27 Essential Principles of Story: Master the Secrets of Great Storytelling, from Shakespeare to South Park

by Daniel Joshua Rubin

Overview

“So often people ask me if there’s a book on story I can recommend. This is the one. I can’t recommend it highly enough.”––Alexa Junge, writer/producer, Friends, Sex and the City, The West Wing
 
A master class of 27 lessons, drawn from 27 diverse narratives, for novelists, storytellers, filmmakers, graphic designers, and more. Author Daniel Joshua Rubin unlocks the secrets of what makes a story work, and then shows how to understand and use these principles in your own writing. The result is “an invaluable resource” (Publishers Weekly, starred review), offering priceless advice like escalate risk, with an example from Pulp Fiction. Write characters to the top of their intelligence, from the Eminem song “Stan.” Earn transformations, from Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home. Attack your theme, from The Brothers Karamazov. Insightful, encouraging, filled with attitude, and, as Booklist puts it, “perfect for any writer looking to ensure their stories operate and resonate at the top of their potential,” this book gives contemporary storytellers of all kinds a lifeline of inspiration and relatable instruction.
 
“[The] new bible of lessons and practices for creators.”––Library Journal
 
“Not a ‘how-to,’ thank God, but a ‘here’s why.’ Writers of all levels of experience will benefit from reading––and then rereading––this elegant exploration of the principles of storytelling.”––Traci Letts, Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning playwright
 
“A godsend for storytellers in all media. It will help you decide what to write and then show you, step by step, how to tackle virtually any problem you face.”––Anna D. Shapiro, Tony Award-winning director, August: Osage County

 
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781523507160
Publisher:	Workman Publishing Company
Publication date:	08/18/2020
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	422,880
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Daniel Joshua Rubin is a multimedia writer and founder of Story 27 in Evanston, Illinois, a writing studio that provides consulting and education to storytellers in all media. He has taught dramatic writing at Loyola University in Chicago, and at the University of California, San Diego, and has written for television (NBC, the WB); new media (The Motley Fool, National Lampoon); and theater (with plays produced at Steppenwolf in Chicago, off-Broadway in NYC, and on the West End of London). He is a dedicated story scholar with a deep interest the role narrative plays in personal development, business, investing and politics. Rubin has an MFA in Playwriting from the Yale School of Drama, and a BS in Drama Studies from the State University of New York at Purchase. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now lives in Evanston, IL.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Old School, New Adrenaline vii

Part 1 Essential Principles of Plot

1 Drop the hammer. (Hamlet) 2

2 Ask dramatic questions. (Finding Nemo) 17

3 Explore all endings. (The Night Of) 32

4 Connect with "therefore," not "and." (South Park, "Breast Cancer Show Ever") 48

5 Escalate risk. (Pulp Fiction) 58

6 Clash expectation with reality. (Breaking Bad, "Dead Freight") 71

7 Max out the middle. (If Beale Street Could Talk) 84

8 Begin the end with a critical decision. (Frankenstein) 96

9 Confirm the decision. (The Godfather, Part II) 108

10 Wrap up fast. (Late Spring) 122

Part 2 Essential Principles of Character

11 Make your hero active and decisive. (Red Dead Redemption) 132

12 Provoke dilemma. ("The Best of Times, the Worst of Times") 142

13 Layer conflict. (Ms. Marvel: No Normal) 151

14 Peel the onion. ("Interpreter of Maladies") 166

15 Write characters to the top of their intelligence. ("Stan") 180

16 Mask everyone. (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) 195

17 Earn transformations. (Fun Home) 210

18 Motivate fierce antagonists. (The Piano Lesson) 225

19 Confront evil. ("The Lottery") 238

Part 3 Essential Principles of Setting, Dialogue, and Theme

20 Link inextricably to your setting. (The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao) 250

21 Exceed expectations. (30 Rock, "Jack-tor") 266

22 Craft actionable dialogue. (Death of a Salesman) 282

23 Hide meaning. (The Remains of the Day) 296

24 Hunt big game. (Beloved) 308

25 Amplify your theme. (Double Indemnity) 321

26 Attack your theme. (The Brothers Karamazov) 333

27 Transcend thought. (Fever Dream) 348

Conclusion: The Necessity of Story 363

Acknowledgments 366

Index 367

Editorial Reviews

★ 04/06/2020

Rubin, a playwright and TV scriptwriter, aims with this manual to give writers “enough direction to avoid getting lost, but not so much that it strangles your creativity,” and succeeds in creating an invaluable resource. He offers an array of techniques (escalate risk, provoke dilemma, confront evil, etc.) for effective storytelling, first demonstrating how a master used a technique to great effect, and then explaining how neophytes may do so as well. His choices of “masters” may surprise. Rubin includes the usual suspects—Shakespeare (who “drops the hammer” when he has Hamlet learn the truth behind his father’s death) and Shirley Jackson (who “confronts evil” with her depiction of a seemingly tranquil small town’s dark side in “The Lottery”), among others—but he also uses TV shows, movies, and even a video game, Red Dead Redemption, the runaway success of which he attributes to its creators obeying the principle “make your hero active and decisive.” This is a no-brainer for both pro and would-be novelists. Lisa DiMona, Writer’s House. (July)

Publishers Weekly

"This is the straight dope—all the tools you need to craft a hell of a great story." —Paul Giamatti, actor

"Rubin, a playwright and TV scriptwriter, aims with this manual to give writers “enough direction to avoid getting lost, but not so much that it strangles your creativity,” and succeeds in creating an invaluable resource... This is a no-brainer for both pro and would-be novelists."
—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"Seasoned multimedia writer Rubin (NBC, the WB) injects the traditional writing manual with an overdue fix of dash and utility... This new bible of lessons and practices for creators across media will likely appeal to readers curious about behind-the-scenes realities of those who bring to life today’s most popular and intelligent entertainment."
—Library Journal

"Perfect for any writer looking to ensure their stories operate and resonate at the top of their potential."
—Booklist

From the Publisher

★ 04/01/2020

Seasoned multimedia writer Rubin (NBC, the WB) injects the traditional writing manual with an overdue fix of dash and utility. While classics such as Strunk and White's Elements of Style and Stephen King's On Writing focus on short- and long-form literature, Rubin ranges through television, movies, video games, as well as novels and short stories. Above all, the author reminds writers that the tales one tells are personal. Storytelling is a revealing art. Throughout the detailed analyses of 27 master works (Hamlet and South Park, to Beloved and Breaking Bad), readers observe clear resonance between authors' defining experiences, passions, personality, and subjects and themes explored. For example, despite being a nightmarish icon of surrealist/indie filmmaking, David Lynch's Eraserhead doesn't stray from emotional truths and traumas common to starting a family, having sex, childbirth, and death. Nor does Alison Bechdel's graphic memoir Fun Home. Storytellers must cultivate inner meaning unfindable in a fragmenting world. Mirroring the coherence of a three-part structure, this manual covers essential principles of plot, character, dialog, setting, and theme. VERDICT This new bible of lessons and practices for creators across media will likely appeal to readers curious about behind-the-scenes realities of those who bring to life today's most popular and intelligent entertainment.—William Grabowski, McMechen, WV

Library Journal

2020-04-20
A self-help book for those who yearn to be story writers.

Rubin has considerable experience in this arena—a graduate of the Yale School of Drama, he is the founder of the writing studio Story 27 and has written for TV and theater—but little is novel here. He writes in conventional self-help format (chapters with identical subheadings, bullet points, continual encouragement) and employs informal diction throughout, including the final sentence: “You got this.” In one of the major sections, “How the Master Did It,” the author summarizes, sometimes quite extensively, a salmagundi of works including computer games, songs, short stories, novels, plays, films, TV scripts, and comic books. Among the many iconic authors Rubin cites are Shakespeare, Dostoyevsky, James Baldwin, Arthur Miller, and Toni Morrison as well as more current artists such as Quentin Tarantino and Tina Fey. Rubin’s point, well taken, is that great stories are similar in foundational ways, and he devotes most of the text to showing novices how to become adepts, if not maestros. The 27 chapters, introduced by quotes from the likes of Aristotle, Voltaire, Buddha, and others, are arranged into large themes—plot, character, setting, dialogue, etc.—and each has an urgent and/or encouraging title: “Drop the Hammer,” “Escalate Risk,” “Hunt Big Game,” “Peel the Onion,” “Confront Evil.” The prose is readable yet sprinkled with cliché (“getting into the appropriate mindset”) and platitude (“the more you do something, the better you get at it”). Rubin does display a wide range of reading, but he does not delve into language, mechanics, usage, ways to write a character’s thoughts, and so on. Maybe another volume is on the way? The author remains positive and encouraging throughout, but as most aspiring writers know, success is highly elusive.

Enthusiastic and chockablock with varied examples but tightly bound by the ropes of convention.

Kirkus Reviews