Film Courage: Charla, there are four books that you believe every screenwriter should read. The first one being John Truby’s The Anatomy of Story. Why this book?
Charla Lauriston, Screenwriter/Owner of The Working Writer/Comedian: I think that new screenwriters struggle with structure. I think that new screenwriters before they get comfortable with story don’t recognize how innate story is. Even if you’re a terrible storyteller, like I’m a terrible storyteller, in a bar if I’m telling a story, I’ll start with the middle, I’ll jump to the end, all have to retract to the beginning, I’m a terrible storyteller in the moment, but the story itself is there and the joy that you get even in a bar when you’re talking to your friends and telling them a story and you are able to build it up in a way that has people hanging on your every word so that they can hear the end of how this story goes or the punch line of a joke, it’s like the punch line of a joke/the end of the story. I feel like John Truby’s Anatomy of Story breaks down story in a way that shows how organic it is to us as human beings, how innate it is in us. We all know how to tell a story and how story is everywhere, story is pattern, story is organic structure. I feel like I’m not necessarily explaining it in a good way. I think that the way he shows how every story is similar and using…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
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