Story Starter Workbook
Writing a story isn’t easy. However, there’s a huge difference between novice writers and experienced writers. Experienced writers know what makes stories work from the beginning all the way to the end. Even if they don’t outline their entire story ahead of time, experienced writers subconsciously know the structure of stories so they can write confidently with a minimal waste of time.
Novices know little to nothing about story structure. As a result, they start writing with no clear idea where they’re going, what their story needs, or even how it might end. The end result is a chaotic mess that endless amounts of rewrites will likely never fix.
Which approach do you want to follow?
The purpose of “Story Starter: The 15-Minute Movie Workbook” is to provide guidelines and exercises to help you learn about the different aspects of story structure. The more you know about the common elements found in nearly every story, the sooner you can apply these same principles to help you write your story.
Stories are intricately connected elements that work together. If you don’t know what these story elements are, you’ll risk ignoring them and creating a much weakened story like a bridge that’s missing a supporting pillar.
Rather than try to write and plan your story at the same time (a common mistake of novices), it’s far better to plan your story in detail or broad strokes. The point is that structure is the key ingredient to making writing faster and easier.
By knowing the elements of story structure, you can create richer and more creative story faster and easier than ever before.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part I: Starting Techniques to Define Your Story’s Purpose
Chapter 1: How Do You Want to Tell Your Story?
Chapter 2: What Type of Story Will You Tell?
Chapter 3: How to Create an “Original” Story
Chapter 4: Why Do You Want to Tell Your Story?
Part I Checklist
Part II: Refining Techniques: Structuring a Story
Chapter 5: The Hero’s Haunted Past
Chapter 6: The Hero’s Goal (and How to Get It)
Chapter 7: Outlining the Emotional Change
Chapter 8: The Symbol of Hope
Chapter 9: The Inner and Outer Conflict
Chapter 10: People, Places, and Things
Part II Checklist
Part III: Developing Techniques
Chapter 11: The Multilayered Story
Chapter 12: The Theme
Chapter 13: The Hero’s Story
Chapter 14: The Villain’s Story
Chapter 15: The Mentor’s Story
Chapter 16: The Ally’s Story
Chapter 17: Introducing the Hero
Chapter 18: Introducing the Villain
Chapter 19: Introducing the Mentor
Chapter 20: Introducing the Ally
Part III Checklist
Part IV: Story Structure Techniques
Chapter 21: The Beginning
Chapter 22: The Ending
Chapter 23: The Milestones
Chapter 24: Starting the Story
Chapter 25: Fun and Games
Chapter 26: Everything Falls Apart
Chapter 27: Fighting the Henchman and Villain
Part IV Checklist
Part V: Getting Started
Chapter 28: Writing Act I
Chapter 29: Writing Act IIa
Chapter 30: Writing Act IIb
Chapter 31: Writing Act III
Afterword
