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Nathan Baugh

@nathanbaugh27 • 234,082 subscribers

I write & talk about stories // @thriveholdings

Shorts

1. Use a hook / Make a promise A tantalizing statement to draw the audience in. A few guidelines: • Short • Punchy • “Big if true” Jobs promises “a revolutionary product that changes everything.”

1. Use a hook / Make a promise A tantalizing statement to draw the audience in. A few guidelines: • Short • Punchy • “Big if true” Jobs promises “a revolutionary product that changes everything.”

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In 4 minutes, Kurt Vonnegut explained stories better than anyone I’ve ever heard. “The shape of the curve is what matters. Not their origins.” He plots stories on 2 axes: X: Time Y: Good fortune / ill fortune He goes on to say, “Somebody gets into trouble, then gets out of it again. People love that story. They never get tired of it.” Point 1: Stories have defined patterns. In Joseph Campbell’s Hero of a Thousand Faces, he makes the case for the Hero’s Journey. Since then, it’s become the most famous storytelling structure in the world. Vonnegut argued stories could be divided into 8 shapes. Each story, he said, fit one of the 8. Point 2: Vonnegut says, “Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them — so the reader may see what they're made of.” To see who your characters really are, you have to make them suffer. Only then does your audience have someone worth cheering for. Point 3: End on a high note. Vonnegut says, “It’s not accidental that the line ends up higher than where it began. This is encouraging to readers.” The way a story makes people feel when they finish is how they remember it. It’s called recency bias. Lift people up and they will love you. *** “There are people. There are stories. The people think they shape the stories, but the reverse is often closer to the truth.” I wrote this with Robbie Crabtree. Follow him for lessons on storytelling + fundraising. And I talk about creative storytelling. Follow Nathan Baugh for more like that.

In 4 minutes, Kurt Vonnegut explained stories better than anyone I’ve ever heard. “The shape of the curve is what matters. Not their origins.” He plots stories on 2 axes: X: Time Y: Good fortune / ill fortune He goes on to say, “Somebody gets into trouble, then gets out of it again. People love that story. They never get tired of it.” Point 1: Stories have defined patterns. In Joseph Campbell’s Hero of a Thousand Faces, he makes the case for the Hero’s Journey. Since then, it’s become the most famous storytelling structure in the world. Vonnegut argued stories could be divided into 8 shapes. Each story, he said, fit one of the 8. Point 2: Vonnegut says, “Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them — so the reader may see what they're made of.” To see who your characters really are, you have to make them suffer. Only then does your audience have someone worth cheering for. Point 3: End on a high note. Vonnegut says, “It’s not accidental that the line ends up higher than where it began. This is encouraging to readers.” The way a story makes people feel when they finish is how they remember it. It’s called recency bias. Lift people up and they will love you. *** “There are people. There are stories. The people think they shape the stories, but the reverse is often closer to the truth.” I wrote this with Robbie Crabtree. Follow him for lessons on storytelling + fundraising. And I talk about creative storytelling. Follow Nathan Baugh for more like that.

6,248,469 views • 2 years ago

Students at NYU asked the creators of South Park the million-dollar question: “What makes a good story?” They gave one of the best explanations of story I’ve heard: “If we can take the beats of your outline, and the words ‘and then’ belong between those beats… you got something pretty boring. What should happen between every beat you’ve written down is the words ‘therefore’ or ‘but.’” They go on to say, “That gives you the causation between each beat, and that makes a story.” Point 1: There’s an idea in storytelling called ‘Promise, Progress, Payoff.’ Essentially, a story is a neverending cycle of promises that are paid off over the span of the story. It’s a cycle of expectation and resolution. Cause and effect. Conflict and progress. Point 2: A story isn’t a bunch of random events thrown together. A story is a series of but / because / therefore moments. A famous example: • Harry discovers he's a wizard. Because of this, he goes to learn magic at Hogwarts. • But then he learns Voldemort wants to kill him and rule the world. • Therefore, he must find a way to defeat him. Point 3: ‘And’ implies a simple continuation. ‘But / Therefore’ give prior events meaning through causation. ‘But’ implies conflict. ‘Therefore’ implies progress. I’m reminded of a Hemingway quote: “Prose is architecture, not interior decoration.” Great writing is intentional. It doesn’t wander. It builds upon itself. *** I hope you enjoyed that! If so, follow Nathan Baugh. I study the best storytellers ever and share what I learn.

Students at NYU asked the creators of South Park the million-dollar question: “What makes a good story?” They gave one of the best explanations of story I’ve heard: “If we can take the beats of your outline, and the words ‘and then’ belong between those beats… you got something pretty boring. What should happen between every beat you’ve written down is the words ‘therefore’ or ‘but.’” They go on to say, “That gives you the causation between each beat, and that makes a story.” Point 1: There’s an idea in storytelling called ‘Promise, Progress, Payoff.’ Essentially, a story is a neverending cycle of promises that are paid off over the span of the story. It’s a cycle of expectation and resolution. Cause and effect. Conflict and progress. Point 2: A story isn’t a bunch of random events thrown together. A story is a series of but / because / therefore moments. A famous example: • Harry discovers he's a wizard. Because of this, he goes to learn magic at Hogwarts. • But then he learns Voldemort wants to kill him and rule the world. • Therefore, he must find a way to defeat him. Point 3: ‘And’ implies a simple continuation. ‘But / Therefore’ give prior events meaning through causation. ‘But’ implies conflict. ‘Therefore’ implies progress. I’m reminded of a Hemingway quote: “Prose is architecture, not interior decoration.” Great writing is intentional. It doesn’t wander. It builds upon itself. *** I hope you enjoyed that! If so, follow Nathan Baugh. I study the best storytellers ever and share what I learn.

3,829,975 views • 3 years ago

The best closing scenes in movie history — and why: 1/ Inception Cobb returns home to his fam. But he spins his top. If it falls over, he’s back in the real world. If it keeps spinning, he’s still in a dream. The scene fades to black before we see what happens.

The best closing scenes in movie history — and why: 1/ Inception Cobb returns home to his fam. But he spins his top. If it falls over, he’s back in the real world. If it keeps spinning, he’s still in a dream. The scene fades to black before we see what happens.

2,194,587 views • 3 years ago

John Mayer improvising a song live is the most incredible thing you’ll see today:

John Mayer improvising a song live is the most incredible thing you’ll see today:

1,801,834 views • 3 years ago

The best opening scenes in movie history — and why: 1/ The Dark Knight No backstory. Just an insane villain executing a brilliant plan. Batman needs the Joker, not the other way around.

The best opening scenes in movie history — and why: 1/ The Dark Knight No backstory. Just an insane villain executing a brilliant plan. Batman needs the Joker, not the other way around.

997,119 views • 3 years ago

When Christopher Nolan explains the plot of Momento, he draws a hairpin. It’s an idea I keep coming back to: Stories as shapes. In Momento, half of the movie moves forward in time while the other half moves backward. Then, toward the end, the two sides meet near the tip of the hairpin. Point 1: Nolan says to “approach structure mathematically with diagrams.” In storytelling, the idea of structure is everywhere: • 3 Act • StoryGrid • Hero’s Journey But Nolan claims those restrict his creativity. He prefers to think in ‘shapes’ rather than in hard rules. “What I do is draw many diagrams,” Nolan says, “Particularly if there’s a type of structural complexity.” Point 2: I’m reminded of Kurt Vonnegut, who taught about the “shapes of stories” at Harvard and Case Western. He broke down stories into ~8 unique shapes. Each runs on 2 axes: • X – Time • Y – Good vs ill fortune For example, Nolan’s plot map of Inception looks like Vonnegut’s “Man In Hole” shape. But Momento is non-linear so it doesn’t follow any of the 8. And yet Nolan still describes it as a shape. *** “Breaking rules isn’t interesting. It’s making up new ones that keeps things exciting.” – Christopher Nolan Follow Nathan Baugh for more ideas like this!

When Christopher Nolan explains the plot of Momento, he draws a hairpin. It’s an idea I keep coming back to: Stories as shapes. In Momento, half of the movie moves forward in time while the other half moves backward. Then, toward the end, the two sides meet near the tip of the hairpin. Point 1: Nolan says to “approach structure mathematically with diagrams.” In storytelling, the idea of structure is everywhere: • 3 Act • StoryGrid • Hero’s Journey But Nolan claims those restrict his creativity. He prefers to think in ‘shapes’ rather than in hard rules. “What I do is draw many diagrams,” Nolan says, “Particularly if there’s a type of structural complexity.” Point 2: I’m reminded of Kurt Vonnegut, who taught about the “shapes of stories” at Harvard and Case Western. He broke down stories into ~8 unique shapes. Each runs on 2 axes: • X – Time • Y – Good vs ill fortune For example, Nolan’s plot map of Inception looks like Vonnegut’s “Man In Hole” shape. But Momento is non-linear so it doesn’t follow any of the 8. And yet Nolan still describes it as a shape. *** “Breaking rules isn’t interesting. It’s making up new ones that keeps things exciting.” – Christopher Nolan Follow Nathan Baugh for more ideas like this!

256,319 views • 3 years ago

In 2017, George RR Martin and Stephen King gave a talk on writing. GRRM: “How the f do you write so many books?” King: “Well, I try to get 6 pages a day.”

In 2017, George RR Martin and Stephen King gave a talk on writing. GRRM: “How the f do you write so many books?” King: “Well, I try to get 6 pages a day.”

281,017 views • 3 years ago

It reminds me of Kurt Vonnegut, who taught about the “shapes of stories” at Harvard and Case Western. He broke down stories into ~8 unique shapes. Here’s a great vid of Vonnegut talking about a few of them (h/t Robbie Crabtree). Gold:

It reminds me of Kurt Vonnegut, who taught about the “shapes of stories” at Harvard and Case Western. He broke down stories into ~8 unique shapes. Here’s a great vid of Vonnegut talking about a few of them (h/t Robbie Crabtree). Gold:

78,908 views • 3 years ago

Lincoln in the Bardo author George Saunders on how he approaches writing a book: “Have a plan, but be willing to abandon it.” He goes on to say that his best ideas come to him not from planning, but from action.

Lincoln in the Bardo author George Saunders on how he approaches writing a book: “Have a plan, but be willing to abandon it.” He goes on to say that his best ideas come to him not from planning, but from action.

17,638 views • 3 years ago

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