“Once you have figured out the deepest moral opposition by looking at the hero’s final moral choice, you detail this opposition through the character web by making each of the major characters a variation on the theme.”
– John Truby, Anatomy of Story p115
All posts by Steve Edwards
The final moral decision.
“No matter how complex the actions of the characters over the course of the story, the final moral decision brings everything down to a choice between two. And it is final.”
– John Truby, Anatomy of Story p114
Moral effects
“How do your character’s actions hurt other people, and how, if at all, does the character make things right ?”
– John Truby, Anatomy of Story p110
The Final Battle
“During the final battle, how do you express which values, the hero’s or the opponent’s, are superior in this fight?”
– John Truby, Anatomy of Story p141
Moral Vision
“Good writers express their moral vision slowly and subtly, primarily through the story structure and the way the hero deals with a particular situation.”
– John Truby, Anatomy of Story p109
Moral Vision
“Your moral vision is totally original to you and expressing it to an audience is one of the main purposes of telling the story.”
– John Truby Anatomy of Story (p108)
What is Theme?
“Theme is the author’s view of how to act in the world. It is your moral vision.”
– John Truby, Anatomy of Story (p108)
A Great Story.
“A great story is not simply a sequence of events or surprises designed to entertain an audience. It is a sequence of actions, with moral implications and effects, designed to express a larger theme.”
– John Truby, Anatomy of Story p108
Early Moral Argument
“The great advantage of an early moral argument between hero and opponent is that it gives the audience a clue about what values are really at stake.”
– John Truby, Anatomy of Story (p138)
Characterization
“You begin individuating your characters by finding the moral problem at the heart of the premise. You then play out the various possibilities of the moral problem in the body of the story.”
– John Truby, Anatomy of Story (p71)
