Based on "Nobody wants to read your sh*t" - Steven Pressfield
“Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact: Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use.
Once you learn that, you'll never be the same again.“ — Steve Jobs
Brilliant writers and directors have entertained us with amazing stories like Harry Potter, The Avengers, Crazy Rich Asians, Game of Thrones, and Star Wars. While we could possibly tell great stories like those, that would take talent, effort, and practice1.
But the good news is that the same storytelling principles apply to all great stories, whether you are creating “Avengers: Endgame” or narrating how you spent your holiday. Great stories were “made up by people that were no smarter than you and you can change it, you can influence it”, and you can tell your own fantastic stories that others can enjoy.
Whether you’re a good storyteller or not, these principles from Steven Pressfield should take your storytelling to the next level. For more ideas on improving writing check out
My review2 of Pressfield’s book: Nobody Wants to read your sh*t
Paul Graham’s essay: How to write usefully
Reader beware: Pressfield insists these principles apply to fiction, non-fiction, and self-help. I agree, but I also think that is the decreasing order of relevance.
1. Every story must have a concept. It must put a unique and original spin, twist, or framing device upon the material.
2. Every story must be about something. It must have a theme.
3. Every story must have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Act One, Act Two, Act Three.
4. Every story must have a hero.
5. Every story must have a villain.
6. Every story must start with an Inciting Incident, embedded within which is the story's climax.
7. Every story must escalate through Act Two in terms of energy, stakes, complication, and significance/meaning as it progresses.
8. Every story must build to a climax centered around a clash between the hero and the villain that pays off everything that came before and that pays it off on theme.
One of my favorite movies is The Social Network so I’ll use it as an example for each principle.
A. Every story must have a concept. It must put a unique and original spin, twist, or framing device upon the material.
“A concept takes a conventional claim and puts a spin on it…
A concept frames (or, more frequently, re-frames) the issue entirely“
The way I understand a concept, it’s the anchor that draws your reader in from their own world into your writing. It lures them in with the familiar, with the promise of something new, interesting, and worth their time.
Some examples that Pressfield gave:
“Avis Rent a Car’s ‘We’re #2 so we try harder‘“ turns a negative (“We’re second best and thus inferior“) into a positive (“You’ll get better service from us because we’ll work our butts off to catch #1 Hertz“)
Nike’s sports-hero campaign is a concept.
De Beers’ “A diamond is forever“ is a concept.
“If you’re not whitening, you’re yellowing” is a concept.
The concept is like a key. Insert, turn, it works.
A concept is bigger than the singular writing, movie, or ad. A concept is reusable3.
The concept of House of Cards is the backstabby aspects of politics and the dirty things politicians do to obtain power. Even if you know nothing about House of Cards, you ‘get’ that description.
The concept of The Social Network is spotlighting the ethical dilemmas at the origins of Facebook. Or in other words, commenting on nerds who are assholes.
B. Every story must be about something. It must have a theme.
“A single idea that holds the work together and makes it cohere”
The theme naturally flows from the concept. While the concept pulls in the reader and connects them to the story, the theme is the “point“ of the story.
A literary theme is the main idea or underlying meaning a writer explores in a novel, short story, or other literary work. The theme of a story can be conveyed using characters, setting, dialogue, plot, or a combination of all of these elements. — Margaret Atwood
Breaking bad, according to this thread, is about sin, corrupting power, and the importance of family. Though this is technically closer to a concept.
The Big Bang Theory is about “A woman who moves into an apartment across the hall from two brilliant but socially awkward physicists [and] shows them how little they know about life outside of the laboratory.“
“The Social Network deals with a wide range of themes involving hubris, ambition, friendship, jealousy, class and cultural cache and success as status and revenge.“4
C. Every story must have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Act One, Act Two, Act Three.
I entirely structured my review5 of Nobody wants to read your sh*t - Steven Pressfield using the three-act rule. You can read that review for a better understanding, but this quote captures the message:
“By hooking them (Act One), building the tension and complications (Act Two), and paying it all off (Act Three).
That's how a joke is told. Setup, progression, punch line.
It's how any story is told.
Have you ever tried to seduce somebody? The hook, the build, the payoff.
Ever tried to sell somebody something?
Ever gotten in trouble and tried to talk your way out of it?
The hook, the build, the payoff.
Euripides worked in three acts. Shakespeare did.
Do you know something they don't?“
In The Social Network,
Act one: Mark Zuckerberg is dumped by his girlfriend because of his quest for success and status.
Act Two: We see both Facebook’s growth and a flashforward of two lawsuits against Zuckerberg. One by the Winklevoss twins (for stealing their idea), and another by Zuck’s best friend Eduardo Saverin (for being cheated out of his shares in the company)
Act Three: Facebook is transformed from a Tuesday night project to a successful tech company, but this is overcast by how Zuck treated those closest to him.
D. Every story must have a hero.
Game of Thrones leverages this concept really well. Everyone empathizes with different characters to different degrees as the plot unravels and characters evolve.
For me, watching Arya train in Braavos was the most captivating part of the three sub-plots at the time. While for another GOT fan, it might be when Daenerys gained the Unsullied army6.
I found Pressfield’s description of the Hero’s journey to be too elaborate to be generalizable so I will summarize:
Hero starts in Ordinary World.
Hero receives Call to Adventure.
Hero crosses Threshold, enters Special World.
Hero encounters enemies and allies, undergoes ordeal that will serve as his Initiation.
Hero confronts Villain, acquires Treasure.
Hero returns home with Treasure, reintegrates into Ordinary World, but now as a changed person, thanks to his ordeal and experiences on his journey.
It’s shocking how much Spiderman: Far From Home follows this template.
The Social Network, the hero journey is explicitly the journey of building Facebook: the Social Network.
E. Every story must have a villain.
Pressfield doesn’t spend much on this point because it mostly follows from the story having a hero and having three acts. There’s always some ‘conquering’ to do whether against an actual monster or an abstract idea like ignorance7.
In The Social Network, can you guess the villain?
Mark. Mark from the first scene who said his girlfriend didn’t have to study because she goes to BU. The one obsessed with final clubs. The status-seeking Mark Zuckerberg. He’s the one that makes child genius, Mark Zuckerberg, have a rougher life.8
F. Every story must start with an Inciting Incident, embedded within which is the story's climax.
Pressfield’s examples were just too good that I have to quote directly:
How can you tell when you’ve got a good Inciting Incident? When the movie's climax is embedded within it.
Apollo Creed picks Rocky Balboa out of the book of fighters and says, "I'm gonna give this chump a shot at the title." That's the Inciting Incident of Rocky I. As soon as we hear it, we know that the climax of the movie will be Apollo and Rocky slugging it out for the heavyweight championship of the world.
In Taken, sex traffickers kidnap Liam Neeson's daughter. In the moment Liam manages to get on the phone with the kidnappers. He tells them to let her go or else. He is, we realize, a trained killer himself. "I have a very specific set of skills and I'm going to use them to hunt you down and kill you." The villains wish him "Good luck" and hang up.
The Inciting Incident confirms the challenges that the hero will face in the second act, and tells you what the climax in Act three will be. It kicks off the story and hooks the reader’s interest.
The Inciting Incident of The Social Network is when Erica, Mark Zuckerberg’s short-lived girlfriend drops an iconic line in the first scene.
“Okay, you are probably going to be a very successful computer person. But you’re gonna go through life thinking that girls don’t like you because you’re a nerd. And I want you to know from the bottom of my heart that that won’t be true. It’ll be because you’re an asshole.”
G. Every story must escalate through Act Two in terms of energy, stakes, complication, and significance/meaning as it progresses.
In Game of Thrones, it only gets more worrisome that winter (and the white walkers) is coming9.
In House of Cards, it only seems more likely that the Underwoods will get caught or ousted for their atrocities in obtaining power, and the related cover up only escalates.
In Squid Game, it only becomes more depressing to see the kind of luck games that desperation pushes the participants to play.
In Avengers: Endgame, when Thanos suspects Nebula, we feel the pressure of Dr. Strange’s prediction of “1 in 14 million“ chance of success weigh even heavier on the heroes.
In The Social Network, the stakes escalate from building a cool website to building a massive social media platform and business. Also, Mark’s soul seems more lost as we watch the depositions from the lawsuit by the Winklevoss twins, and even Mark’s best friend.
H. Every story must build to a climax centered around a clash between the hero and the villain that pays off everything that came before and that pays it off on theme.
One of the cardinal sins of the last season of Game of Thrones, according to fans, is that it didn’t fully pay off ‘everything that came before.‘ This is total hearsay but consistent across everyone I spoke to.
If you capture the attention of the audience, you must make it worth their while.
The Climax in The Social Network happens when Eduardo Saverin, Mark’s best friend, and co-founder, is publicly ousted from the company. It is a colossal backstab that relates back to the theme of a fierce nerd founder who can be an asshole.
RECAP10
1. Every story must have a concept. It must put a unique and original spin, twist, or framing device upon the material.
2. Every story must be about something. It must have a theme.
3. Every story must have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Act One, Act Two, Act Three.
4. Every story must have a hero.
5. Every story must have a villain.
6. Every story must start with an Inciting Incident, embedded within which is the story's climax.
7. Every story must escalate through Act Two in terms of energy, stakes, complication, and significance/meaning as it progresses.
8. Every story must build to a climax centered around a clash between the hero and the villain that pays off everything that came before and that pays it off on theme.
Thanks to Nchang for reading a draft of this.
From My Journey in Deliberate Practice
Pressing the like button is you telling me: “Hey! notice this. You’re doing something good in this post“ — implies good writing.
Sharing the article with a friend tells me: “Hey, that’s one of the more useful things I’ve read today. I think my friend will also want to read this?“ — implies impactful information.
One of the Top 5 essays I have read in my life. I’ll leave it there.
Some concepts that are universal include Good vs Evil, Love, Redemption, Courage and Perseverance, Coming of Age, and Revenge. Source.
These might be two of my favorite parts of the entire show. Also, I really need to finish season 8 at some point, even though people think it was a dissatisfying season.
This happens in Whiplash. One of my all-time favorite movies.
Of course, I have no idea what Zuckerberg’s personality is really like.
Not to mention that different families are trying to kill each other.
Two other lessons from the book were new to me.
The first is to Begin with the end. According to Pressfield, it’s easier and more effective to start with the climax in act three (implicitly deciding the concept and theme) and then figure out what the hook will be in Act one and how the challenge will escalate in Act two.
The second is to have an All is Lost moment. This is an Act two done well.
Your job as a writer is to give your hero the deepest, darkest, most hellacious All is Lost Moment possible — and then find a way out for her.
In Thor 2, this is the moment when Asgard becomes irretrievable from Hela, and before Thor realizes only Ragnarök can stop her.