#John Truby

[thesorcerersapprentice]

Resource Review: John Truby's The Anatomy of Genres

Book Blurb: "Most people think genres are simply categories on Netflix or Amazon that provide a helpful guide to making entertainment choices. Most people are wrong. Genre stories aren’t just a small subset of the films, video games, TV shows, and books that people consume. They are the all-stars of the entertainment world, comprising the vast majority of popular stories worldwide. That’s why businesses—movie studios, production companies, video game studios, and publishing houses—buy and sell them. Writers who want to succeed professionally must write the stories these businesses want to buy. Simply put, the storytelling game is won by mastering the structure of genres. The Anatomy of Genres: How Story Forms Explain the Way the World Works is the legendary writing teacher John Truby’s step-by-step guide to understanding and using the basic building blocks of the story world. He details the three ironclad rules of successful genre writing and analyzes more than a dozen major genres and the essential plot events, or “beats,” that define each of them. As he shows, the ability to combine these beats in the right way is what separates stories that sell from those that don’t. Truby also reveals how a single story can combine elements of different genres, and how the best writers use this technique to craft unforgettable stories that stand out from the crowd."

Pros

The Anatomy of Genres is a (mostly) straightforward guide to the must-have story beats for most fiction genres (these include: horror, action, myth, memoir, coming-of-age, science fiction, crime, comedy, western, gangster, fantasy, detective, and romance).

Each chapter is dedicated to a single genre, so there's no need to read the entire 700-page guide in one sitting. Just skip to the chapter on the genre relevant to you and leave the rest for later. Only be aware that the author sometimes references information provided in previous chapters.

Truby offers fresh insights into how to mix and match genre beats for maximum effect. This is helpful if you want to write something a little off-centre, keep your readers on their toes and/or never worry about that pesky B-Plot again.

Cons

While Truby provides thoughtful meditations on the value of stories and how they change our worldview, these are somewhat distracting from the main content of the guide and are very lightly supported with arguments and/or evidence. Be ready for some philosophical name-dropping and contentious "hot takes."

The guide is US American-centric, with most examples hailing from US TV & Literature (the author is a US American screenwriter). This isn't necessarily a "con," but if you were looking for a more global outlook on genre, prepare to be disappointed.

Finally, the chapters are structurally inconsistent, with each chapter containing totally different section divisions. Don't expect to be able to readily reference parallel story beats across genres. This will take a bit of effort on your part and won't always work out.

My recommendation? Ignore the philosophy, embrace the beats, and take it all with a pinch of salt.

Best for: experienced writers who want to ensure their novel hits all the right notes and/or anyone looking to get out of a brainstorming rut.

[emptymanuscript]

Eeehhwwwgggh, it got worse.

Horror’s basic distinction of life versus death is a binary opposition that allows for no complexity: one is either dead or alive.

Truby, John. The Anatomy of Genres: How Story Forms Explain the Way the World Works (p. 24). Picador. Kindle Edition.

And hoo boy, no. That is not correct.

Again, anybody with less clout and knowledge, 1 star and DNF. At this point I'm probably going to refuse to give more than 3 stars because even if he does pull it out, he's presenting things in an ass backwards enough way that I think it will do more harm than good.

How do you write the brilliance of the anatomy of story and then go on to write this drivel however long later??

What the hell, man???

[icedteaandoldlace]

My mind immediately went to Miguel having his big love ballad moment early into the story, and then having to slam on the brakes and reverse when Lindsay suggests keeping things casual.

[rozmorris]

The hidden shapes in stories and why drama isn't what you think it is - interview with @EHeathRobinson

This is a massive headline, I know. A massive headline for a massive and far-ranging conversation about storytelling. My host is Heath Robinson, whose YouTube channel has seen a stellar line-up of story nerds, including Christopher Vogler, author of The Writer’s Journey, Christopher Vogler, Matt Bird, author of The Secrets of Story, John Truby, author of The Anatomy of Genres, and Vic Mignogna,…

[whimseysthrone]

The Gentlemen (Netflix, 2024)

Have I tired of Guy Ritchie? The first episode of Netflix’s The Gentlemen reminds me of Michael Bay’s Pain & Gain without the leavening of self-awareness. Pain & Gain leaves us, the audience, with enough room to see the idiocy and toxic obsession involved. From the movie’s first moments we are offered a perspective that might empathize with the main characters, but doesn’t ask us to sympathize…

[eula-lie]

I asked ChatGPT to tell me how these people like John Truby, Robert McKee, John Yorke, etc are related to narratology, and what does narratologist think of their work, and if these people used traditional narratology as a source, and it didn't knew.

I need an answer, please tumblr give me one.

[nicholasandriani]

Storytelling and the Andriani Cycle. Marrying Dan Harmon Story Circle with John Truby’s Techniques. A Metamodernist Approach

Dan Harmon, John Truby, and a Twist of Joseph Campbell For those of you that have been with me for some time, you know how I feel about the traditional three-act, Aristotelian storytelling structure: to put it nicely, I don’t feel for it. And as someone who believes that any valuable critique requires a valuable alternative, I’ve been working on my own iteration of the plot cycle. The following…

[ceriseisland]

Oh, the reason I said Courtney specifically seemed strange is just that we got more of her backstory, and it was normal. There's no good reason for someone to become part of a weird cult that wants to destroy the sea, but there's also nothing we see in her backstory that explains it, what we get is so unrelated, and she doesn't seem discontent with it, so it feels like something must have happened. For the others, they could have always been like that for all we know.

I don’t think it’s unrelated. There’s a good term here: John Truby coined the term “opponent” to describe a type of character in storytelling, which Courtney is a good example of. In a story, an opponent is someone who shares an ideological “goal” with the hero that puts them into conflict, like Courtney and Ruby on true beauty, and a good sized story should have several. The opponents aren’t always antagonists, but the antagonist should be an opponent. It’s by answering the ideological question between them and examining the similarities between the hero and opponent that theme and story develop organically. Courtney is one of Ruby’s ideological “opponents,” and she’s a good one at that

The fact that Courtney used to be “normal” and then joined team magma is the whole dang point. She and Ruby both have a past version of themselves that they need to return to, like how Ruby is obsessed with aesthetics and refuses to help people after the Salamence incident. I can understand wanting to know exactly what caused her to change, but the point is still that she exists as a parallel to Ruby. She’s the first person to put the question of “what is true beauty” into his head, and that question gets answered at the end to resolve their conflict. Idk I think she’s a pretty good use of a character personally

I think she makes more sense than someone like Blaise, who literally just wants to destroy the world with no explanation why. I love Blaise but I wish there was more to him

[bellamyblcke]

started a new craft book bc i have been feeling stuck re: writing and then had to set it down bc it made me angry re: mining your life as the only way to write fiction. i personally hate that avenue into writing! and it is so weird to me that that’s what is recommended! i get it! sort of! but it’s sucking all the creativity out of me! let me make shit up pls i am goddamn begging you

[jojotier]

i know intellectually that reading several books on the craft of writing itself will at least give me something to chew on. empirically, i have read several short articles on writing things which have made me a better writer when keeping them in my back pocket. but jesus fuck is my brain in full Resentment mode during the reading of this genre book

[nanowrimo]

4 Alternatives to Popular Writing Advice

Some writing advice get passed off as something every writer has to do. The truth is, these tips might not work for everybody! NaNo participant Nicole Wilbur offers some alternatives to popular writing advice that may be a better fit for your writing needs.

While there are no definitive writing “rules”, there’s certainly writing advice so common it feels like it’s become canon. Most popular writing advice is generally good – but what if it doesn’t light up your brain? What if a particular tip doesn’t resonate with you?

 If this popular advice isn’t working - try these alternatives! 

Common advice: Make your character want something.  Alternative: Ask what your character is most afraid of.

Your character usually wants something – the MC’s goal driving the story is a common plot, after all. That something needs to be concrete, meaning the audience will know definitively when they’ve achieved their goal. 

(Is “found independence” concrete? No. Signed the lease on their first apartment? Yes.)

But if you aren’t sure yet, or what they want doesn’t feel motivating enough to support your inciting incident, start with a different question: what is your character afraid of? 

Katniss wants to survive, with her family, yes. But she’s terrified of helplessly watching them die. 

Common advice: Identify your story’s theme and stick it on a post- it above your computer.  Alternative: Use the character’s arc to create a main idea statement, and craft several related questions your story explores. 

English class really made ‘theme’ feel heavy-handed. In my grade nine English class, we listed the themes of To Kill a Mockingbird as: coming of age, racism, justice, and good vs. evil. 

While these are the topics explored in the book, I’ve never found this advice helpful in writing.  Instead, I like to use the controlling idea concept (as in Robert McKee’s Story) and exploratory questions (as in John Truby’s Anatomy of Genres).

A controlling idea is a statement about what the author views as the “proper” way to live, and it’s often cause-and-effect. The exploratory question is – well, a question you want to explore. 

In It’s a Wonderful Life, the controlling idea is something to the effect of “Life is meaningful because of our relationships” or “our lives feel meaningful when we value our family and community over money.” The question: How can a single person influence the future of an entire community?

Common advice: List out your character’s traits, perhaps with a character profile. Alternative: Focus on 2-3 broad brushstrokes that define the character.

When I first started writing, I would list out everything I wanted my character to be: smart, daring, sneaky, kind, greedy, etc. I created a long list of traits. Then I started writing the book. When I went back to look at the traits, I realized the character wasn’t really exhibiting any of these.

Instead of a long list of traits to describe your character, try identifying three. Think of these like three brush strokes on a page, giving the scaffolding of your character. Ideally, the combination of traits should be unexpected: maybe the character is rule-following, people-pleasing, and ambitious. Maybe the character is brash, strategic, and dutiful. 

Then – and this is the fun part – consider how the traits come into conflict, and what their limits are. What happens when our ambitious rule-follower must break the law to get what she wants? Sure, a character might be kind, but what will make her bite someone’s head off?

Common advice: Create a killer plot twist. Alternative: Create an information plot. 

Readers love an unexpected plot twist: whether a main character is killed or an ally turns out to be the bad guy, they’re thrilling. But plotting towards one singular twist can be difficult. 

Instead of using the term plot twist, I like thinking in terms of Brandon Sanderson’s “information” plot archetype. 

An information plot is basically a question the reader is actively trying to work out. It could be like Sarah Dessen's Just Listen where we wonder "what happened between Annabel and her ex-best friend?", "why is Annabel's sister acting strangely?" and "who is Owen, really?" Those all have to do with backstory, but information plots can be about pretty much any hidden information. Another popular question is "who is the bad guy?" - or in other words, "who is after the characters?" The Charlie's Angel franchise, for example, tends to keep viewers guessing at who the true antagonist is until the last few scenes.

Nicole Wilbur is an aspiring YA author, writing sapphic action-adventure stories that cure wanderlust. As a digital nomad, she has no house and no car, but has racked up a ridiculous number of frequent flier miles. She chronicles her writing and travelling journey on her YouTube channel and Chasing Chapters substack.

Photo by George Milton

[avariantflaire]

Why Levi and Petra?

Of course, upon general viewing of SNK and its characters, it's clear that they have established Erwin, Levi, and Hange as the leading trio of the Survey Corps. They represent this faction of the military and in interesting ways, mirror the main protagonists of the series.

While there is a lot to be said and appreciated about Levi's relationships with Erwin and Hange, I have come to find that the character who humanizes him is the lovely (albeit forgettable) Petra Ral.

Early in the series, we are introduced to Levi as Humanity's Strongest Soldier. Erwin makes use of his abilities in this sense, and Hange often relies on his strength in combat as well. That is not to say this is the extent of their relationships: we have Levi's iconic "Give up on your dreams and die" scene with Erwin (S3 E16) and the infamous "Maybe we should just live here [away from my responsibilities] together" request from Hange (S4.2 E8). However, something to note with both scenes is that while they give depth to Levi's relationship with both characters, he essentially serves to highlight others. In the former, Levi's response directly challenges Erwin's dream, and allows this commander a defining moment of growth. Similarly in the latter, Levi is used as a means for Hange to express and eventually overcome their fears and insecurities about the deal they've been dealt as the new Commander of the Survey Corps (which at the time was rapidly disbanding under the Jaegerist movement).

In other words, Levi is the "subplot character" to Erwin's and Hange's individual arcs. (According to John Truby, 'The subplot character… provides another opportunity to define the hero through comparison and advance the plot.')

Which begs the question… at what point in the series, if any, is Levi defined as a character in and of himself?

Two prominent scenes from season 1 come to mind, which are namely: 1) The dying soldier scene (S1 E9), and 2) Petra's conversation with Eren in headquarters (S1 E15).

In the first, Levi comforts a dying soldier and vows to carry on their will and exterminate all Titans. When the soldier passes before he can reply to Levi's words, Levi turns to his fellow soldier Petra and asks her if he was heard. Petra provides confirmation, emphasizing the peaceful expression on the soldier's face.

In the second, Petra confronts a gloomy-looking Eren, who has been tasked to clean headquarters along with the rest of the Special Operations Squad (aka the Levi Squad). She specifically points out how Levi is 'not the hero he's expected to be' in the sense that he has a terrible personality, though she does so while smiling almost fondly, as though it doesn't matter what his personality is because they can always put faith in him as their Captain. It seems she wants Eren to understand this - or a notion similar.

It is in both moments that we are able to clearly see Levi beyond being a powerful soldier. Always, he is a threat. When he enters the scene we expect the shift in the dynamic of the battle - we expect him to win. He's a trump card. Erwin's last words to him are an order (S3 E16), and Hange's last words about him is "he's [Armin's] underling now, so really put him to work" (S4.3.1). Levi acknowledges Erwin's and Hange's humanity, bolsters it even, with the conviction of "dedicating your heart". In SNK he is the symbolism, the embodiment, of a soldier. That's all he really ever gets to be. Even his softest moments with - heck, anyone in the series - are meant to deeply reflect on the guilt, the burden, the purpose of getting the job done. ("So… you're telling me… I've spent all this time and energy running around killing people?" (S2 E12) / "Just think, if your hands were still clean... Jean wouldn't be here right now." (S3 E2) / "If we just run away and keep on hiding, what will we have left?" (S4.2 E8))

But for those singular moments in season one, he's more than just the threat. We see him as a human not only with (personality) flaws, but also with dreams and convictions, tied so seamlessly with his comrades' cause that we are reminded painfully, at the end of the series, that it was Levi who carried them all to the end. Throughout the story we see Levi lament fallen soldiers; we are exposed to how much he empathizes with his comrades and their deaths, to the point where it can be said that no one keeps us more aware of the lives that have been lost throughout the show more than Levi himself.

In this manner, Petra was the subplot character to Levi's hero. She gave the audience a (subconscious) glimpse of the Humanity within "Humanity's Strongest" and built the bridge that would lead us to compelling and important revelations about Levi's thoughts and actions as the show progressed. It's Petra whom he finds tending to a dying soldier; Petra whom he asks for confirmation that the soldier heard; Petra who, against all expectation, asks Eren to see past the station, the status, the soldier, to the person himself.

"He's not quite the great, perfect hero society makes him out to be, huh? The real Captain Levi is shorter than you'd expect, temperamental, crude, and unsociable. (…) You thought that because he's skilled, he doesn’t have to follow the rules like everyone else?" (S1 E15)

It's even Petra who, despite her rank, asks Levi to step aside when Eren becomes a half-baked Titan. Here, Levi's robust intuition and split-second decision making skills are shown even away from the battlefield. It's Petra who leads the Special Operations Squad in their apology to Eren (S1E19 "Bite"), who first instills in us (narratively) the notion of trusting your fellow comrades. More specifically, she is who convinces Eren to place his life in their hands. It's this notion that Levi carries with him even until the final arc - "I've saved Eren countless times over - each time, more comrades dying. All because I believed he was the hope of humanity." (S4.1 E13) In the manga (Ch112), it's Petra we see at the forefront of this belief.

"Do you, Eren? Do you find it that hard to trust us?" It's Petra who dies, her words the final say in convincing Eren: "I believe my squad will be victorious." (S1 E21)

"It's like some awful joke," Levi reflects later on, as his comrades' dying hopes and dreams flash by in the canopy of the forest. "What the hell was the hope that we saw? Such bullshit. It's not even funny." (S4.1 E13) "We" here could definitely mean the soldiers who've given their hearts, but the metaphorical representative of this heart is Petra herself... "Eren! Trust us." (S1 E19)

And in the end, it's Petra in the forefront alongside Erwin and Hange, representative of her fellow soldiers, the one (experienced/veteran) Scout we've seen and interacted with in the entire series to have professed the values of hope, of trust, of belief, which is henceforth carried on by Levi himself, his own convictions, his own dreams. They are, in the entire series, the glimpse we get into the Scout Regiment beyond the series' titular character and his comrades in the 104th, and a thorough dive into what makes Levi Humanity's, not simply its strongest.

Her character song, "The Light of Dual Wings", can literally be taken as an allegory of the dreams the Scouts have entrusted to Levi. That's how prominent she is as a Scout; how coded her devotion to Levi is, whether interpreted platonically, romantically, or narratively, as the dedication of hearts.

So, yes, I love them together. I love their scenes, the implications of them narratively, the values Petra professes so effortlessly in the air, washed away by the higher tides of the Female Titan arc. I love that it's still Petra at the forefront, in all of Levi's reflections moving forward, because she is our first glimpse into Levi's character, the real him.

In the end this is just a ship post struggling to keep from delving too much into the symbolism of Levi and the Scouts (how Levi is the face of the Scouts more so than Erwin himself, really), the truest depiction of humanity's collective fight for freedom in this entire series. In his early days, Eren wanted to be a Scout, after all. It is Levi and Petra who push him forward into 'that hell' - for better and worse, respectively.

[writingquestionsanswered]

Would you point me in the direction of a list of books on the craft of writing? Thank you!

Writing Craft Book Recommendations

-- Word Painting: A Guide to Writing More Descriptively by Rebecca McClanahan

-- Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose

-- Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

-- Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody -- Steering the Craft by Ursula K. Le Guin -- The Anatomy of Story by John Truby -- The Kick-Ass Writer by Chuck Wendig

-- Wonderbook by Jeff Vandermeer

-- Story Genius by Lisa Cron -- The Magic Words by Cheryl B. Klein -- Story Engineering by Larry Brooks -- Structuring Your Novel by K.M. Weiland -- Outlining Your Novel by K.M. Weiland -- Poetry Pauses by Brett Vogelsinger

Keep an eye on the comments and reblogs for others' suggestions!

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I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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[hedwig221b]

This isn't really anything you need to respond to or anything, but I just read your answer to the writing process ask, and I wanted to compliment you on being able to break down your process!

I don't know if you're familiar with John Truby's "The Anatomy of a Story," a craft book about creating a story outline when you basically have only characters or vibes to start with, but your process reminded me so much of his advice on outlining, and that's a huge compliment from me, because his outlining suggestions were the only ones to ever make sense to me. I've always had trouble creating plots to drop my characters into because I would be focusing on them and their world and their wants and needs rather than what would happen if others messed with their wants and needs, and Truby (and by the sounds of it, you) introduced a way to take my characters and turn them into their own exciting stories with real action points and everything. LOL

So, basically, TL;DR: Thank you for sharing this with the class!

[reference post]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! 💗💖💗💖 I'm always willing to share any knowledge with you. Whatever helps a writer in need, you know?

[oh-cosmia]

4, 24, 29 😘

hiii 👀💕

4. fic idea i havent written yet

hehe. well technically ive already started and havent finished yet but my labyrinth au with goblin king ryan and kidnapped human min is in the works :3 and then theres also me and mal’s pizza boy au :3333

24. how do i recharge?

sleeping. napping. uhmmm pacing around. hugging my dog. hanging out with my friends. also reading but specifically rereading my favorite (non-fanfic) books, and then if im REALLY needing motivation i read like, john truby’s anatomy of story or some other book on writing

29. do i have a hard time coming up with titles?

hrmmm honestly no? i usually come up with titles as some kind of vague summary of the plot like

no more solos (duo in tempo rubato)— literally, there will be no more solos because theyre together again; “tempo rubato” is a music term for like… “stolen time”, like you play out of tempo and then you play faster to catch up. so theres no more solos because the two of them are catching up on their lost time. thats the plot

devotion breaks through the land of roots— i mean, its pretty literal, its a story where mutual devotion allows them to escape the literal/metaphorical world of the dead.

bro kisses— dude, theyre bros and they kiss. whats better than this. just bros being dudes (who kiss)

if it takes me a while to come up with a title sometimes that means its easier to think of one once the whole story is done 🤔

MWAH

ask me fic writing questions!