How to Write Something that May Change Your Life: Tips From a Screenwriter & Carl Jung
In The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller, screenwriter John Truby outlines 10 steps to develop a premise.
Step one is 'write something that may change your life'.
Despite the high standard, Truby claims it could be the most valuable advice you ever receive as a writer.
In this article, I’ll outline how to go about it, with tips from Truby and Carl Jung.
How do you know what'll change your life?
Truby suggests starting with some self-exploration.
Without this, you'll likely imitate other premises and end up with a generic story.
You need to get some data on who you really are and externalise it so you can see it from a distance.
Here’s how to do this.
Two exercises to practise self-exploration
Truby recommends two exercises:
Write a wish list
Write down a wish list of everything you'd like to see in a film or book.
It should include your interests, favourite or imagined characters, plot twists, themes, genres, and so on.
Think of as many as you can and don't reject anything.
Write a premise list
List all the premises you've ever thought of. Again, think of as many as you can and don't reject any.
Once you have both lists, study them alongside one another. Look for recurring core elements, such as:
Characters or character types
Voice
Genres
Themes or subject matter
Settings or time periods
Key patterns will emerge that give you insights into who you are as a person. For Truby, this is your vision as a writer.
These methods can also be altered to suit other styles of writing, not just story writing.
Build on Truby’s insights with Jung’s teachings
Carl Jung taught that you can’t change without self-knowledge, and Truby’s insistence on self-exploration as a precursor to writing something that will change your life aligns with Jungian thought.
The transcendent function is Jung's term for the process that enables a transition from one psychological state to another,
It involves deliberately integrating the psyche's conscious and unconscious elements into a third position, which marks a new stage in the evolution of the personality.
Activating the transcendent function requires reflecting on life: bringing awareness to your desires, fears, complexes, and shadow elements, and holding the tensions in your consciousness.
Journaling, reflecting on dreams, and using active imagination all offer deeper insights into the unconscious: a source of endless growth.
Becoming familiar with Jung’s teachings on individuation and using the methods he suggests is a great way to build on Truby’s methods
It’ll give you more insights into who you are as a person, and you can integrate these insights into your story writing
Summary
The more you practise the methods outlined above, the more you’ll learn about yourself and the more original your story will be.
Jung insisted that self-knowledge is a precursor to change in life, so if you commit to writing a story based on the insights gleaned from your self-exploration, it’s likely that you’ll evolve as a person.
Read more of my articles on story writing: