Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

388 positive votes. Four addenda posted as of 13 December 2021 ============== . Reviewed by C.J.Singh.Wallia . MASTERING THE CRAFT OF STORY-STRUCTURING The publisher (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) on the book’s jacket says: “John Truby is one of the most respected and sought-after story consultants…” On page 5, Truby says, "My goal is to explain how a great story works, along with the techniques needed to create one.... I'm going to lay out a practical poetics for story-tellers that works whether you're writing a screenplay, a novel, a play, a teleplay, or a short story. I will show that a great story is organic -- not a machine but a loving body that develops; treat storytelling as an exacting craft with precise techniques; work through a writing process that is also organic meaning that we will develop characters and plot that grow naturally out of your original story idea." Promising: organic story that grows "naturally out of your original story idea." ORGANIC STORY is the core concept of Truby's master storytelling, lucidly emphasized throughout the book as story that's internally logical, arising out of characters' psychological and moral weaknesses or needs. The two kinds are differentiated as needs that hurt the character individually (psychological) and needs that hurt others in the story's world (moral). In support, Truby presents back-engineered craft analyses of films and literary works. Films like “Tootsie,” “The Godfather,” "Casablanca," "Citizen Kane," “Cinema Paradiso," “Pride and Prejudice," “It’s a Wonderful Life.“ Literary Works Jane Austen's "Emma," Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol," Emily Bronte's "The Wuthering Heights," Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness," and James Joyce's "Ulysses." On the opening page, Truby notes: "Terms like 'rising action,' 'climax,' 'progressive complication,' and 'denouement,' terms that go as far back as Aristotle, are so broad and theoretical as to be almost meaningless." And on the next page, "The three-act structure is a mechanical device superimposed on the story and has nothing to do with its internal logic." (On page 287, Truby trashes the three-act structure as "lousy plot with no chance of competing in the real world of professional screenwriting.") In the above quotes, the phrases "almost meaningless," "nothing to do with its internal logic," "lousy plot" sound strident. In fact, during drafting, structural guidelines do contribute -- contribute interactively -- form to content, content to form. Moreover, the classical three-act structure is invariably the audience's psychological experience of conflict in any dramatic story: beginning, middle, end -- including stories that present the conflict in a different order. Truby, I think, meant to say that citing the three-act structure is not one of the 22 steps in his book's subtitle. From the questions I asked the author at his reading this afternoon at Mrs. Dalloway's, a Berkeley bookstore, I learned that he also markets a writing software, Truby Blockbuster, upgraded to match this book. (In his presentation, none of the above stridency -- he's an elegantly persuasive teacher.) At home, I looked up the amazon software-reviews of Truby Blockbuster. The software is expensive: three-hundred bucks upfront plus hundreds more for add-ons. One reviewer of Truby's software, Razzi "the working screenwriter," writes on amazon reviews: "You have to take Truby's ideas with the knowledge that Truby himself was never able to successfully apply them. His sole pro credit is as a tv writer on a series made over a decade ago. But that doesn't stop Truby from pontificating on all the 'mistakes' made by writers far more successful than himself." Well, well, Mr. Razzi: A craft teacher can be effective without being a high performer in the art. In fairness to Mr. Truby, I feel we must not forget that Aristotle, the pioneering guru of the drama-writing craft in Western literature, did not write any drama. Nor did Max Perkins -- the "Editor of Genius" writers like Ernest Hemingway, F Scott Fitzgerald, and Thomas Wolfe--publish any creative writing of his own. (See book by A Scott Berger titled "Editor of Genius.) Truby's major experience is as a story-development consultant. Very successful professional. And that's the focus of his book as well. It's Truby's brilliantly illuminating analyses of craft in numerous screenplays, novellas, novels that make this a superb five-star book. As to the book's subtitle, "22-Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller," twenty-two steps portend micromanaging, but I have not done the exercises yet. I believe writing-craft books can help you learn the craft, but not the art that raises a story to the "master" level. And Truby's book teaches the story-development craft that only an eminent story-doctor like him can teach. Highly recommended. -- C.J.Singh.Wallia -------------------------------------------------------------- ADDENDUM (After doing the exercises for structuring my short-story.) The book sequences chapters on "techniques of great storytelling in the same order that you construct your story." EXERCISE #1 (p 37): CREATE YOUR PREMISE. Premise: State your story idea in a single sentence. An excellent innovation by Truby is to write down your "Wish List" as Step 1 in developing your premise line: "A list of everything you would like to see up on the screen, in a book, or at the theater" (p 19). EXERCISE #2 (p 52): USE the SEVEN KEY STEPS of STORY STRUCTURE. Weakness and Need; Desire; Opponent; Plan; Battle; Self-Revelation; New Equilibrium. EXERCISE #3 (p 102): CREATE YOUR CHARACTERS. Create characters from your premise, characters with psychological and moral needs. Psychological need is character’s wekness; Moral need is character’s weakness in relating to others. The four-way opposition in the character-web brilliantly explained. EXERCISE #4 (p 140): OUTLIINE THE MORAL ARGUMENT. Outline the theme or moral argument inherent in your premise. Excellent exercise. EXERCISE #5:(p 210) CREATE THE STORY WORLD. Create the story world "as an outgrowth of your hero." EXERCISE #6 (p 254): CREATE A WEB OF SYMBOLS. "We'll figure out a web of symbols that highlight and communicate different aspects of the characters, the story world, and the plot." EXERCISE #7 (p 325): CREATE YOUR PLOT. Create your plot by following the 22 steps of the book's subtitle. "The steps... provide the scaffolding you need" to create an organic story design. Truby presents persuasive analyses of "Casablanca," "Tootsie," and "The Godfather." My initial reaction to this exercise was it's micro-managing that'll hinder creativity. Not so. Actually doing these steps can facilitate discovering the organic form of the story as promised on page 15: "Using the twenty-two story structure steps, we will design a plot in which all the events are connected under the surface and build to a surprising but logically necessary ending." EXERCISE #8: (p 341) CREATE THE SCENE WEAVE. To prepare for writing scenes, first: "Come up with a list of every scene in the story, with all the plotlines and themes woven into a tapestry." Truby presents a brief example comparing scene weaves from an early and the final draft of "The Godfather" as well as fuller examples from "Pride and Prejudice," and "It's a Wonderful Life," Highly instructive exercise on using jumpcuts for screenwriters as well as novelists. EXERCISE # 9: (p 416) SCENE CONSTRUCTION AND SYMPHONIC DIALOGUE Construct "each scene so that it furthers the development of your hero. We'll write dialogue that doesn't just push the plot but has a symphonic quality, blending many instruments and levels at the same time." The chapter includes instructive brief examples from "The Seven Samurai," "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and a detailed example from "Casablanca." In sum, Truby's THE ANATOMY OF STORY is a truly sophisticated story-development guide, applicable to writing screenplays, novels, novellas, and short stories. I am using it for planning short stories and, later, for a novel. -- C.J.Singh.Wallia ========================= ADDENDUM # 2 12 July 2014 Today, I heard a live 2-hour Webinar by John Truby and Leslie Lehr on structuring novels. In the opening thirty minutes, Truby presented a lucid overview of his acclaimed book THE ANATOMY OF STORY and explained the benefits and drawbacks of using multiple narrators in novels. Next, Leslie Lehr explained 15 different techniques used in contemporary novels to strengthen the benefits of multiple narrators. She began by citing her novel "Wife Goes On." Among the many other examples, she cited: Caroline Leavitt's "Is This Tomorrow," Ian McEwan's "Atonement" and Michael Cunningham's "Hours." The webinar included questions from the online audience and is a great complement to Truby's book. -- C.J.Singh.Wallia ========================= ADDENDUM #3 24 Jan 2016 STORY for NOVELISTS is the latest Audio release by Truby Writers Studio. It’s a recording of the class that John Truby and Leslie Lehr gave couple of months ago in San Francisco. As I was one of the 90 attendees, I can vouch for the excellence and the authenticity of the recording, including questions from the audience of this one-day class. Truby’s book THE ANATOMY OF STORY is a truly sophisticated story-development guide, applicable to writing screenplays, novels, novellas, and short stories. This Audio focuses on the story-development process specific to novel-writing craft. It could very well serve as the basis of the presenters’ next publication, possibly named: The Physiology of Novel-Writing Craft? The four-hour 26 minute Audio comprises: 1. Novel 7 Steps 2. Character Techniques 3. Plot Techniques 4. How to Use Point of View 5. Storyteller Frame 6. Multiple POV 7. Script to Novel 8. Novel to Script 9-18 Great American Novel Techniques 1-10 19-20 Prose Techniques 1-10 21. The Business of Novel An outstanding example of applying above guidelines in excellent storytelling is Leslie Lehr's novel "What a Mother Knows." (Leslie Lehr is John Truby's wife.) -- C.J.Singh.Wallia ======================= ADDENDUM # 4 13 Dec 2021 Leslie Lehr's memoir "BOOBS," published in 2021, is a witty, excellent, must-read book for women and men. She describes the sexual revolution in the 60's & 70's America. Also writes about her determined resistance to cancer. (I've posted more than 150 book reviews on amazon.com; but recommended as "must-read" only a couple till now.) Yes, BOOBS is a must-read in my opinion. -- C.J.Singh.Wallia