 | Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com "If you're ready to graduate from the boy-meets-girl league of screenwriting, meet John Truby . . . [his lessons inspire] epiphanies that make you see the contours of your psyche as sharply as your script." —LA Weekly John Truby is one of the most respected and sought-after story consultants in the film industry, and his students have gone on to pen some of Hollywood’s most successful films, including Sleepless in Seattle, Scream, and Shrek. The Anatomy of Story is his long-awaited first book, and it shares all his secrets for writing a compelling script. Based on the lessons in his award-winning class, Great Screenwriting, The Anatomy of Story draws on a broad range of philosophy and mythology, offering fresh techniques and insightful anecdotes alongside Truby’s own unique approach to building an effective, multifaceted narrative. John Truby is Hollywood’s premiere 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, and has taught his 22-Step Great Screenwriting and Genre classes to over 20,000 students worldwide. John Truby is one of the most respected and sought-after story consultants in the film industry. His students have gone on to pen some of Hollywood’s most successful films, including Sleepless in Seattle, Scream, and Shrek. His first book, The Anatomy of Story is about the process of writing a compelling script. Based on the lessons in his award-winning class, Great Screenwriting, The Anatomy of Story draws on a broad range of philosophy and mythology and offers techniques and anecdotes alongside Truby’s own approach to developing an effective, multifaceted narrative. Truby’s method for constructing a story is at once insightful and practical, focusing on the hero’s moral and emotional growth. As a result, writers will explore their own values and worldviews in order to create an effective story. Truby provides a precise set of tools—specific, useful techniques to make the audience care about their characters, and that make their characters grow in meaningful ways. Writers will learn to construct a surprising plot that is unique to their particular concept, and they will learn how to express a moral vision that can genuinely move an audience.
The foundations of story that Truby lays out are applicable to all writers, from novelists and short-story writers to journalists, memoirists, and writers of narrative non-fiction.
"If you're ready to graduate from the boy-meets-girl league of screenwriting, meet John Truby . . . [His lessons draw] epiphanies that make you see the contours of your psyche as sharply as your script."—LA Weekly "If you're ready to graduate from the boy-meets-girl league of screenwriting, meet John Truby . . . [His lessons draw] epiphanies that make you see the contours of your psyche as sharply as your script."—LA Weekly
"A veritable bible for screenwriters."—Backstage
"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. Then, the perfect survival manual to help you negotiate the often confusing, contradictory and cutthroat world of professional screenwriting."—Larry Wilson, co-writer and co-producer of Beetlejuice and co-writer of The Addams Family
"Hollywood story consultant Truby commits his vast knowledge of screenwriting and storytelling to the page in this handy guide for aspiring writers of all types. Truby delves into the setup, from basic structure to the premise and the depth behind it. From there, he moves into character, emphasizing the importance of not only the hero but also the characters in the story who aid and oppose him. Truby illustrates the importance of setting to the story and how careful plotting is needed to weave the elements of the story together. He cautions that plot is not incidental and requires careful management and timely revelations. Although most of his examples are from movies, such as Tootsie, The Godfather, and Star Wars, Truby also draws from novels and plays, and his advice is applicable not only to the hopeful screenwriter but to the aspiring novelist as well. A comprehensive guide to writing stories of all kinds, Truby's tome is invaluable to any writer looking to put an idea to paper."—Kristine Huntley, Booklist |
Average Customer Rating:   Truly an amazing way to think about story I just wanted to add my voice to those who have rated this book so highly.
While it is very oriented toward screenwriting (all the examples and analyses are of screenplays), all of the ideas and exercises in this book apply as well to writing good, mainstream fiction.
I also use the Dramatica theory and software, and find that the two dovetail into each other beautifully. The Dramatica software (you can see my review of it here as well, look up the Dramatica Pro software) asks you endless questions regarding your characters, situations, relationships, etc. Doing the exercises in this book first has allowed me to answer those questions with rich, meaningful answers. Great for Novelists too: This book saved me! I've been working on a novel for the last four years -- "floundering" would be a better word-- but Truby's Anatomy of a Story literally saved me. His 22 steps to telling a great story work amazing well for novelists. There's just so much good information in here; detailed, specific information, and examples. I especially liked the discussions and tips about moral vs psychological needs, and the importance of revelations and how best to handle them. There's plenty of good stuff in here that you won't find anywhere else. Don't be afraid that applying his "steps" to your work will somehow put a straight jacket on your organic story. They won't. Truby is all about organic storytelling. And if you're one of those writers who likes to dream up a couple of interesting characters and let them tell you their own story... that's fine. But after they do-- after you've got a good rough draft to play around with -- you'll need to take your story and tell it in such a way that will keep the reader engaged and turning those pages. Truby's book will help you accomplish just that. I can't recommend it enough! I love this book This book speaks my language, rather than all the other books out there that over complicate writing topics. I love this book and the 3rd Act. Helpful but not what it claims to be I think this book is really interesting and helpful if you take it with a grain of salt and just read it and try to answer some of the big questions. For instance:
Do the main character and the opposition actually want the same thing? If so, what is it?
How do subplots echo and enhance the main plot?
There's a bunch of good questions in here that I had never really considered asking myself before.
However, if you try to actually do EVERYTHING he says, you will go insane just trying to sort out exactly what it is he wants. The book is long and repetitive and not always entirely clear (mostly because I suspect he just started making stuff up at some level so that this would look original and he would seem like some kind of genius).
As many people have pointed out, he hasn't really applied the stuff himself to any great acclaim. He's created a system of deconstructing a piece AFTER it was written, which is what writing gurus all do. That is not at all the same thing as showing someone how to write a piece before they write it. As such, it gives you things to think about, but it is not exactly what it claims to be.
I would be much happier if he had just made a workbook with questions that I could follow and answer and thus be able to avoid wading through all the repetitive meandering. An extremely valuable writer's "tool" While some believe that great writers simply sit down and start writing, Truby describes and encapsulates the methods they use, consciously and creatively, to achieve truly great story-telling. Never hamstring yourself by a slavish devotion to theories and paradigms, but the insights and concepts that John brings to writing are invaluable. Definitely a writer's "must-have" reference. |  |
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