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The Anatomy of Story
Video Class
How to Write Screenplays and Novels
that Agents Want to Represent and
Producers Want to Buy
Keep reading to learn the professional
writing techniques used to generate
$$ billions at the box office…
Wanna know how this course can get you a full diploma in screen, television, or novel writing
Want to create your unique story brand?
They did:
Needless to say, many writers are not experiencing a winning situation like this in their writing life.
The pain of being a writer
Tell me if any of this sounds familiar:
- You come up with great premise ideas, but you can never seem to get past the first 15-20 pages.
- Your story dies in the middle and you have no idea what to do about it.
- After years of hard work, you have a number of scripts or books just sitting on your shelf.
- You have no agent.
- You’re not getting paid for what you write.
- You’re so frustrated you don’t know which way to turn.
- You have no sign that things will change.
Stop…
using techniques from beginner books that don’t work at the professional level.
Stop…
winging it so that your characters are 1-dimensional, your plots are predictable, your story world is generic, and your dialogue is lame.
Stop…
writing into the void so your work is never seen and has no chance to become a unique story brand you can sell.
The Solution:
The Anatomy of Story Class
The Anatomy of Story Class, in 12 video modules, is THE system for writing compelling screenplays, teleplays, and novels that encompasses every story component you need to write stories that sell.
Why does it work so well?
It all has to do with the beauty of the Anatomy of Story system.
Using the system, you will be stepped through the professional writing techniques that will produce a screenplay or novel that readers can’t put down, and you’ll be on your way to building a story brand that pays you money!
Get Writing
Get Paid
Get Recognized
The Anatomy of Story Course Guide
The 12 modules below take you through a powerful writing process to map, then write a script or novel that readers, agents, and producers love, and get you on your way to creating your unique story brand.
Here’s just some of what you’re going to learn in this incredibly comprehensive class:
1. Premise
- The 5 ways a premise fails
- The Premise Checklist Technique that will tell you whether your premise will work and how to fix it if it doesn’t.
- The 3 questions you MUST ask yourself about your premise
- Premise elements that give you maximum Narrative Drive
- How to execute the all-important “High Concept” premise line
- What a good logline is really about
- What makes a premise especially good for television
2. 7 Steps of Every Great Story
- The biggest mistake writers make when first creating their story
- 4 keys to a great Desire Line for your hero
- How to get maximum Narrative Drive in your story
- How to set up the all-important Vortex Point
- Technique of the 4-Point Opposition
- The cardinal rule of great storytelling
- The fallacy of the unlikeable hero
- Determining the First Cause of the story
- The single most important element of popular story
- The 7 structure steps in television
- How to connect the 7 structure steps under the surface
- The 2 biggest mistakes writers make in creating the 7 steps in their story
Learn to write award-winning epics
3. Genres
- The biggest mistake writers make about genres
- The 3 most important worldwide story strategies
- The desire line and key story strategy for Horror, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Myth, Action, Detective, Crime, Thriller, Memoir-True Story, Love, Masterpiece, And Comedy
- How to mix genres
- How to choose your primary genre
4. Character Web
- The best way to create your character web
- How function defines the hero, opponent, ally, fake ally, fake opponent, and subplot character
- Why doing a 7-step breakdown of your opponent is the key to figuring out the plot
- The second-best way to create your character web
- The technique that saves you 10 times the work later on
5. Plot 1
- The single best plot technique of all
- Why writers have so much difficulty creating plot
- The plot mistake of thinking tactically, not strategically
- The 2 biggest sins of plot and how to fix them
- 2 keys to constructing grand plot
- 3 attributes always found in a great plot
- 3 techniques for creating a great plot
- The 4 story elements that determine in Narrative Drive
6. Plot 2
- The one Plot Technique that will fix the “murky middle, sagging middle, dragging middle” issues in your stories FOREVER.
- The biggest weakness of writers in every medium
- The all-important Conflict Sequence
- The single most important set of Plot Techniques for professional story, in every medium.
- Why 3-act structure, the hero’s journey, and save the cat won’t begin to give you a plot that works at the professional level
- Why “plot point” is a useless term for figuring out a great plot
- 5 techniques for creating reveals
- How to get the Tornado Effect
- How Nightmare applies to the plot
Learn to write blockbuster Action
7. Plot 3
- The first causal line of the plot
- How to connect conflict and reveal
- How to create the Revelations Sequence
- How conflict and revelation apply to genre stories
- The big problem when your genre moves from Knowledge toward Action
- The technique of flip characters
- How TV plot is unique from other forms
8. Plot 4
- Benefits of the novel-writing strategy
- How plot and narrative drive differ between film and novel
- Plot for commercial genre novels
- Novels with serial structure
- Setting up desire in a novel series
- The detective novel series
- Using POV in the novel Genre plot, including techniques for:
- Fantasy
- Thriller
- Action
- Love
- Drama and Memoir-True Story
9. Story World
- The deeper elements that make up the Story World
- 6 steps for creating and detailing the Story World
- The relationship between values and visual space
- The most important space in the Story World and the oppositions that define it
- The key Story World technique: Utopia vs. Dystopia
- Story World by genre
- The best Story World techniques
- Caution: Story World vs. Narrative Drive
Learn to write genre bending hits
10. Scene List
- The crucial connection between Moral Argument and Character Arc
- The 2 Character axes found in every story
- Why scene list is the most important step in the writing process
- The key to structuring your scene list
- Scene list for television
- What serial story structure does to the scene list
- How scene weave is different from scene list and why it’s so important
- Steps for laying out a powerful scene tapestry
- 3 keys to a good story weave in TV
11. Dialogue 1
- The key test for Moral Decision
- Why dialogue is so hard to write
- How to write the 3 tracks of dialogue, and why you need all three
- The steps for writing a great scene, and the one element that MUST be there
- David Mamet’s 3 rules of a great scene
- The key technique for shaping the scene
- What subtext really means and how to write it
- How to write moral dialogue that isn’t preachy
- Ideal process for writing the scene
12. Dialogue 2
- Who you are really writing for
- Do’s and don’ts for writing scene description
- How to write a great monologue
- The trick to writing dreaded exposition
- Setting up the tag line
- Using the all-important Vortex Technique
- How to write a great opening scene
- How to write a great closing scene
You’ll notice 4 out of the 12 modules are on plot.
That’s because there are more techniques that go into creating a great plot than all the other major writing skills combined.
It’s also because plot is the biggest obstacle writers have in moving up to the professional level. By far.
These 4 modules on plot are the most cutting-edge plot techniques in the world.
I guarantee it.
The Anatomy of Story Bonuses!
Over 50,000 writers have taken my story classes and turned their writing dreams into reality.I am laser focused on giving you your best chance at professional success.
So, I want to give you a free BONUS course that will help you get maximum traction on writing for the worldwide story market, straight out of the gate.
Choose one of the following courses when you purchase The Anatomy of Story to get the practical techniques that will kick your story up to the professional level right now!
Your choice of:
Story for Money
Story Rescue
Avatar: How to Write
the Female Myth
Westworld: How to
Write the new Epic
[BONUS #1] Story for Money Class
($97 Value)
How to write stories that sell like hot cakes. Every. Single. Time.
In this training you will learn:
- The biggest problem in popular story today.
- The #1 misconception writers have about selling their script.
- The 1st rule of writing a blockbuster script and a bestselling novel
- Why narrative drive is the most important aspect of ANY story you write, no matter what your medium. (Nail this and 80% of your work is done!)
- Strategies used by JRR Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings and Suzanne Collins in The Hunger Games trilogy that create blockbuster stories.
• The one story element Hollywood looks for in a script that’s more important than all the other story elements combined.
• Why it has to be in your premise, or it will never be there at all.
• How to CREATE A DESIRE LINE that MAXIMIZES the narrative drive.
• The all-important connection between Narrative Drive and Opponent (no one else in story is teaching this, though this is one of my favorite techniques which can make or destroy a story).
• How narrative drive changes based on your Genre.
• Which Characters promote narrative drive, and which don’t. (Knowing this you can put your focus on the 20% that is going to make 80% of the difference to the power of your story.)
• Why adequate Conflict is one of the keys to great narrative drive (and the ability to accelerate it towards the finish line)
• The one technique that will immediately get the reader to want to read anything you write
• Why Story World is the biggest enemy of narrative drive, and yet a VITAL component to your voice… and then knowing how to make them work together for maximum impact.
• How to create Plot that increases narrative drive in every story medium.
• How Narrative Drive differs in film, TV, novel, and video game.
• How to create a strong Theme that doesn’t kill narrative drive, rather supports it and ADDS to the texture of the weave.
[BONUS #1] Story for Money Class
($97 Value)
How to write stories that sell like hot cakes. Every. Single. Time.
In this training you will learn:
- The biggest problem in popular story today.
- The #1 misconception writers have about selling their script.
- The 1st rule of writing a blockbuster script and a bestselling novel
- Why narrative drive is the most important aspect of ANY story you write, no matter what your medium. (Nail this and 80% of your work is done!)
- Strategies used by JRR Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings and Suzanne Collins in The Hunger Games trilogy that create blockbuster stories.
• Why adequate Conflict is one of the keys to great narrative drive (and the ability to accelerate it towards the finish line)
• The one technique that will immediately get the reader to want to read anything you write
• Why Story World is the biggest enemy of narrative drive, and yet a VITAL component to your voice… and then knowing how to make them work together for maximum impact.
• How to create Plot that increases narrative drive in every story medium.
• How Narrative Drive differs in film, TV, novel, and video game.
• How to create a strong Theme that doesn’t kill narrative drive, rather supports it and ADDS to the texture of the weave.
[BONUS #2] Story Rescue Class
($97 Value)
The Story Rescue Class helps you fix the 7 most important structural mistakes on which almost all other mistakes in your story are founded.
In this training you will learn:
• Key techniques to layer EMOTION into your story – and make your reader CARE DEEPLY about your characters.
• The first rule of writing a bestselling novel.
• How to fix a weak desire line.
• The *ONE* character you must get right (hint: it’s not the protagonist!).
• The STORY STRATEGY that will turn your hard work into sales.
• The fatal flaw that 99% of writers make, to which there is no fix if you make it.
• The trick to making your readers immediately love your hero.
• The nuance that makes your hero legendary in story circles, and a bestseller (no one talks about this).
• The GENRE ELEMENT every story needs (regardless of the genre you’re using! Yeah, I know. Check it out and I’ll explain).
[BONUS #3] Avatar: How to Write the Female Myth
($127 Value)
Learn the key story beats and techniques that made this movie the biggest blockbuster in history, with narrative drive off the charts – something every screenplay and novel today MUST have.
It’s all about the new Female Myth, the story form I believe will dominate worldwide storytelling for decades to come.
If you write novels, why would it be valuable to learn the key techniques of this immensely popular movie?
Because the most popular novels and the novels that repeat in a series have to read like a fast-paced MOVIE.
And it should be a movie that is part of a series, just like a novel series.
You won’t believe how much you’ll learn about writing a great novel series by looking at my Avatar class.
In this training you will learn:
- The real Myth story beats, the ones that make a great myth like Avatar, not the superficial beats everyone normally associates with this story form.
- How to execute the story beats of the Myth genre, which is the foundation of more blockbuster scripts than any other by far.
- How to twist the beats of the Myth form, which is the #1 strategy for placing yourself above the crowd in the competitive world of storytelling.
- How the film creates a story revolution by tracking two conflicts: between a technological society and a nature society and between a Male Myth and a Female Myth.
- How to write a mixed genre script, which is the only script Hollywood now buys.
- A perfect example of a Female Myth story, a story form that I believe will be the most popular genre over the next two decades worldwide.
[BONUS #4] Westworld: How to Write the New Epic
($127 Value)
Learn the key elements of the New Epic that can change the world and rocket you to the top.
In this training you will learn:
- What the New Epic is, given recent changes in storytelling.
- Why Epic is the key to the stories you want to write, in EVERY medium.
- What the New Epic is, given recent changes in storytelling.
- Why Epic is the key to the stories you want to write, in EVERY medium.
Why this form allows you to overcome the basic black-and-white tropes of simplistic story forms to explore more complex characters and character webs. - How to execute the New Epic story structure that appeals to the consciousness of a worldwide audience.
- How Westworld goes beyond the simplistic dystopia vs. utopia distinction in Science Fiction and Fantasy stories to do something really advanced.
- The best genres for writing epic, worldbuilding stories.
- The difference of writing an epic for TV and novels vs. film.
- Why Westworld is the perfect transmedia story.
- Why the TV serial shows writers the keys to writing serial novels.
- How Westworld does the serial novel to perfection (extending plot).
- How mixing the right genres in the right way is the key to Westworld’s success.
- How Westworld creates one of the best story worlds in history.
- How Westworld connects characters to story world to plot.
- How the meta story elements kick Westworld to another level of excellence and consciousness.
- How to explore and demonstrate moral revelations for your characters in this new form.
- How Westworld creates human – or is it super-human – consciousness.
Proof The Anatomy of Story Class works…
Raves from the press…
