Göteborg Storytelling Days - John Yorke

JOHN YORKE
Into the woods – How stories work and why we tell them

Lecture
In his bestselling book Into the Woods, John Yorke argues that story structure is hardwired into human perception: all stories are essentially the same because they reflect the way in which we make sense of the world.

What is this deep-rooted story DNA? Put simply, a hero meets their opposite, assimilates it and is changed. Every story, at some level, follows this pattern – whether in a video game, novel or brand story. It’s the natural way that the human brain interprets and organises information. In Into the Woods, John uses examples gathered over his 30-year career studying and teaching five-act story structure while making film and TV drama watched by millions of people around the globe.

Into the Woods is just not a how-to book for scriptwriters. It is a philosophical approach to communicating more effectively, in a way that resonates with the deepest part of the human psyche – through story.

The lecture includes
Structure and Writers Rooms - How structural theory works in the real world. The mechanics of Writers Rooms and how they fit into a larger chain of production.  Touching on how giving notes, feedback and best behaviours.

Television Structure - The rules of television structure how technology has transformed the way we tell stories and how television has learned to manipulate structure for both economic and artistic end. From old fashioned series and serials, to modern Closed Season arcs – we explore just how modern television drama works – includes brief practical exercise.

About John York
John Yorke is a BAFTA winner and Visiting Professor of English Language and Literature at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He lives in London but works as a story consultant worldwide. Read more about John Yorke here >

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