Story Development

Essays on how stories work.

1. Story Engine Something happens and the character has to make a hard choice that will leave them somewhere other than where they started.
2. Story Assembly Story Engine says what a movement is. This says how movements are assembled into a story.
3. Value Story is found in the conflict between two opposing values. The axis between them is the dimension where the story takes place. A story has one axis, and every character is measured along it — faith versus doubt, for example.
4. Story Shape A story's shape is the path its movements trace. Each movement leaves the character somewhere other than where they started, so a string of them draws a line.
5. Irony Irony is when the cost and the stakes are in the same currency: to keep what they're protecting, the character has to pay with that same thing. Peace for peace, family for family, a life for a life that matters.
6. How I use them Story Engine says what a movement is and Story Assembly how movements nest. This is how I work them.