character Determine the best character in the idea. Make that character the hero of your premise. • Conflict Ask yourself “Who is my hero fighting, and what is he fighting about?” • Basic Action Find the single cause-and-effect pathway by identifying a basic action that your hero will take in the story. • Character Change Figure out the possible character change for your hero, starting with the basic action (A) and then going to the opposites of the basic action to determine his weaknesses (W) at the beginning and his change (C) at the end. • Moral Choice List a moral choice your hero may have to make near the end of the story. Make sure it’s a difficult but plausible choice. • Audience Appeal Ask yourself if your premise is l...