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5.0 AVERAGE
5.0 AVERAGE
So after I read Immersion and Emotion (their first book) I started poking around the Darling Axe blog and came across this one. Figured I’d already learned a lot from them, so why not see how they break down actual novels? And... yeah. It was exactly what I needed.
Story Skeleton doesn’t try to give you a one-size-fits-all formula. Actually, that's something they address... like how many writers start out thinking that plot points are a formula. Paint by numbers storytelling I think is how they phrase it. But actually how plot points are again about reader psychology, whcih is something they get into in Immersion and Emotion.
So what this book does is it walks you through how classic stories are actually built, beat by beat. Jane Eyre, Moby Dick, The Godfather, Wuthering Heights, The Scarlet Letter. On and on. You start to see how plot isn’t just stuff happening,... it’s a series of decisions and changes that matter. So maybe these classic authors did this intentionally, or maybe they just lucked out and hit on the right emotional turns that made readers sit up and take notice. Doesn't matter either way really. They are classics for a reason, and the secret is in the sauce. Or.... the skeleton.
The format is super clear. One classic at a time... You could flip open to any book you’ve read (or should’ve read in school) , or you could read from start to finish. I read a couple chapters of books I haven't read and still found them helpful, though I'm going to go read those now. It’s kind of wild how much you can learn just by looking at stories sideways like this. Got me rethinking how I outline—less about hitting “plot points” and more about asking... what does this moment do to the character? Anyway. There you have it.
Story Skeleton doesn’t try to give you a one-size-fits-all formula. Actually, that's something they address... like how many writers start out thinking that plot points are a formula. Paint by numbers storytelling I think is how they phrase it. But actually how plot points are again about reader psychology, whcih is something they get into in Immersion and Emotion.
So what this book does is it walks you through how classic stories are actually built, beat by beat. Jane Eyre, Moby Dick, The Godfather, Wuthering Heights, The Scarlet Letter. On and on. You start to see how plot isn’t just stuff happening,... it’s a series of decisions and changes that matter. So maybe these classic authors did this intentionally, or maybe they just lucked out and hit on the right emotional turns that made readers sit up and take notice. Doesn't matter either way really. They are classics for a reason, and the secret is in the sauce. Or.... the skeleton.
The format is super clear. One classic at a time... You could flip open to any book you’ve read (or should’ve read in school) , or you could read from start to finish. I read a couple chapters of books I haven't read and still found them helpful, though I'm going to go read those now. It’s kind of wild how much you can learn just by looking at stories sideways like this. Got me rethinking how I outline—less about hitting “plot points” and more about asking... what does this moment do to the character? Anyway. There you have it.
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
“Story Skeleton: The Classics” by David Griffin Brown & Michelle Barker is an extraordinary book about storytelling’s structural elements. I wish they could have published it years before I started writing my fiction manuscript. Every writer who reads it will benefit from the authors’ careful, insightful, and highly organized (well-structured) analysis of twenty wide-ranging classic stories. The authors begin with relatively simple constructions (Moby Dick and Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland), moving on to more creative forms (The Great Gatsby and Madame Bovary), and wrapping up with complex structures that embrace ambitious narrative tools (The Godfather and Brideshead Revisited). To quote the authors, “Studying the work of the masters is an excellent way to get a handle on narrative structure.”
If you’re skeptical and ask, Why? They reply: “It might surprise you to discover that…narrative structure is connected to reader psychology—our need to immerse ourselves in the fictional world, to anticipate (or dread) what will happen next, to empathize with and/or identify with the protagonist.”
Just as surgeons must study anatomy before they perform operations, so storytellers must study the skeletal elements of lasting stories if they want theirs to survive.
Lucky for us, David Griffin Brown and Michelle Barker offer the fruits of their labor in an easy-to-read and absorb format, summarizing countless hours of reading, study, and analysis. Reading their work is invaluable for the life-long learning required to pursue writing’s creative journey.