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

by John Truby

Good storytelling doesn’t just tell audiences what happened in a life. It gives them the experience of that life.

Withholding, or hiding, information is crucial to the storyteller’s make-believe. It forces the audience to figure out who the character is and what he is doing and so draws the audience into the story. When the audience no longer has to figure out the story, it ceases being an audience, and the story stops.

The dramatic code, embedded deep in the human psyche, is an artistic description of how a person can grow or evolve.

A story tracks what a person wants, what he’ll do to get it, and what costs he’ll have to pay along the way.

A character pursuing a desire takes actions to get what he wants, and he learns new information about better ways to get it. Whenever he learns new information, he makes a decision and changes his course of action.

Any character who goes after a desire and is impeded is forced to struggle (otherwise the story is over). And that struggle makes him change. So the ultimate goal of the dramatic code, and of the storyteller, is to present a change in a character or to illustrate why that change did not occur.

The dramatic code expresses the idea that human beings can become a better version of themselves, psychologically and morally. And that’s why people love it.

First, write down your wish list, a list of everything you would like to see up on the screen, in a book, or at the theater. It’s what you are passionately interested in, and it’s what entertains you. You might jot down characters you have imagined, cool plot twists, or great lines of dialogue that have popped into your head. You might list themes that you care about or certain genres that always attract you.

To figure out the central conflict, ask yourself “Who fights whom over what?” and answer the question in one succinct line.

A true opponent not only wants to prevent the hero from achieving his desire but is competing with the hero for the same goal.

The single biggest mistake writers make when creating characters is that they think of the hero and all other characters as separate individuals.

Moral argument in a story is an argument of action you make by showing your hero and opponent taking certain means to reach a goal.

There are four places at the end of a story where the theme explodes in the mind of the audience: the battle, self-revelation, moral decision, and a structure step we haven’t discussed yet, the thematic revelation.

The key to good moral dialogue by the opponent is not to set him up as a straw man, an opponent who appears formidable but is really hollow. Never give your opponent an obviously weak argument.

you start with a simple story line (the seven steps) and a set of characters. You then create the exterior forms and spaces that express these story elements, and these forms and spaces have the desired effect in the hearts and minds of your audience.

1. Self-revelation, need, and desire 2. Ghost and story world 3. Weakness and need 4. Inciting event 5. Desire 6. Ally or allies 7. Opponent and/or mystery 8. Fake-ally opponent 9. First revelation and decision: Changed desire and motive 10. Plan 11. Opponent’s plan and main counterattack 12. Drive 13. Attack by ally 14. Apparent defeat 15. Second revelation and decision: Obsessive drive, changed desire and motive 16. Audience revelation 17. Third revelation and decision 18. Gate, gauntlet, visit to death 19. Battle 20. Self-revelation 21. Moral decision 22. New equilibrium

Ghost, story world, weakness, need, and problem constitute the all-important opening of your story.

A scene is defined as one action in one time and place.