A Detailed Review of Anatomy of Story by John Trudy!

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Most people have a talent for storytelling but don’t know the art of it. Most of the authors are struggling with their writing careers, and most of them are stuck in their first manuscripts. In such a situation, every storyteller yearns for a guide who can show him the path, and help him in polishing his storytelling skills. 

Do you know there is a detailed guide for every storyteller present in the world? 

I found one some days ago and was amazed at this guide!

The guide's name is "The Anatomy of Story" by John Trudy!

So, in October 2007, John Truby wrote the guidebook for storytellers, " The Anatomy of Story", which contains 22 steps to becoming a master storyteller. In this book, there are great lessons and insights about the writing world which every storyteller should know about.

This book will help you in making a detailed outline of your manuscript. The most interesting thing about this book is that it is equally helpful for a novel, short story, and scriptwriters. It comprises eleven chapters that deal with the components of writing uniquely.

Eleven Chapters Summary of Anatomy of Story by John Trudy:

 The first chapter deals with the general idea of storytelling, the second chapter revolves around "Premise", the third chapter contains "seven key steps of story structure" and the fourth one deals with everything, literally everything, related to "character".

The fifth one is about the "moral argument" of the characters and the sixth one is about the "story world" or setting of the characters. The seventh one deals with symbolism and the eighth one is about the plot. The ninth and tenth chapters revolve around the "scene"; how scenes could be constructed and arranged, how effective dialogues should be written and what type of information should they have. The last chapter is a brief conclusion of this book. 

Every chapter contains different examples from classic novels and films, and also writing exercises for striving writers. This aspect makes it a guidebook or practice book for aspiring fiction writers.

The most interesting thing about this book is that it doesn’t emphasize on plot but on the character’s development. John Truby believes that if a writer focuses on the characters, the story will evolve into a masterpiece. He believed that every character should be given importance, and writers should focus on giving their characters human qualities. This insight has helped me a lot in planning my next writing. In the third chapter, he has listed the basic seven steps which are the spine of storytelling:

Basic Seven Steps discussed in The Anatomy of Story:

• Moral and psychological weakness of a character/hero. 

• The desire of a character in life. 

• Hero having an opponent. The opponent doesn't need to be portrayed as an evil human, but as a human who has the same desire or goal as the hero.

• Hero has the plan to achieve his goal or to overcome the opponent. It will be best that the opponent should also be given a strong plan. 

• The battle between hero and opponent. 

• Battle leads to "self-revelation." This self-revelation could be positive or negative. It will be best if the opponent should also given a self-revelation. 

• A new equilibrium after this self-revelation.

These seven basic steps are the ground of the 22-step model that the writer has introduced in the eighth chapter:

22-Step Model Introduced by John Trudy:

• Self-revelation, desire, and need- The writer should focus on self-revelation first because it will lead him to the weakness and desire of the character.

•  Ghost and Story World- The past of the hero or the inner conflict is the ghost. Setting, background, weather, time, etc should reflect a character’s dilemma or desire. 

• Weakness and need- Psychological and moral weaknesses and a character’s need to change his life are imperative. 

• Inciting event- It caused the hero to take action. 

• Desire. 

• Ally- He should help the hero, but should be less interesting than him. 

• Opponent or mystery- In case you want to conceal your opponent, replace it with mystery. 

• Fake Ally-Opponent- Opponent pretending to be an ally. 

• First revelation and decision- Changed Desire and Motive. 

• Plan. 

• Opponent’s plan and main counterattack. 

• Drive- series of actions the hero performs to win.

•  Attack by Ally. 

• The apparent defeat of the hero. 

• Second revelation and decision: Obsessive drive, changed desire, and motive.

•  Audience revelation. 

• Third revelation and decision. 

• Gate, gauntlet, visit death. Battle.

• Self-revelation- Give this to the hero and his opponent. 

• Moral decision.

•  New Equilibrium

John Truby has made it clear that not every good story needs to have these 22 steps, some may have less and some may have more, depending on the story idea. But, every story should have those basic seven steps introduced in the third chapter, so that it could create an impact on readers. 

While reading it, I came to know about another interesting insight into writing. John Truby suggested that before writing the manuscript, it is better to write the premise of its chapters and scenes before actually writing them. 

Plan out your whole script or novel, write a few lines about each scene and give them an arrangement before writing. 

Firstly, when I read this, I thought that it would affect my creativity. But, when I started writing my novel through this method, I realized that through this procedure, my creativity increased. 

This procedure helps me to invite new ideas and insights and lets me know the faults and loopholes in my plot even before writing my first draft. Planning a novel through this 22-step model, writing a premise of each scene, arranging those in a sequence, and then writing it makes the experience more productive and interesting.

I have started writing Love Starts After Nikkah's revised version by following the tips, and soon going to start my next novel by following these tips!

In my opinion, John Truby has written a masterpiece that should be a part of every storyteller's bookshelf.