Course status
Cancelled (by school)
Delivered in
Zoom
Price
£15 per lesson

What makes story 'story'?

What is the hidden code that makes stories work?

This course provides a clear answer to these questions.

It covers six key story structures in detail and gives an overview of a further 12 identified to date using a unique and innovative approach to analysing stories.

The methodology taught on this course is based on an application of George Spencer-Brown's Calculus of Indications from his book, 'Laws of Form'. No prior knowledge of the system is necessary. The application is simple and uses a basic set of only six symbols that are sufficient for notating all of the story structures identified to date.

The course is aimed at adults with an interest in narrative - If you are a storyteller, writer, narratologist, literary theorist, systems theorist, political analyst, historian, narrative therapist, or just have an interest in how stories work, this course is for you.

Over 10 sessions, this course will show you how to:

  • Analyse story structures using the methodology and achieve greater insight and clarity into how story works
  • Apply the structures to the practice of writing and find plot holes more easily
  • Apply story structures to different fields (e.g. systems theory, narrative therapy, advertising and marketing, etc) and explore 

Session 1: Introduction, Structure 1: Transformation, Structure 2: Quest

Session 2: Structure 3: Trickster, Structure 4: Revelation, Linear and Dynamic structures

Session 3: Structure 5: Call and Response, Structure 6: Chinese Circular Structure

Session 4: Plot patterns, the narrator, descriptions, transitions

Session 5: Open-ended and closed structures

Session 6: The unfolding of story structures

Session 7: Mapping the dynamic Chinese Circular Structure to the linear structures covered

Session 8: The story structure of sentences, the quality of sentence types

Session 9: The story structure of poetic forms

Session 10: Left open-ended for student requests or content which emerges from engagement with the course

Homework will be set for most sessions and participants will have the opportunity to share work in and between sessions.

If you are unable to attend a course, but would like to book a 1:1 story structure consultancy session, you can do so easily here