StoryOsophy - For Writers, Storytellers and Story Lovers

Happy Holidays StoryOsophers! First things first, thank you all for the wonderful messages of curiosity regarding where the heck Adam and Devin have been. To make a long story short, they both needed to take a brief hiatus to work on projects, and also wanted to focus on getting version 1 of Story Bluprint ready […] The post Re-Release: Home Alone Breakdown (Part 1 & 2) (Original Air Date: 12/20/2020) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

Happy Holidays StoryOsophers! First things first, thank you all for the wonderful messages of curiosity regarding where the heck Adam and Devin have been. To make a long story short, they both needed to take a brief hiatus to work on projects, and also wanted to focus on getting version 1 of Story Bluprint ready […] The post Re-Release: National Lampoons Christmas Vacation Breakdown (Parts 1 & 2) (Original Air Date: 12/20/2019) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

Which pitch materials should you focus on to summarize your story? Loglines, outlines, one-sheets, treatments, series bibles, poster art, and look books. Join Devin and Adam as they discuss how to summarize your stories on Storyosophy! The post 80: Pitch Materials appeared first on StoryOsophy.

What can you do to diagnose and improve your scenes? How do you approach fine-tuning your piece? Why is wordsmithing, grammar, and punctuation so important? Join Devin and Adam for some StoryOsophy! The post 79: Polishing and Wordsmithing appeared first on StoryOsophy.

Greetings StoryOsopher’s! With the sudden impact of the COVID 19 pandemic, we have been adjusting to ensure we can continue producing StoryOsophy podcast episodes. The good news is, though we took a hiatus from recording, we have been hard at work getting version 1 of our Story Blūprint software ready for launch. To keep in […] The post Road Trip 1 – Autumn Updates appeared first on StoryOsophy.

How do you determine what your theme is? How do you expand that idea and weave it into your story or first draft? What if you have more than one dominant idea? Join Devin and Adam for some Storyosophy. The post 78: Theme Builder appeared first on StoryOsophy.

In this episode we explore what to look for in building strong scenes. How do you fix a scene that isn’t working? How do you build a scene from scratch? What is your audience’s experience? Join Devin and Adam for some Storyosophy! The post 77: Scene Builder appeared first on StoryOsophy.

How can you use the movement system to break down, diagnose, and remedy story problems? How can you use movements to better develop an episodic series? Join Adam and Devin for some Storyosophy! The post 76: Alternate Movement Structures appeared first on StoryOsophy.

Why is the last thing your audience sees or hears so important? What can you do to make this event as impactful as it could be? Join Devin and Adam for some Storyosophy! The post 75: Final Image, Final Words (Movement 6) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

How do you bring closure and resolution to your story? How do you make sure all your setups have satisfactory payoffs? Next on Storyosophy. Join Devin and Adam for some Storyosophy! The post 74: Tying Up Loose Ends (Movement 6) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

How has the Hero’s perspective changed about the World they left at the story’s beginning? Has the Hero transformed that world because of their journey? Join Adam and Devin for some Storyosophy! The post 73: New Status Quo (Movement 6) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

In this episode we conclude our breakdown of the Christmas classic “Home Alone.” Why is the climax of this movie so exciting and hysterical? How do John Hughes and Chris Columbus balance over-the-top hyperbole with emotional relatability. Join Devin and Adam for some StoryOsophy! The post Story Breakdown: Home Alone (Part 2) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

In this episode, we begin our belated breakdown of the Christmas classic “Home Alone.” What makes this movie such an enjoyable holiday experience? Why do we love John Hughes as an expert story architect? Devin and Adam wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! The post Story Breakdown: Home Alone (Part 1) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

What is the Return like for the Hero? Smooth-going, bumpy, reflective? Do they Journey Home or stay in the new World? Join Devin and Adam for some Storyosophy! The post 72: Road Back (Movement 6) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

What is the result of your Hero’s choices in the Climax? Do they achieve their desired outcome or fail in their intended objective? Join Adam and Devin for some Storyosophy! The post 71: Objective Attained (Movement 6) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

What final “Do or Die” moment brings your Climax to a conclusion? Does your Hero have an ace up their sleeve? Or is it the Antagonist? The post 70: Climax 3 – Now or Never (Movement 6) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

A quick apology to storyosophers. We ran into a major technical issue with our platform so this episode is a bit late to your ears. We do our best to release our episodes every week, but sometimes technology gets in the way. What pivotal revelation does your Hero discover? How does this “A-ha” moment reflected […] The post 69: Climax 2 – Breakthrough – Crossing the Fifth Threshold (Movement 5) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

How does your Hero respond to a face to face with the Antagonist now? Who has the upper hand in this moment? The post 68: Climax 1 – Showdown (Movement 5) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

In this episode we explore the story event Enemies Gain Ground. How does your Antagonist corner or put more pressure on your Hero? How does your Hero respond to these higher stakes? The post 67: Enemies Gain Ground (Movement 5) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

In this episode we discuss the story event Things Go Wrong. What complications or disruptions happen to your Hero’s plan? How does your Hero approach these obstacles now after their discoveries from Act 2? The post 66: Things Go Wrong (Movement 5) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

How do your Hero, Allies, and Antagonist plan to achieve their goal once and for all? Do we know all of their plan or only part of it? Join Devin and Adam as they discuss the first story event of Act 3 and Movement 5… Putting the Plan Into Action. The post 65: Putting the Plan into Action (Movement 5) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

After some inner reflection, how does your Hero re-engage in their quest or journey? What is the threshold between Act 2 and Act 3 really about? The post 64: Re-choosal of the Quest – Fourth Threshold (Movement 4) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

Now that your Hero has faced their inner light and dark, how do they now view their obstacles? How do they change their approach and thought process? The post 63: Reassessment (Movement 4) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

What wall has you Hero built around their flaw? How do they come to terms with it and disassemble this to find their true self and courage? The post 62: Fall of the Heart Wall (Movement 4) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

In this episode we discuss the story event Hero’s Darkest Moment. How does your Hero face their Shadow or Source of Antagonism internally? What is this Dark Night of the Soul really about? The post 61: Hero’s Darkest Moment (Movement 4) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

In this episode we explore the story event Aftermath. Now that your Hero has survived the threat of the Crisis and escaped, where do they find safety to recover? How do they recover? What new lessons have they learned? The post 60: Aftermath (Movement 4) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

How does your hero get away from the threat and dangers of the Crisis? Are they assisted by allies or do they go it alone? The post 59: Escape (Movement 4) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

How do you navigate the Crisis of your story, the tipping point of your plot, your hero’s midterm exam? Will they choose fight, flight, or freeze? The post 58: Crisis – Crossing the Third Threshold (Movement 3) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

What obstacles and complications does your hero encounter as they near the tipping point of the story? How do these challenges build to the Crisis? The post 57: Approaching the Inmost Cave (Movement 3) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

How does your story’s quest or adventure open up here? How can you use it to provide a breathe of fresh before your crisis? The post 56: New Direction (Movement 3) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

Now that things have calmed done a little bit, what new lesson or information starts our hero on their next build toward the crisis? The post 55: New Discovery (Movement 3) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

How does your Hero react to crossing into the Danger Zone? Did they survive unharmed? What new realizations do they have? Join Devin and Adam as they explore the first story event in Movement 3, the Close Call. The post 54: Close Call (Movement 3) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

How does this threshold manifest itself? What challenges do you face? What is holding you back from change? Join Devin and Adam as they explore the Second Threshold of your story – Crossing into the Danger Zone. The post 53: Crossing Into the Danger Zone – Second Threshold (Movement 2) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

How does your hero react as they near the second threshold of change? How do they negotiate their first encounters with the force of antagonism? The post 52: Approaching the Danger Zone (Movement 2) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

What are the rules of your story’s mythology? What tools is your hero introduced to in order to deal with the unknown world of Act 2? Though the Watering Hole event may raises the stakes by touching on the dangers of the Unknown World, the Rules & Tools event is our opportunity to equip our […] The post 51: Rules and Tools (Movement 2) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

We celebrate our 50th episode by discussing one of our favorite story events…The Watering Hole! The Watering Hole event provides the opportunity to introduce the creatures who inhabit this Unknown World, whether they are humans, monsters or a variety of species like in the cantina scene of “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.” […] The post 50: Watering Hole (Movement 2) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

The First Day of School is the first story event in Act 2 and Movement 2. How does your hero respond to the contrast of Act 2’s Unknown World they have just entered? Are they shy, afraid, boastful, foolish? What does this tell us about them? The post 49: First Day of School (Movement 2) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

Now that your Hero has agreed to go on the journey, what is the Threshold from Act One to Act Two of your story? What contrasting elements help your audience to understand the difference between the known world and the unknown world? The post 48: Crossing the First Threshold (Movement 1) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

After debating, what causes your hero to choose to go on their quest or journey? Is there a mentor or moment of raised stakes that is the catalyst for that choice? Our hero’s first true action, they make the decision in Choosing to Answer the Call to Quest. • This marks the beginning of change […] The post 47: Choosal of Call (Movement 1) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

Now that your hero has received the call, how do they answer it? Are they a willing Hero or do they have doubts and inner conflicts? Refusing the Call to Quest provides the opportunity to strengthen our Hero’s character as they are within their ordinary world, and shed light on their internal obstacle(s), definitely highlighting […] The post 46: Refusal of Call (Movement 1) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

What quest, challenge, or invitation is presented to your Hero? What choices? How does it highlight the overall dramatic question of your story? Our hero must be presented with a challenge, and one that will create a necessity for our hero to have to decide, on their own, if they want to embark on such […] The post 45: Call to Quest (Movement 1) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

What is the Inciting (or Exciting) Incident of your story? How does it set the entire story in motion or tip the first domino in your story’s chain of events? Our Inciting Incident is the moment the story “officially” begins and is set in motion. The Inciting Incident is the moment that changes everything for […] The post 44: Inciting Incident (Movement 1) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

Where do they work or go to school? What is the status quo of your story world? Join Adam and Devin as they explore the second event in Act 1... Known World Routine. The post 43: Known World Routine (Movement 1) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

Why is the Hook your most important event of your story? What do you put in or leave out of your Hook? Devin and Adam explore the Hook in its many varieties – Prologue, Cold Open, Teaser, and more. #storyosophy #storyosophers The post 42: The Hook (Movement 1) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

What are the events, movements, and acts of your Story Blūprint. What do you need to consider when creating your Blūprint? What are the important events of each movement? Join Adam and Devin for a basic summary of structure. The post 41: Story Blūprint Overview appeared first on StoryOsophy.

Season’s greetings, storyosophers! Where do you think you’re going? Nobody’s leaving. Nobody’s walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas. No, no! We’re all in this together. We’re gonna press on to Part 2 of our National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation story breakdown, and we’re gonna have the hap, hap, happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced […] The post Story Breakdown: National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (Part 2) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

Merry Christmas storyosophers! We’re kicking off our fun old fashion family Christmas by heading out into the country in the old front-wheel drive sleigh to embrace the frosty majesty of the winter landscape and listen to a couple story-lovin’ dudes talk about one of the greatest Christmas movies of all time… In this special holiday […] The post Story Breakdown: National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (Part 1) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

Adam and Devin continue to talk about Act 3, by exploring Movement 6. What events take your hero from the climax to the resolution of the story? How do you tie up your loose ends? The post 40: Movement 6 (Act 3) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

Devin and Adam conclude their conversation with special guest Youssef Kerkour (“Nightflyers.”) He discusses his work on the “Jack Ryan” series, Woody Harrelson’s “Lost in London,” and the new ScyFy series “Nightflyers.” Born and raised in Rabat, Morocco, Youssef speaks four languages fluently, including English, French, Italian, and Moroccan Arabic. In 1996 he attended Bard […] The post Campfire Chat 2: Youssef Kerkour (Part 2) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

Special guest Youssef Kerkour (Nightflyers) talks about his early film and stage work in New York and in London with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Born and raised in Rabat, Morocco, Youssef speaks four languages fluently, including English, French, Italian, and Moroccan Arabic. In 1996 he attended Bard College in upstate New York where he majored […] The post Campfire Chat 2: Youssef Kerkour (Part 1) appeared first on StoryOsophy.

Devin and Adam begin to break down a story’s Act 3, by exploring Movement 5. Coming from Movement 4’s recovery, what events do you use to build to your story’s climax? The post 39: Movement 5 (Act 3) appeared first on StoryOsophy.