Stage I. Story Concept

The initial story idea is turned into a concise, summarizing concept. Often neglected by writing teachers, the Story Concept is the basic premise that forms the foundation of every well-developed story.

Stage II. Story Category

The underlying purpose of the story is formulated. No other program so clearly encourages the writer to clarify the story's "moral direction." Every story ever written falls under one of two Categories: (1) Action stories, which focus primarily on the plot, the action; (2) Theme stories, which focus primarily on the learning experiences of the main character.

Stage III. Story Type

The overall pattern of the story is determined. Remarkably, every piece of high-quality fiction can be grouped into 22 fairly distinct Types (for example, "Capture and Escape Stories," "Love Stories," "Revenge Stories," "Coming of Age Stories"). More basic than mere genres, these Types define the essence of the story and determine its overall pattern.

Stage IV. World Creation

The main characters, their helpers, and their Worlds are given life. The Goal of the Hero... The Hero's personality...strengths...weaknesses... The Antagonist's motivations... The Environment of the Hero... The Environment of the Antagonist... The Allies... The Shape-changers... The Gate-guardians... all are carefully developed.

Stage V. Story Creation

The structure steps for the particular story are presented and each step is completed. Every great story shares 12 fundamental steps of structure, each dependent upon the story's Concept, Category, and Type. In StoryCraft, the story you want to write is matched with its unique set of Structure Steps. Your task is to fill in each step with the Characters and Environments you've developed in World Creation, adding plot twists and developing the story according roughly to its unique pattern.

Online Tutors

Throughout the program Online Tutors offer invaluable writing advice as well as instant tech support. (Additional tech support is also always available by email.)