I read this book late last year for the first time, but like
Ivanhoe, this too,
only for different reasons, deserves repeated reads. Truby is not a
particularly gifted writer or anything. Very little is quotable or
well stated as such. But the instructions are invaluable. I won't give away his secret recipe. Instead, I'll summarize this way. Truby outlines the elements and
techniques inherent in great storytelling by pointing to the
universal themes classics and otherwise successful novels,
television shows, and films adhere to. He breaks these elements down
into sections – premise, character, plot, dialogue, moral argument, symbolism – and
forces the writer to evaluate what kind of story s/he wants to tell,
how to maintain theme, how to evoke emotions in the reader through
scenes, how to design convincing characters and so on.
Before
reading this book, I'd done what I imagine lots of writers still do –
redraft a manuscript until a story begins to take shape. Whereas now
I apply Truby's instruction: first asking myself what the protagonist
is all about and how his ultimate goal relates to his nature, his
motivation, his desires versus his need versus his weakness, how the
cast of characters play off these traits, how allies and opponents affect the results, how ultimately the character, not the plot, must
dictate what happens next, and then outlining the entire story before
beginning a first draft.
Even
if you're not a writer, this book will change the way you view
storytelling. You'll never watch another tv show or movie or read
another novel without gauging its merits based on Truby's insight,
which, by the way, bares some similarities to the hero cycle made
famous by Joseph Campbell and later Christopher Vogler's The
Writer's Journey. At least I can't read novels anymore without
the templates this book espouses in mind. For what it's worth, this
has improved my storytelling efforts a hundred fold. Four out of
five stars.
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