Meet the 2 Books that Will
Change Your Writing Life
There are the only two books you must have if you want to learn the secrets and master all the professional techniques required to be in the top 1% of writers in the world.
The Anatomy of Story is about how to tell a great story in any medium, in any genre.
It’s based on story beats that are always present in great stories.
The Anatomy of Genres shows writers how each genre takes those foundation story beats and executes them in a way found only in that form, along with the unique philosophy of life those beats express.
If story is life, genres are life forms.
And they are the keys to winning the story game.
How to Write Screenplays and Novels that are Popular and Great
The Anatomy of Story
22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller
Professional writers use fundamentally different techniques than do amateur writers. This book contains the professional techniques needed to tell a bestselling story in every medium, including film, novels, television, theater, webisodes, and video games.
The perennial problem faced by most writers is not having enough surprising and compelling plot beats, especially in mediums with an ever-expanding canvas like film, television, and books.
Using John Truby’s revolutionary story system, the reader will learn the secret 22 building blocks of every great story, and how to sequence advanced plot techniques to create stories with greater emotional force.
Using an approach based on the story’s unique hero, The Anatomy of Story takes writers step-by-step through the process from the ground up: the premise, the 7 major structure steps, character, the moral argument (theme), the story world, the symbol web, plot, scene weave, scenes, and dialogue. Each chapter ends with an exercise that allows the writer to apply these powerful techniques immediately to their story.
The result: the writer crafts better stories while quickly raising their skills to the professional level.
Truby’s original approach has changed how writers in every medium develop their stories and increases the impact they have on the storytelling world.
Table of Contents:
1. Story Space/Story Time
2. Premise
3. 7 Key Story Structure Steps
4. Character
5. Moral Argument
6. Story World
7. Symbol Web
8. Plot
9. Scene Weave
10. Symphonic Dialogue
11. The Neverending Story
Raves from readers…
“Reading his groundbreaking book, The Anatomy of Story, it is so packed with knowledge, each chapter alone offers more instruction than entire volumes from John Truby’s contemporaries. John has accomplished the impossible.”
Mark Joseph Huckabee
“John Truby’s The Anatomy of Story is the most useful of all the books on writing that I’ve read (perhaps a dozen?)…the result is a deeper understanding than what one gets from other texts on writing.”
Simmons
“For many of us who are determined to develop our craft as authors and screenwriters, The Anatomy of Story is the holy grail. His latest book,
The Anatomy of Genres, is another Masterpiece. It’s brilliant,
eminent, and ingenious.”
Oliver Sims
Anatomy of Story is probably the best book on writing ever.
N
I’d like to express my gratitude because your book, Anatomy of Story, made my debut fiction a success here in Finland. My novel Lume (“Feigned”) was published by Teos Publishing and has now received two literary awards and one nomination.
Jussi Laitinen
The Anatomy of Story is concrete and practical without resorting to simplistic three-act structure screenwriting cliches. It will be an indispensable guide to writing your first great script.
Larry Wilson
cowriter of Beetlejuice and The Addams Family
“My first copy of The Anatomy of Story has fallen apart because I used it too much!”
Mark O’Bannon
“When I understood the principles of this book, they gave me strength and wisdom to go from beginner to advanced storyteller.”
Diana Wink
“Best screenwriting book!”
Carl T. Rogers – Storylosopher
Raves from the press
“If you’re ready to graduate from the boy-meets-girl league of storytelling, meet John Truby . . . [his lessons inspire] epiphanies that make you see the contours of your psyche as sharply as your script.”
LA Weekly
“A veritable bible for screenwriters.”
Backstage
“Hollywood story consultant John Truby commits his vast knowledge of screenwriting and storytelling to the page in this handy guide for aspiring writers of all types. A comprehensive guide to writing stories of all kinds, Truby’s tome is invaluable to any writer looking to put an idea to paper.”
Kristine Huntley – Booklist Review
What if I told you there was a secret to story that will increase
your ability to sell your stories 100-fold?
GENRES have more to do with how your story works than any other element, any other idea,
plot device, character archetype, beat sheet, methodology,
or prescribed structure, by far.
Whether you’re writing for movies, TV, or novels, the game is won or lost in genres.
The Anatomy of Genres
How Story Forms Explain the Way the World Works
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 fourteen 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.
Just as Truby’s first book, The Anatomy of Story, changed the way writers develop stories, The Anatomy of Genres will enhance their quality and expand the impact they have on the world.
A guide to understanding the major genres of the story world by the legendary writing teacher and author of The Anatomy of Story, John Truby.
Many people think genres are simply categories on Netflix or Amazon that provide a helpful guide to making entertainment choices. Those 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, and they comprise 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.
In The Anatomy of Genres, you will discover:
• What the 14 major genres are really about
• The 3 unwritten rules of storytelling that determine any story’s effectiveness
• The 3 unwritten rules of storytelling that determine any story’s effectiveness
• Key techniques for telling a great genre story that stands out from the crowd
• How to think about story in terms of the life philosophy it expresses
• What it means to transcend a genre, and how to do it
• How to write the Female Myth, the most exciting and influential genre of the next few decades and beyond
• Why Fantasy is about making life itself a work of art
• How Science Fiction isn’t just about technology, but how we create a society
• Why transcendent Science Fiction is really Moses in Space
• Why the Action hero in an Epic is about choosing between reaching greatness and being good
• How to transcend Crime by placing into conflict what is legal vs. what is moral
• Beats for the two transcendent forms of Comedy: Satire and Black Comedy
• How to write the Epic Thriller
• Key techniques for writing the Cosmic Detective Story
• How Memoir and Coming-of-Age stories show you how to craft your future
• Writing the transcendent True Love Story, which gives people the recipe for day-to-day happiness
How to tell a genre story that changes your lifeThe 14 genres covered are Horror, Action, Myth, Memoir, Coming-of-Age, Science Fiction, Crime, Comedy, Western, Gangster, Fantasy, Detective, Thriller, and Love Story.
Raves from readers…
With The Anatomy of Genres, a full bouquet of practical techniques awaits. As the perfect sequel to The Anatomy of Story, this is the most important book you will ever read. And guess what? You’re going to find this book incredibly useful. This will change everything.
Mark O’Bannon
Holy ***k, there is nothing like this ever written!
Alex Ferrari, Indie Film Hustle
A masterpiece, an instant classic, a new gold standard for storycraft, and John Truby’s Magnum Opus rolled into one. Anatomy of Genres is the E = mc2 of storytelling.
I will state this clearly: Anatomy of Genres is the most important book on storycraft, period.
Mark Huckabee
“THE BIBLE – The Anatomy of Genres is the best book ever, a bible for all screenwriters who want to understand and transcend genres.”
Emanuel
I used The Anatomy of Genres to plot my new Fantasy Romance series, and now there is SO much narrative drive, which I really struggled to create in previous books.
Cindy Prince Gunderson
Truby gives helpful techniques to use in each genre. As a Romantic Comedy author, I found his Love Story section full of practical tips and examples.
Kathy Strobos
I’m writing a Biopic/Memoir and Anatomy of Genres showed me how to add Detective or Thriller story structure to overcome the problem with most Biopic or Memoir stories — that of dramatic build.
Jaelle Dragomir
John Truby is a master teacher and philosopher, and The Anatomy of Genres is a masterpiece. I recommend it to all story lovers, seekers of enlightenment, and aspiring writers like me – The Anatomy of Genres is the cosmic stardust powerhouse you cannot afford to miss.
Gary Sheehan
IMPORTANT: The Anatomy of Genres by John Truby is a MUST buy for writers of every level. This is the only book of its kind. John has collected a lifetime’s worth of information into a single book and transcends the writing guide genre in a friendly and optimistic manner. This book is pretty close to perfect. If more teachers had John Truby’s passion and level of detail, every student could become a master of their craft.
Garrett Bouslough
I started reading this book for the techniques. I continued because I loved the insights, philosophy and deep knowledge. I finished it in fits of laughter when I read, “Without their (his parents) unwavering support, I would have been forced to become a doctor.”
Jade Syed-Bokhari
Essential storytelling guidance! John Truby has the uncanny and consistent ability to illuminate the essential key points I need to focus my stories just when I need them the most. I can’t recommend this book enough to those who have already been fortunate enough to study with John, and those who simply must begin.
Christine Toy Johnson
Essential Book for Any Writer…Learned a TON! Brilliant. Not sure how any writer works without this pinnacle reference material.
Deb Baker
Anatomy of Genres gave me the surprising answers I needed for the book I’m currently writing! Connecting with readers and touching their lives: Isn’t that why writers write?
Bianca Gubalke
Anatomy of Genres is the book I’ve been waiting a lifetime for. I’ve always just written stories off the top of my head, and they rarely work out. Truby’s 22 Steps (from The Anatomy of Story) gave me a way to plan and shape my stories, but the advice in Anatomy of Genres is like the breath of life for my stories.
Mat
A true work of art. Truby’s Anatomy of Genres is part literature, part philosophy, part historical drama and part technical manual that penetrates story through the lens of genres at the electron level.
Eugene E~NRG
This book is invaluable for writers as it walks through every major genre step necessary in order to make a story a success, but it does so in a way that is inspiring and motivational rather than rigid and clichéd.
Lana Leyderman
My bottom line, buy this book if you are looking to take your writing to the next level. The ideas are so meta that a hundred different authors would apply these techniques in a hundred different ways and their stories would all end up better for it.
Christina Gasser Scotte
I can’t begin to express how enlightening and USEFUL Truby’s new book is. He really delivers.
David Alan Hall
John Truby knows story. But his latest book hits a new high mark. The Anatomy of Genres is a priceless resource – a treasury of wisdom and insight for both writing and the writing life that’s unlike anything else ever produced. A truly brilliant guide. Highly recommended. Five stars, indeed.
Patricia Raybon
This is not a tips and hacks book for dilettantes, this is a read you should take slowly. And reread again and again. Not because it’s written for experts or literati, but because every paragraph is a book in itself. It’s a lifetime of expertise and insight. Whether you’re a student or a professional who has been working for years, The Anatomy of Genres is a must-own.
Wendy K.
A new bible from Pope Truby! Indispensable and so rich!
BR
Joseph Campbell would have loved this!
Dee
A must have for any writer! Very reader-friendly and you will find the concepts and principles are easily adapted to implement at any stage of your writing. Writing advanced plot, characters and theme, look no further!
Rhonda Gresiuk
The Anatomy of Genres is sure to become a life changing classic as it keeps on giving with each read. If you are serious about writing, want to utilize the power of story in business, education, or any other endeavor and are passionate about living the best life possible, you need this book.
Sarah Normandie
