"The Anatomy Of Story is concrete and practical without resorting to simplistic 'Three Act Structure' screenwriting clichés. It will be an indispensable guide to writing your first great script."
-Larry Wilson, co-writer/co-producer of Beetljuice and co-writer of The Addams Family
John Truby's The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller (Faber & Faber/Farrar, Straus, and Giroux) is the new "Bible" not just for screenwriters, but for any writer attempting to craft the perfect story.
Taking as his examples Jaws, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Tootsie, The Great Gatsby, The Godfather, Chinatown, and A Christmas Carol, among many others, Truby illustrates in The Anatomy of Story what makes a great story and how to create that story, focusing on plot and premise, theme, characters, moral development, and crafting the kind of ending that brings readers and audiences back again and again. Additionally, Truby offers seven key story structure steps, which are the major stages of a story's development and of the dramatic code under its surface. The Anatomy of Story is a step-by-step guide to constructing the best story possible-be it a screenplay, short story, or novel.
Truby, who has taught his twenty-two-step Great Screenwriting and Genre classes to more than 30,000 students worldwide, explains:
· Top 10 mistakes writers make about story.
· Five best and worst questions about screenwriting.
· How the 22-step approach is different from the 3-act structure.
· Five unique story elements of blockbuster films.
· Five best techniques of character and plot.
John Truby is Hollywood's premier story consultant and founder of Truby's Writers Studio. He has worked as a story consultant and script doctor for Disney Studios, Sony Pictures, FOX, and HBO, among others.