Part 1/5 of How I Use John Truby To Outline Fiction: Who Is This Guy?Posted on by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore Behold, the outline to my next book:photo-20Since posting this image a few days ago, Ive had a few fiction writer friends ask me how I ended up with just an overt outline. It looks very definitive up there, doesnt it? Like I know what Im doing or something (ha!). The truth is, thanks to a book called The Anatomy of Story, by a script-guru named John Truby, I actually do know a lot more what the next book is shaped like than I did only two weeks ago. Two weeks ago, this idea was a jumble of notes and rejected pages, a pile of characters and a daunting list of research.Over the next five days, Im going to share how I use/ interpret/ John TrubysThe Anatomy of Story,which is used by many screenwriters, to outline my novels.photo 2-11It was my mother who introduced me to John Trubys The Anatomy of Story (which Ill mostly call Truby from now on, since thats what my family- my fiction-writing mother, filmmaker sister, and filmmaking brother-in-law, who have all used it too, call it). Trubys method has served as a major foundation for starting a book ever since my mother introduced the book to me, and so I cant really remember a time when I didnt have it to rely on. What I do remember is that the day we bought my copy of Truby, which, as you can see, has been well-loved, I was feeling totally stuck. I had a new idea for a novel but no plan about how to execute it. But when my mother showed me a copy of a book that was supposed to help screenwriters, I remember feeling, well, not insulted exactly, but kind of like, Wtf am I (a novelist) supposed to do with this?At the time, Id yet to write a screenplay, and was very much of the belief that books were the best form of entertainment ever (far above film), and actually, that books werent even entertainment, they were only an art form (and that books that were entertainment werent really, well, books), and that it was cheating and lowbrow to have a solid outline before you wrote a book, because writing a book was supposed to be like running your hands over a wild beast in a dark room and figuring out what kind it was by how it responded.Which is all to say that you should look at the I had a new idea for a novel but no plan about how to execute it part of this post to understand exactly why I needed Truby.Also, I hadnt gotten an MFA, so aside from a few undergraduate workshops, and what Id read, and the help of friends, I didnt have a solid method in place when starting a new project. I was not unlike that wild animal in a dark room myself, bumping into walls, feeling grumpy, trotting after nothing only to find a dead end. I had yet to write a screenplay myself, yet to experience that satisfying, quicksilver feeling that producing a clean-cut screenplay brings. I had yet to understand that aligning plot, subplot, character, story world, and a lot of other elements, would save me a lot of time and energy in revisions. Or see that I believe, definitively, that story grows out of character. Or embrace that I love big plot.I find that because Truby is written for screenwriters, the books tone is very direct in a way that many books for fiction writers arent. Truby believes that there is a method to writing a good story, and that the method can be taught. Many fiction writers have this magical sense that writing a novel cant possibly be calculated, because that kills the books power. But Ive realized, as my career has progressed, that I reject this notion in my own writing. Ive learned that I write better, and have more fun doing it, if I have a roadmap. And using a roadmap like Trubys, which offers up the reassurance that I can make my story stronger by thinking about all of its elements in a calculated way in advance of writing it, is particularly useful to me.Tomorrow: how Truby is organized, and how I follow it.

Part 2/5 of How I Use John Truby To Outline Fiction: How Does It Work?Posted on by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore photo-20Truby posits that good films (and he gives plenty of convincing examples) include most, if not all, of what he calls the 22 building blocks, essential elements that keep a story strong. Truby is structured so that if you follow it from chapter one, by the end of it, youll have a detailed scene weave in hand (see: my trusty cork board), which he describes as a list of every scene you believe will be in the final story, based upon these 22 building blocks. Now, screenplays are much shorter than novels, so I adjust this final step to be not so much a concrete scene weave as a detailed description of each moment or beat that I know must happen in the story- but Ill talk in much more detail about how I modify the end of the book that on Friday. What you need to know for now is that Truby takes you from premise to outline, and holds your hand most of the way.Truby is has eleven chapters in it. Ive found that I use Chapters Two through Eight most faithfully.Chapter One: Story Space, Story Time (I usually skim this chapter to remind myself how Trubys mind works, and reorient myself inside the method, but much of what is in it seems rudimentary to me- if you already tell stories for your living, you already live and breathe much of what he says here).Chapter Two: PremiseChapter Three: The Seven Key Steps of Story StructureChapter Four: CharacterChapter Five: Moral ArgumentChapter Six: Story WorldChapter Seven: Symbol WebChapter Eight: PlotChapter Nine: Scene Weave (I usually come up with my own method of putting together the scene weave based on the work Ive already done by this point- I find his way of doing it to be backwards- more on this on Friday).Chapter Ten: Construction and Symphonic Dialogue (I usually skim this chapter- I find its the chapter thats the most pitched to screenwriters).Chapter Eleven: The Never-Ending Story (I usually skim this chapter too- it feels more like a recap than part of the method).photo-21Each chapter goes into great detail on the subject at hand, and offers up specific sub-elements (I think of them as mile markers that I have to pass within the journey of that particular chapter). At the end of the given chapter, there is a worksheet, which reviews everything that chapter has covered, with plenty of questions and prompts. He fills out each worksheet himself, using a few examples (most often Tootsie- yes, that Tootsie- and The Godfather) which I find to be very helpful when getting a hold of my own work feels murky.A few notes:- Dont be fooled by the word sheet in worksheet; I often end up with twenty-five pages for each worksheet! But as Ill explain tomorrow, all this generated work and research into my project ends up coming in great use as I start to work on the novel, because Ive already put in so much thought about the characters, the place, the ideas behind the story, etc.- What I like about accumulating so much work is the fact that Truby has me reiterate and revise and rethink elements over and over again. Premise, for example, is something he asks us to retype and reexamine in nearly every chapter, which means that I almost always end up honing and sharpening what my book is about, so that by the time I put together the outline, I have a much better idea about the central conceit of the story than if Id only thought about it once.- Finally, I should add that theres a lot that goes into thinking about a novel long before I use Truby. The book that Im starting now, for example, is an idea Ive been scheming about for two years. At one point, I had an outline and about 65 pages, but something wasnt working (I should have used Truby before I amassed all that work, because I would have discovered pretty quickly what wasnt working, but I was trying to cut corners, and well, as soon as some folks I really trust read what I had, they pointed out some of the essential flaws in my execution of the idea, and I was back to square one. Lesson learned: use Truby before writing in earnest). I put the book away for a couple months. Once I was ready to think about it in a fresh way, I pulled out Truby, and got back to basics.I already knew, on a gut level, what the novel is about. I knew who the essential characters are. I knew where the book takes place. But even if I didnt know those things, Truby would have helped me discover them. Im grateful to be encouraged to slow down and get to know my idea intimately.Tomorrow: Chapters One through Four.

Part 3/5 of How I Use John Truby to Outline Fiction: Chapters 1-5Posted on by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore photo 5-3 Ill begin by saying that were I starting Truby for the first time, Id go through the book right off the back and type up each worksheet (which he calls Writing Exercises, but I like to call worksheets since Im a nerd). Then Id Save As and rename each worksheet for the book I happen to be working on, since theres a good chance Id want to use this method in the future! I keep mine in a favorite notebook so I can reference them once I start writing in earnest (See? There it is- full of ideas I didnt have before).Chapter One: Story Space, Story TimeAs I mentioned in yesterdays post, I usually dont work much with Chapter One (which outlines Trubys beliefs). Its definitely worth a read, though, because he says things like a storytelleris someone who plays. Its nice to be reminded that writing and creating a story can be pleasurable for both the reader and the writer, and I love that extra push to play.Chapter Two: Premisephoto 1-14Worksheet One, at the end of Chapter Two, is where Truby invites us to state what the book is about. As a literary novelist, this was a radical idea- so much of what Id learned before I started working with Truby was all about denying that there is such a thing as a single truth of aboutness when it comes to writing fiction. There are surely many novelists who write brilliant, perfectly crafted books without thinking about this. But Ive learned that Im not one of them!Usually I come to Truby with an already clear sense of what I think the book will be about. Granted, my premise gets honed and revised as I work through the book, and so often looks different than what I started with. But I dont go in blind; I just dont feel ready to tackle this method until I already know at least a little about what I want to write about. However, Truby starts with the supposition that you might not know, and encourages you to dig deep, starting with the notion that you should write something that may change your life. Thats a good reminder too.By the end of Worksheet One, youll have stated your premise, brainstormed some strong ideas about what will happen in your story, outlined the basic conflict, and gotten a good idea of you your main character will be.Chapter Three: The Seven Key Steps of Story Structurephoto 2-15Remember those 22 story steps I mentioned back in my first post? Think of the seven story steps youll explore in this chapter as the basic building blocks for those 22 steps. This is the chapter where youll start thinking more definitively about all that raw material you set down in Worksheet One, and how what youve already generated will shape itself into a natural story. Worksheet Two will help you do this, focusing in on your main characters arc, from their weaknesses and needs at the beginning, to the new equilibrium of the universe at the end. Youll start to think about aligning your main characters arc with the arc of the story, so that theyll be working together, instead of at cross purposes.Chapter Four: Characterphoto 3-13This is when it starts to get fun! In this chapter and then in Worksheet Three, youll get to know your protagonist much better. But youll do that by getting to know the other characters in the story too, including the antagonist (in my new novel, theres more than one protagonist and more than one antagonist, so never fear if you dont have such a black and white tale- the method can definitely be modified for your uses). You think about the Character Web, and how all the characters in your story can (and must) interact and illuminate each other.I love this part of the process because I almost always realize that a character I believed to be absolutely necessary when I first dreamed the book up is, in fact, not necessary at all, and theres other ways to get across what I needed to without them. So this chapter always saves me a lot of time in the long run, because Im forced to justify, in more than one way, who will live in my book.Chapter Five: Moral Argumentphoto 4-10Truby presupposes that every tale is about a deeper moral system, and that, as he puts it on page 109, you, as the author, are making a moral argument through what your characters do in the plot. This is a good reminder that a novel is about many things. But he also loathes propaganda, and argues that only by letting your characters live honestly can your story resonate on deeper levels.By the end of Worksheet Four, I always have a much deeper sense of the moral arc of my tale, and a sense of how all my characters will be woven into this moral arc as they live through the story themselves.Tomorrow: Chapters 6-11

Part 4/5 of How I Use John Truby to Outline Fiction: Chapters 6-11Posted on by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore Chapter Six: Story Worldphoto 1-15 After all the deep discovery prompted by the previous chapters, this chapter always feels like a sigh of relief. This might just be me, but my novels almost always come attached to a very strong sense of place, and so I have less unpacking to do. But that doesnt mean this chapter is easy, no, theres still plenty to uncover. Truby wants you to think intentionally about the metaphors and symbols of place youll be employing- from seasons, to weather, to the landscape- and the degree to which they have a profound influence on the kind of story you want to tell.In Worksheet Five, you look at much of the work youve already done through the lens of your story world. This is the chapter where I usually end up feeling as though things are really falling into place.Chapter Seven: Symbol Webphoto 2-16This chapter encourages you to use symbols to highlight and amplify the elements youve already put together in your book. If Im being honest, this chapter usually feels the most gimmicky to me; perhaps because my first, true love is literary fiction, I find this part of Trubys approach to be a little too formulaic for my taste. That said, I almost always find something in my own book that I didnt know was there thanks to this chapter, so what do I know?Chapter Eight: PlotFinally! Its those 22 Story Steps I was telling you about! Lo and behold, all the work youve done up until this point dovetails nicely into a strong, well-thought out structure.That said, this is usually where I branch off from Truby. His method has you sitting down and assigning plot points to each Story Step, but I find that I like to go backwards; at this point in the game, given all the work hes had me do, I already know whats going to happen in the story. So instead of using a worksheet, I take flashcards and write down each moment or beat, and then, once theyre all down, I makes sure they align with most of the story steps (more on this tomorrow).Chapter Nine: Scene WeaveMy modification of Truby means that I end up with a scene weave just like what Truby ends up wanting you to have, but I come at it differently (Ill talk more about this tomorrow). Still, its awesome to know that if you stick with the system, youll end up with a sixty scene outline at this point in the game.Chapter Ten: Scene Construction and Symphonic DialogueThis chapter seems very pitched to screenwriters, or for folks who want to hone their dialogue skills. What I need out of Truby is a strong outline, so I find that once Ive gotten to this chapter, hes given me what I need.Chapter Eleven: The Never-Ending StoryAgain, Im usually out by this chapter. But he make some good points here- its worth looking at.Tomorrow: The final outline

Part 5/5 of How I Use John Truby to Outline Fiction: The Final OutlinePosted on by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore By the time I get to the outline phase in a novel, round about Chapter Eight of Truby or so, Ive already got a thick notebook of what Ive discovered by working with him. Heres what I know:photo 5-3My premise- what my novel is about, specifically what its moral argument is, and how every moment/character in the novel works in consort with that argumentMy characters- their weaknesses, their desires (what they think they want), their needs (what they need to learn), how they work in connection with all the other characters in the novel, and much more.My setting- how place and time influences every major moment in the novelMy novels basic arc- who is battling whom for what, where theyre doing it, why theyre doing it, and how its going to end.See how much I didnt know I knew? This is when I feel a little thrill! I didnt know I knew so much, and Im chomping at the bit to start writing.But first I need to make myself a solid outline, using what I know. Because of all I now know, instead of feeling insurmountable, the outline now feels like just one of the necessary steps I must take in writing my novel.My tools: a big old corkboard, a bunch of notecards (in different colors if you want to sort by character, time frame, or some other way), pens (more than one color if youd like to sort by character or some other method), and some thumbtacks.As I mentioned yesterday, in Chapter Eight, Truby encourages us to lay out the 22 story steps and lie our plots over them. But I find this to be backwards; by this point in the game, I already have a pretty strong idea of exactly what the most important moments are going to be (these could be called beats as well, because they arent exactly scenes; they are the emotional and physical journeys my characters will be taking over the course of the book), and I dont want to feel constricted by having to see them through the restrictive lens of only being story steps.So I sit down with my big stack of notecards and I start writing these moments down. Simple as that. I number them so I can remember the original order I put them down in, but Im not afraid to move them around (which is why I do this on notecards and instead of in a single document on my computer). You should note that multiple important moments can (and should) happen in a single scene, e.g.if one of the moments is character A and character B finally kiss and another is character C and character D bond as they spy on character A and B kissing, those moments will ultimately appear in the same scene, but they are distinct for my purposes because they follow different subplots.photo-20The book Im outlining right now has two parallel time periods linked by a narrator (whos a girl in the past and an elderly woman in the present). I assigned green to the present day, and yellow to the past. Each major character in both past and present was also assigned a distinct color (whenever I wrote a characters name, I wrote it so that when I lay the cards out, I could visually track how important they are, and keep an eye the holes (if any) where they seemingly disappear from the plot (which I find often identifies other weaknesses in a plot).It took me two days of hard thinking to get about thirty scenes of each time period down on the notecards. Then I put each of the green and yellow cards into a rough order. Then I started pinning them up on my empty pinboard, which sits just to the right of my desk.Now, because this next book weaves back and forth in time, Ive got an extra challenge in terms of thinking about how to make the plot flow- and this is where the 22 story steps come in handy. Although the book takes place over two different time periods, these two strands of the novel inform and influence each other, revealing truths about the other as the reader pushes on. So although they are distinct from each other, they must be married; I want them to feed each other.This is where the 22 Story Steps come into help. Once I had the yellows and greens pinned up in a general order, I took Trubys 22 story steps and penciled them in on top of those moments where they felt relevant.I stood back and looked at what I had. For the most part, the story flowed! I walked myself through each beat, and realized the story steps really did feed, one into the next, across both time periods, that there werent many character holes, that no one seems to be in this story who isnt vital to it. (That pink card? Thats the moment of revelation for my storyteller, who narrates both time periods, and must learn something as well).Im sure there will be parts of this outline that will change. Thats why its called an outline- not an immutable straitjacket. Thats why its on notecards (although Ive transcribed whats on them into a word document in case of apocalypse, I dont think of that document as an unchangeable thing). What I have now is some help. The bravery to move forward with writing, because I know where Im going.Outlining a book isnt a science. But Trubys book is the closest Ive ever come to having, if not a formula, then at least a roadmap, to putting something in place that will help me find my way in the dark room. Truby shines a flashlight on that wild beast who is in the dark with me; the book who is waiting for me to find it.