C&M Show - Episode 126 - John Truby - Anatomy of Genres

Craig Martelle discusses the new book, Anatomy of Genres, with special guest, John Truby. It adds to his already huge impact in the industry when it joins his Anatomy of Story. Take a watch and see what you think.
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[@warmflash]

I’ve been listening to Mr Truby all day and night. Wow. I just bought Anatomy of Genres. I can’t wait to jump in.
Thanks Craig and thank you John for all the interviews and for the fantastic insight into writing and genres. ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ I❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@kit888]

00:01 Introduction
- Anatomy of Genres is a follow up to Anatomy of Story
- Story is more than Hero's Journey, Save the Cat
- Master the 15 to 20 plot beats unique to a genre
04:35 Three unwritten rules
1. It is a genre world
2. Combine two to four genres
3. ?
- Plot density is required for a bestseller
- Top writers know how to write a complex plot
- There are more plot techniques than all other writing techniques combined
- Genres are plot systems that have already been worked out
- When you mix genres you double or triple the plot
08:25 Mixing genres #1
Transcend the genre, don't just hit the beats
1. Do the beats in a different way
2. Do the beats in a different sequence
3. Mix genres that are not normally put together
Inception = Science Fiction + Heist
11:05 Mixing genres #2
- Each genre has a predetermined hero, opponent, desire line, 15 to 20 story beats
- Mixing genres haphazardly can result in story chaos
- The trick is to choose a primary genre (hero, a few opponents, desire line, required story beats), add other genre plot beats where they work with the primary genre's plot beats
15:05 Write multiple genres but market one genre
16:05 Favorite genre
- Anti Western
- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Wild Bunch, Once Upon a Time in the West, McCabe and Mrs Miller
- The Western moved to outer space
20:25 Predicting Oscar winners
Parasite
21:30 Mixing Genres #3
The Big Bang Theory
Stranger Things
Squid Game
23:50 Tropes versus Genres
- Trope = individual story unit
- Genre = sequence of tropes that have been chosen to build a story
- Haphazardly mixing tropes gives you a collection of moments but no overarching plot
- Transcend the genre by changing the order of the beats/tropes
27:50 You are competing against writers in your genre
- You need to know the beats cold so you can deviate from the sequence without messing up the story
- The standard sequence has evolved over years to be the most dramatic way of telling that genre story
29:20 Addressing the many subgenres in Science Fiction
Each chapter of Anatomy of Genres:
1. Basic idea of how a genre works
2. The underlying theme
3. List of subgenres (different mixes of genres)
4. 15 to 20 beats of the main genre
5. How do you transcend the genre? Usually by mixing with other genres (Horror + Science Fiction, Horror + Myth).
6. Most people think of the genre as this, but it is actually that (deeper themes and values, philosophy of how to live a good life)
34:30 Romance genre
- Do steamy scenes hurt the romance?
- Genre is about the philosophy of how to live a good life
- Romance looks like - the building emotion between two people as they fall in love
- Romance is really about - how to love, how to overcome selfishness
- Dialog is more important than sex in Romance, dialog is more important in Romance than in other genres
- Romance gives us the recipe for day-to-day happiness
42:45 Soldier (Kurt Russell movie)
Science fiction - who is more human?
44:40 Thriller genre
- Thriller = Detective + Horror
- Detective - investigator is a professional
- Thriller - investigator is not a professional, we are afraid for his safety, more emotional than Detective
- Investigating while under attack
- Story tracks investigation and investigator's emotional development (connect crime to investigator's emotional flaw, act of solving crime helps solves emotional weakness and vice versa).
- Thriller is often paired with Action.
50:30 Don't label your book's genre wrongly
51:55 Finding the book Anatomy of Genres
- Bonus class (Avatar or Westworld) with sales receipt
53:40 Final words
- Invest in yourself
- Treat yourself as a professional
- Learn the tools of the trade

[@Nelpharanas]

The third rule is to transcend genre =)

[@denide8921]

🙏 thank you

[@andreabknight]

Fantasy romance (in terms of high fantasy, not urban) has become very popular recently- this is a mix that hasn't been widely used before so feels fresh, especially to younger readers who definitely haven't seen it before in gritty novels (only in fairy tales). Supports Truby's theory.

[@nikkiguerlain]

Just ordered this book 5 mins ago!

[@zubaidspeelman88]

Salute brother

[@alexbates7193]

Fantastic!

[@allegedlegend541]

A little surprised he talked about anti-westerns and didn't mention Unforgiven

[@skitsandjiggles7286]

Bruce Lee's philosophy on martial arts eventually turned into what's now called mixed martial arts, a mixture of styles that's incredibly efficient and has proven effective in real life situations. This concept can be applied to almost any art-form. It's OK to be zeroed into a particular style or orthodoxy, especially if it works for you and your audience. But history has proven that the artists who thrive and endure tend to mix multiple elements in unexpectedly creative ways. Sadly, many of those artist aren't appreciated by their contemporaries and only achieve heightened success after they die.

[@theatheistpaladin]

All the stories I want to write are mixed genres. Military science fantasy, steam punk cowboys and dragons, and fantasy romance.

[@jhoneyb]

I get that he knows his stuff, but I've been told time and again not to mix genres as it confuses people and you don;t sell as well....who is right?

[@Heidi-ih9ej]

Look at any big blockbuster. They're all mixed. Avengers endgame is superhero/sci-fi/time travel/heist

[@20Booksto50kRLiveEvents]

Mixed - but keep in mind, one is paramount and that's the prime target readership.