Three Story Method

It\’s not a step by step method. I read the whole thing and still don\’t really know how to follow the \”3 story method\” or even why it\’s called that. The first few chapters felt like filler and the last 40% of the book is appendices. There is one big chunk that\’s just a direct pull from a scientific article on stimulus/response. It\’s got a couple of good ideas, like the Pixar Pitch, but you can Google that. It didn\’t keep my interest or provide all that much useful information. It just quotes better books like On Writing by Stephen King, Immediate Fiction by Jerry Cleaver, and others. Overall, I finished the book more confused than when I started. You mileage may vary, but I\’m returning it.

I wanted to like this book! I read the reviews and ordered it. However, the promise does not fulfill with whats inside. I feel cheated! The authors say they use this model for their writing then lets see it! Give us some thinking and depth instead of VERY brief quotes from other sources. The appendix is better than the main content of the book! This may work as a book for children or young adults to write a Story because of the layout design, overly simplistic content and voice fits that market! Try that niche! It may help to know that I have 20+ years in publIshing. Ten of those years working in a top five company as an acquisitions editor, project director, general editor, etc. I am now writing my first novel. My library includes many how to books on writing. This one wont be included!

Three Story Method is a deeply practical approach to crafting a functioning story. The method itself is concise. Honestly, I finished the text and thought to myself, thats it? I know that. After all, Ive heard J and Zach say a lot of this before. The principles are simple. The devil, as they say, is in the details. I downloaded the worksheet. In a couple of hours, I worked through an idea I had in my head. It was quick to get through the first several steps. And I thought this is simple. This is the fleshing out the idea stage. Does your story work on the grand scale? In a basic three-act structure kind of way. I found that I already felt better about the second act in this story. The method gave me more to work with there. Hopefully, smoothing over a pain point for me. If you listen to The Career Author podcast, you will be familiar with some steps in this early stage. I was nearly finished with the worksheet and I thought, hmmm, this is it. I got to the character stuff. Again, with some extra practical steps, which should save wasted time in the drafting and ensure that the characters serve the story even as they develop. Then we get to the part that is simple and practical, but which gave me pause. Apply the same approach to each scene in the story. I knew this. I read it. Ive heard it. Heres the part where you actually do it. Here there are a few small boxes to apply the three-story method to your first scene with the instructions to copy and paste this template, so you have one for each scene. Depending on your style, this could result in a very light functional document or a very dense outline. I envision that in a couple more hours, I will complete those steps. While I havent written the story yet, I have confidence this method will give me a functioning first draft quickly. With just a little more awareness and a tiny bit more practical effort on the front end. There is some other good stuff I didnt mention, and the appendix has several interesting ideas to play with. If you want to get your first draft done, quickly, easily and enjoyably without fear of getting stuck or needing a major rewrite, give The Three Story Method a try.

I\’ve been waiting for this book to hit the market since hearing so much about it from the Career Author Podcast. I know the quality of J. Thorn and Zach Bohannon\’s fiction worlds, both authors being some of the first authors I read/followed back in my early Kindle days. And being a \”work in progress\” writer myself, I have followed their podcast for awhile. This book was just the thing I needed for finally being able to organize my \”pantsing\” style of writing with a tight, organized method which doesn\’t break up my \”off the cuff\” style, while motivating me to get the most of the words I put to the page.

If you\’re looking for a writing process book, start with this one! Admittedly I\’m a sucker for Aristotle, so was delighted to see his crucial role in this solid method. But beyond the actual 3 Story method, this book gives summaries of many other processes and thoughts on story telling. Not only does is give summaries, but it tells you exactly which books and articles to learn more! I\’m absolutely thrilled with all I\’ve learned from this purchase!

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