For authors, playwrights and screenwriters
Next course online:
June 4th | 18:00 BST
Based on his Sunday Times bestseller The Science of Storytelling, Will Storr draws upon the latest research from neuroscience and psychology to reveal how writers of all levels of experience can tell stories that thrill, move and inspire.
Avoiding the story-as-recipe approach that too often leads writers into cliche and predictability, The Science of Storytelling instead uses a deep insight into the workings of the human mind. Understanding how we naturally experience the story of our lives unlocks a wealth of insights that will help transform your storytelling.
Using examples from literature and film – from Chimananda Ngozi Adichie to Nora Ephron to Anton Chekov to Thomas Vinterberg and more – you’ll learn:
How great storytellers capture and keep attention
How to structure stories effectively yet differently for literary and mass-market audiences
How to create characters that are credible, fascinating and unpredictable
How to create characters that generate their own plots
Personality and the secrets of three-dimensional characters
The scientific study of plots
How to break free of standard story structures
How the perfect plot is the plot against the protagonist
The valuable and surprising secrets contained in storytelling’s evolutionary history
How to understand and create a flawed character
The secret of an effective and memorable ending
