Scene weave, Truby's structure steps, and Pan Am

A deep analysis of Pan Am's pilot episode!

Here is the link to my massive spreadsheet, so you can follow along!

Concepts referenced in this video:

• Multistrand plot: Common in TV, it crosscuts between 3-5 story lines, each with its own protagonist.

• Scene weave: Also known as a scene list or outline, a scene weave is how you order/layer your scenes to reveal & enhance the underlying meaning of your story. It’s literally the list of scenes, including all storylines. John Truby makes points about the juxtaposition of scenes, structure (rather than chronology), and how cross-cutting two lines of action can keep the audience engaged through structurally tricky parts of a story.

• John Truby’s 7 structure steps: The basic structure steps are weakness and need, desire, opponent, plan, battle, self-revelation, new equilibirium

• Curiosity seeds: These are bits of narrative, action, and dialogue that a writer skillfully slips into the beginning of their story to make the reader curious, so they keep reading. These can be paid off a few pages la…