Promises, Progress, & Payoffs: A Powerful Storytelling Structure
Learn the most powerful yet flexible storytelling structure to captivate your audience. Discover the power of combining unexpected elements, and learn the words that should go between every beat you write.
Nathan Baugh
I write fiction, build writing businesses, and am obsessed with storytelling. Join 69K storytellers: https://t.co/OleNU3OTwq
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"Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world."
— Nathan Baugh 🗺️ (@nathanbaugh27) March 28, 2023
9 free guides to make you a better storyteller (in priority order): -
Rhetoric & Rhythm
— Nathan Baugh 🗺️ (@nathanbaugh27) March 28, 2023
Aristotle’s Rhetoric is far more than just ethos, pathos, logos.
It includes an excellent breakdown of narrative structure that many of the storytelling guides of today are based on.
Guide: https://t.co/0DF3OMdSPR -
“But, Therefore”
— Nathan Baugh 🗺️ (@nathanbaugh27) March 28, 2023
The creators of South Park say:
“If the words ‘and then’ belong… you got something boring.
What should happen between every beat you’ve written down is the words ‘therefore’ or ‘but.’”
Guide: https://t.co/JdO7b01j1x -
Promises, Progress, & Payoffs
— Nathan Baugh 🗺️ (@nathanbaugh27) March 28, 2023
The most powerful yet flexible storytelling structure I’ve found.
Guide: https://t.co/TgLgSv1HaZ -
Connected Creativity
— Nathan Baugh 🗺️ (@nathanbaugh27) March 28, 2023
Naval says:
“When you combine things you are not supposed to combine, people get interested.”
It’s true in stories too: https://t.co/hRLNTDQOfR -
Hooks
— Nathan Baugh 🗺️ (@nathanbaugh27) March 28, 2023
Great content and a bad hook means nobody reads.
Luckily, regardless of platform, there are strategies to hook your audience in.
A teach you how to fish, not give you 50 templates-type guide: https://t.co/UxkrjWTZ7o -
Open Endings
— Nathan Baugh 🗺️ (@nathanbaugh27) March 28, 2023
Christopher Nolan uses “Open Endings” in almost every movie.
The main plot is wrapped up. We know how the story ends.
But you get the sense that the broader story could continue. The world didn’t stop existing.
One open loop remains: https://t.co/qQQWMWCbvX -
Create a villain
— Nathan Baugh 🗺️ (@nathanbaugh27) March 28, 2023
Every hero needs a villain to be great.
“A protagonist in a story can only be as intellectually fascinating and emotionally compelling as the forces of antagonism make them.”
Guide: https://t.co/mVsp4PcHcW -
The Power of Constraints
— Nathan Baugh 🗺️ (@nathanbaugh27) March 28, 2023
Every creative process needs constraints. Cause the world is full of distractions that are more fun than writing.
A helpful set of constraints: https://t.co/asp44lq5Bt -
The Rule of Three
— Nathan Baugh 🗺️ (@nathanbaugh27) March 28, 2023
People better understand concepts, situations, and ideas in groups of three.
Why? Because the number three is the smallest number of elements needed to create a pattern.
Guide: https://t.co/XLGT7ant8W -
I hope you enjoy these.
— Nathan Baugh 🗺️ (@nathanbaugh27) March 28, 2023
I talk about storytelling and creativity → @nathanbaugh27
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1 storytelling tip each Saturday morning: https://t.co/hr8eQKUMaD