Nathan Baugh

World Builders

Founder

Senior Consultant

Clemson University

Peer Leader: Student Tutor

Teach For America

Accelerate Fellow

Consultant → writer. I study the best storytellers ever and share with you what I learn. Writing fiction and writing to 77K storytellers every Saturday. Join us 👇

I collect the best opening lines from books.

10 gems – and what you can learn from them about writing hooks:

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PS. If you want to become a better storyteller, I'm sending my 15 top storytelling tips to new newsletter readers. 

Grab those here: https://lnkd.in/dRppPN-y

A Hooks Masterclass: How top writers pull you in

In 1991, improv teacher Kenn Adams creates the Story Spine.

He teaches it to his students but nobody else.

Then in 1997, Pixar employee Rebecca Stockley walks into one of his classes.

She loves the idea.

And brings the Story Spine to the fledgling media giant.

She teaches it in Pixar’s improv classes. A huge hit.

After a year or so, it’s ingrained in Pixar’s writing culture.

Pixar goes on a legendary run. Over the next 7 years, it released:

• Toy Story 2
• Monsters Inc
• Finding Nemo
• The Incredibles

It had advanced animation tech, deep understanding of IP, and creating characters people care about — but many also credit the Story Spine.

Emma Coats made it the 4th of her “Pixar’s 22 rules of storytelling.”

Takeaway 1:

John Lassiter says, “In storytelling, the timing of ideas and actions is important to the audience’s understanding of the story.”

The same story told in a different order might not work.

Structure lays the foundation for everything else.

Takeaway 2:

The Story Spine is not the story. It’s the spine.

Adams says the most common mistake he sees is “considering the story done once the Spine is complete.”

At that point, he says, you’re about 10% of the way there.

An important 10%, but nowhere near finished.

This is where Pixar shines. Andrew Stanton wrote Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and Wall-E.

He says the key to a great story is simple:

“Make me care. Please — emotionally, intellectually, aesthetically — just make me care.”

And here's what I love about the Story Spine. You can use it as the foundation for a novel, movie, or... a LinkedIn post. If you look up at the story portion of this, you'll see the structure. Consider this the 'And the moral of the story is' portion.

Boom - hope you enjoyed that! If so, follow me Nathan Baugh for more on storytelling. And hit the 'visit my website' button to get one tip to your inbox every Sunday AM along with 84,989 readers.

Up’s opening scene is notoriously sad.

Pixar decided to rip your heart out in the first 4 minutes of the movie.

But this one little 4 minute scene has taught me so much about storytelling.

What makes it such an effective hook? Why is it the perfect opening?

Here’s a quick breakdown:

***

Ellie wants to go to Paradise Falls.

She makes young Carl promise to take her.

It’s foreshadowing — will they ever get to go? 

An implicit Promise is made to the audience. Someone, in this story, will go to Paradise Falls. Will Carl keep this Promise?

***

Carl and Ellie get married, build their dream home by hand.

Go on picnics, fall even more in love. Decide to have a baby.

It’s the perfect marriage.

But a miscarriage.

It’s so… real. The writers actually said they tried to cut the miscarriage scene, but the whole movie didn’t hit as hard. It lacked the emotional depth and resonance.

***

Carl helps Ellie through her depression.

Life goes on. Their bond only grows deeper.

They save up for the trip they wanted to take as kids.

But instead have to use their savings to make life work.

Suddenly, they’re old.

***

In old age, they love each other like children.

Carl finally buys tickets to take her to Paradise Falls.

It’s time to fulfill the Promise.

But then Ellie gets sick.

Carl goes to help her…

Ellie passes.

The love of Carl’s life is gone.

He never kept his Promise to her – she didn’t go to Paradise Falls.

He returns to their house alone for the first time.

The rest of the movie will be about him pursuing that Promise.

***

Up nails emotional truth.

From the miscarriage to Ellie’s death, the lows of the short story are just as important as the highs.

Carl’s failure of the unkept Promise haunts him the entire movie.

The audience has no choice but to feel that.

***

The scene captures the highs and lows of life.

But more importantly the bond two people build going through those times together.

It sets up the ultimate question:

How do you regain your happiness after the love of your life dies?

That’s the question the rest of Up explores.

So, on Story, I have a few takeaways:

1. Don’t water down your story
2. Stories are about constant Peaks and Valleys, ups and downs
3. The more you can pull on your audience's emotions, the more they'll care

Boom - that's it. If you want to become a better storyteller, you'll love my newsletter. Hit the 'visit my website' to join 83,878 readers getting 1 storytelling tip each Sunday morning.

I write about the art and science of story, as well as building a career as a writer.

We do not write in order to be understood; we write in order to understand. ~ CS Lewis

I remind myself as I scrap a 3000 word essay because I no longer agree with my original premise.

2 mindset shifts that changed everything for me:

1. Nobody cares
2. It’s all your fault

I paralyzed myself with faulty beliefs.

• People would judge me.
• I had little control over outcomes.
• I was dependent on luck for opportunities.

Thankfully, I’m past those fears. But it took ~28 years and I get that these two ideas seem harsh on the surface.

For me, when I assume ownership of the original thing, my reaction is always quicker, more productive, and, in general, healthier.

Nobody cares? That’s sad!
It’s all your fault? Dang!

I’d push you to instead view them as freeing.

Nobody cares? I can try anything without fear of judgment!
It’s all your fault? I have a direct say in how my life turns out!

Look at a simple example.

Let’s say you start a company but it never becomes what you wanted or expected. After one year, you shut it down.

• Assume other people care → You’re frozen with indecision and embarrassment over what to do next.

• Assume it’s other people’s fault → You never take the time to reflect and learn where you went wrong. You don’t improve.

But on the flip side:

• Assume nobody cares → You take more shots on goal, knowing with each shot you have another chance.

• Assume it’s all your fault → You go deep into how you could have been better. As a result, you don’t make those same mistakes again, meaning your odds get better next time.

People aren’t sitting around wondering why you’re doing what you’re doing. They’re too busy thinking about themselves. It’s the Spotlight Effect – a cognitive bias that causes you to overestimate how much others are thinking about you.

I find these two ideas a wonderful counterbalance.

1. Nobody cares
2. It’s all your fault

Oddly freeing.

TS Eliot wrote: “The end is where we start from.“

The overarching goal of a storyteller is to get your audience from beginning to end. Nobody starts a book to get to the middle. And at the end, your reader should feel their time has not been wasted.

So simple, yeah?

I’m no expert, but I’ve found the biggest unlock for me has been to write the end of my story first.

Why?

Let’s look at 3 examples:

• The top wobbling at the end of Inception.
• The pigs in Animal Farm start to resemble humans.
• The last line of the great Gatsby, “borne back ceaselessly into the past,” echoes Gatsby’s fixation on the past from early in the story.

Your ending has mass. It tethers your plots, your characters, and your themes to the story arc.

When you write the end first, you know what you need to achieve, what you need to mention, and what matters throughout your story.

The end drives the beginning and middle, not the other way around.

3 super underrated books on writing and storytelling. If you get the principles in these, you can write anything. Great mix of theory and example.

This English dude is running from the southern-most to the northern-most point of Africa and documenting the entire thing on YouTube. 

South Africa → Tunisia

It’s my favorite content I’ve come across this year. One person, obsessed with doing something nobody has done before.

Russ calls himself ‘The Hardest Geezer.’ What a legend. I’ll link his YT in the comments.

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