The Five Commandments of Storytelling

By: Danielle Kiowski

The Five Commandments of Storytelling is one of the Story Grid Beats. I’d recommend reading all of them.

Get all the Story Grid Beats. Read all the Story Grid Beats.

If you want to level up your craft as a writer, this is the way to go.

Also, these then become a great source of reference when you are stuck with your writing (or doing your weekly Story Grid Guild worksheet).

I’d recommend bookmarking the pages that have concepts, or tools that you’d likely revisit to make it easier to consult these books.

Flow: 5/5
Actionability: 5/5
Mindset: 5/5

Some of My Highlights:

“Narrative is a powerful medium because it bypasses the audience’s resistance and delivers a message they would ordinarily block out.”

“Persuasion works best when you convince the audience they’ve decided to change on their own.”

“The controlling idea is made up of the story’s value shift and the protagonist’s action.”

“The controlling idea focuses on the value state at the end of the story.”

“…the Five Commandments function in different units of story. Global stories are made up of quadrants, sequences, scenes, and beats.”

“The inciting incident is a ball of chaos that spins into the story and knocks the protagonist’s life out of balance.”