STORY BY NUMBERS

by Adam Skelter, Ashlyn Lily Wilde

So you’ve got this script or this novel you’re working on.
Is it good? How do you know?
Does it have fully dimensional characters and a plot that digs up their demons and forces them into a reckoning?

Story By Numbers is a step-by-step deep dive into structure that will take your story from an underdeveloped storm of “cool ideas,” to a slick, compelling work with fully dimensional characters. It uses the protagonist’s inner conflict as the guide to developing plot points and meaningful conflicts. It takes an irreverent, hands-on approach to story and character development in three Story By Numbers guides you through a vivisection of your story and helps you find ways to trim the unnecessary stuff, while fleshing out one dimensional characters.

Ada Skelter has worked in film, tv, games, and publishing as a writer, author, story and concept artist for over 15 years for both major an independent studios. Along with in depth interviews and discussion like Film Courage , and a YouTube video series The Art of Story , Ada has also taught story development at Calarts and the USC Screenwriting Program.

Find more available at riotactindustries.com

Genres: Nonfiction, Writing

488 pages, Hardcover

Published January 13, 2022

Reviews

[Lola D · Rating 2 out of 5]

The content might be interesting but the formatting is so bad it makes the book unreadable.

[Quartknee · Rating 2 out of 5]

The presentation style is often verbose and obtuse with most of the intro being largely irrelevant in its flowery depictions of 'story mountain' and the war between pantsers and plotters.

The nuggets of truth and gems of wisdom get bogged down by purple prose, irreverent asides, and curse words. I'm no prude but I found the f-bombs a bit shocking in their randomness. If this were a transcript of a college lecture it might come across as more natural where the professor is trying to be more relatable but in a book format, it feels jarring, forced, and contrived for some kind of shock value.

There was a time when irreverent self-help advice was popular and it was even trendy to include a curse word in the title but those days are long past now.

[Cheri Reeves · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the more informative books on how to write a book and why certain methods work. Presents enough of his knowledge of the industry to make it a really worthwhile read for someone looking to lean and understand how to do it. His inclusion of his own experience is amusing, though it occasionally gets in the way of what he’s trying to get across in the substance of his subject. But I found it informative enough to read it twice to be sure I soaked in enough of what was new information to me.

He also sells a workbook to accompany this book. Unfortunately it is cheaply printed and the graphs are often unreadable, so if you want to use them I would suggest getting out your computer and recreating them in spreadsheets so you can use them properly.

[Janet Dubrasky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book on generating plot - I’ve read at least 50 others

Demonstrates WHY there is the natural natural progression of plot sequence and how to conceptualize it. Deep yet intelligible discussion of how to develop Story Question and Theme.

[Gevera Piedmont]

This book is full of really good information. It's also full of typos to the point where some sentences don't make sense. Very frustrating and the reason why I did not give it any stars.

[Julie]

Very basic instructions but couldn't get into it. I didn't like the way it was organized.

[Ashwin Arun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Go for it

Deep advice regarding writing




. Unlike the repeated stuff that you see everywhere everywhere. this is really the real deal