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

by John Truby

Just as there are a number of possibilities for developing your premise, there are many options for both the weaknesses and the changed person your hero will become.

An uptight, henpecked man becomes involved with a gang of outlaws and gets a divorce. W—weaknesses at the beginning: uptight, henpecked man A—basic action: becomes involved with a gang of outlaws C—changed person: gets a divorce

An uptight, haughty banker becomes involved with a gang of outlaws and gives aid to the poor. W—weaknesses at the beginning: uptight, haughty banker A—basic action: becomes involved with a gang of outlaws C—changed person: gives aid to the poor

shy, timid man becomes involved with a gang of outlaws and gets drunk with fame. W—weaknesses at the beginning: shy, timid man A—basic action: becomes involved with a gang o...

STAR WARS • Premise When a princess falls into mortal danger, a young man uses his skills as a fighter to save her and defeat the evil forces of a galactic empire. W—weaknesses at the beginning: naive, impetuous, paralyzed, unfocused, lacking confidence A—basic action: uses his skills as a fighter C—changed person: self-esteem, a place among the chosen few, a fighter for good

Luke’s initial weaknesses are definitely not the qualities of a fighter. But when constantly forced to use skills as a fighter, he is strengthened into a confident fighter for the good.

THE GODFATHER • Premise The youngest son of a Mafia family takes revenge on the men who shot his father and becomes the new Godfather. W—weaknesses at the beginning: unconcerned, afraid, mainstream, legitimate, separated from the family A—basic action: take...

If Michael begins the story as a vengeful man, taking revenge on the men who shot his father will only make him seem more of the same. There’s no character change.

An unconcerned, afraid, mainstream, legitimate man, separated from his Mafia family, who then takes revenge could become the tyrannical, absolute ruler of the family.

Premise work, especially concerning character change, is extremely tentative. Be open to considering different character changes as you work through the writing process.

Step 9: Figure Out the Hero’s Possible Moral Choice

The central theme of a story is often crystallized by a moral choice the hero must make, typically near the end of the story.

Theme is your view of the proper way to act in the world. It is your moral vision, and it is one of the main rea...

This is where you, the author, make a case for how to live, not through philosophical argument, but through the actions of characters going after a goal (for details, see Chapter 5, “Moral Argument”).

A lot of writers make the mistake of giving their hero a fake choice. A fake choice is between a positive and a negative.

For example, you may force your hero to choose between going to prison and winning the girl. The outcome is obvious.

KEY POINT: To be a true choice, your hero must either select one of two positive outcomes or, on rare occasions, avoid one of two negative outcomes (as in Sophie’s Choice).

Make the options as equal as possible, with one seeming only slightly better than the other.

A classic example of a choice between two positives is between love and honor. In A Farewell to Arms, the hero chooses love. In The Maltese Falcon (and almost all detective stories), the hero chooses honor.

Again, notice that this technique is about finding possi...

Step 10: Gauge the Audience Appeal

Is this single story line unique enough to interest a lot of people besides me?

This is the question of popularity, of commercial appeal.

One of the biggest mistakes writers make is to fall into the trap of either-or thinking: either I write what I care about, or I write what will sell.

But remember, you will have many more ideas in your life than you can possibly develop as full stories. Always try to write something that you care about and also think will appeal to an audience.

Your writing should mean a lot to you personally. But writing for an audience makes it a lot easier to do what you love.

CREATING YOUR PREMISE—WRITING...

Story Challenges How do you show the effect of men’s immoral actions against women without seeming to attack one entire gender while making the other gender look innocent?

Problems How do you make a man believable as a woman, weave several man-woman plots together and make them one, end each plotline successfully, and make an emotionally satisfying love story while using a number of farce techniques that place the audience in a superior position?

Conflict Michael fights Julie, Ron, Les, and Sandy about love and honesty.

Basic Action Male hero impersonates a woman. • Character Change W—Michael is arrogant, a liar, and a womanizer. C—By pretending to be a woman, Michael learns to become a better man and capable of real love.

Moral Choice Michael sacrifices his lucrative acting job and apologizes to ...

For example, all living things appear to grow in one continuous flow, but if we look closely, we can see certain steps, or stages, in that growth. The same is true of a story.

A story has a minimum of seven steps in its growth from beginning to end: 1. Weakness and need 2. Desire 3. Opponent 4. Plan 5. Battle 6. Self-revelation 7. New equilibrium

They exist in the story. These seven steps are the nucleus, the DNA, of your story and the foundation of your success as a storyteller because they are based on human action.

They are the steps that any human being must work through to solve a life problem.

Let’s look at what each of these steps means, how they are linked one to another below the surface, and how they actually work in stories.

1. WEAKNESS AND NEED From the very beginning of the story, your hero has one or more great weaknesses that are holding him back.

Something is missing within him that is so profound, it is ruining his life (I’m going to assume that the main character is male, simply because it’s easier for me to write that way).

The need is what the hero must fulfill within himself in order to...

It usually involves overcoming his weaknesses and changing, or g...

TOOTSIE • Weaknesses Michael is arrogant, selfish, and a liar. • Need Michael has to overcome his arrogance toward women and to stop lyin...

THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS • Weaknesses Clarice is inexperienced, suffering from haunting childhood memories, and a woman in a man’s world. • Need Clarice must overcome the ghosts of her past ...

Need is the wellspring of the story and sets up every other step.

KEY POINT: Your hero should not be aware of his need at the beginning of the story.

The hero should become aware of his need at the self-revelation, near the end of the story, only after having gone through a great deal of pain (in a drama) or struggle (in a comedy).

KEY POINT: Give your hero a moral need as well as a psychological need.

In average stories, the hero has only a psychological need. A psychological need involves overcoming a serious flaw that is hurting nobody but the hero.

In better stories, the hero has a moral need in addition to a psychological need. The hero must overcome a moral flaw and learn how to act properly toward other people.

A character with a moral need is always hurting others in some way (his moral weakness) at ...