# Story Structure 22 Step Api

> Analyze story structure using John Truby's 22-step framework. Returns complete analysis directly in response.

- **Type:** Skill
- **Install:** `agentstack add skill-scott2b-claude-skills-story-structure-22-step-api`
- **Verified:** Yes — security-reviewed for prompt injection and unsafe behavior
- **Seller:** [scott2b](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/scott2b)
- **Installs:** 0
- **Category:** [Agent Skills](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/agent-skills)
- **Latest version:** 0.1.0
- **License:** Apache-2.0
- **Upstream author:** [scott2b](https://github.com/scott2b)
- **Source:** https://github.com/scott2b/claude-skills/tree/main/story-structure-22-step-api

## Install

```sh
agentstack add skill-scott2b-claude-skills-story-structure-22-step-api
```

Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent.

## About

# Story Structure: Twenty-Two Steps (API)

Apply Truby's 22-step framework from *The Anatomy of Story* to analyze plot structure.

## The Twenty-Two Steps

1. **Self-revelation, need, desire (Frame)** - Planning tool combining Steps 20, 3, 5; establishes endpoint first so all steps lead there
2. **Ghost and story world** - Past haunting; world expressing weakness
3. **Weakness and need** - Psychological/moral flaw (detailed treatment)
4. **Inciting event** - "Frying pan into fire"
5. **Desire** - Specific goal (start low, build; detailed treatment)
6. **Ally or allies** - With own desire lines
7. **Opponent and/or mystery** - Must want SAME goal
8. **Fake-ally opponent**
9. **First revelation and decision** - Changed desire/motive
10. **Plan** - Hero's strategy
11. **Opponent's plan and main counterattack** - **Critical often-missing**
12. **Drive** - Development not repetition; immoral steps
13. **Attack by ally** - Confronts immorality
14. **Apparent defeat** - Only ONE
15. **Second revelation and decision** - Obsessive drive; moral decline
16. **Audience revelation** - Knows before hero
17. **Third revelation and decision** - More determined
18. **Gate, gauntlet, visit to death** - Narrow options
19. **Battle** - Values fighting; smallest space
20. **Self-revelation** - Sudden, shattering, through action
21. **Moral decision** - Choose between values
22. **New equilibrium** - Fundamental change

**Note**: Steps 3, 5, and 20 appear both in Step 1 (Frame) as planning overview AND in their sequential positions with full detail.

## Critical Principles

- **Organic plot**: Events causally connected, essential, character-driven (not author-imposed)
- **Same goal**: Opponent must want SAME goal as hero (not just oppose)
- **Step 11 crucial**: Opponent's plan most often missing - more intricate/hidden = better plot
- **Revelations sequence**: Separate from plot; logical order, build intensity, increase pace; target 7-10 for average story
- **Development not repetition**: During drive, action changes fundamentally - don't hit same beat
- **Frame technique**: Start with endpoint (self-revelation) so every step leads there
- **Seven-step foundation**: Ensure seven key steps solid before expanding to twenty-two

## Analysis Approach

**Determine story type:**
- **Forward Development**: New story - work through steps 1-22 systematically, establishing causal connections
- **Reverse Engineering**: Existing draft - identify which steps present/missing, where plot weakens/fragments
- **Plot Diagnosis**: Specific problem - identify weak/missing steps, focus on structural issue

**Length check**: Confirm story long enough for 22 steps. Short stories/sitcoms typically only hit seven major steps. Feature films/novels/hour-long TV need at least twenty-two.

**Foundation check**: Are seven key steps defined? (weakness/need, desire, opponent, plan, battle, self-revelation, equilibrium). If not, story may need seven-step foundation first.

## Quality Checks - Ensure Analysis Covers:

**Frame Connection:**
- Does self-revelation (endpoint) address weakness/need (beginning)?
- Is hero wrong at beginning about what they'll learn at end?

**Opponent Analysis:**
- Does opponent want SAME goal as hero?
- Is this the necessary opponent (best able to attack hero's great weakness)?
- What is hidden about the opponent (iceberg technique)?
- **Step 11**: Is opponent's plan detailed and hidden enough?

**Revelations Sequence:**
- Extract all major revelations as separate list (target: 7-10)
- Do they occur in logical order (hero would learn them)?
- Do they build in intensity (each stronger)?
- Do they increase in pace (closer together as story progresses)?
- How many about opponent? (Best kind)
- Any not explosive enough? Any breaks causing plot to stall?

**Organic Connections:**
- Desire ↔ Opponent: Same goal?
- Opponent ↔ Weakness: Necessary opponent?
- Revelations: Build logically and intensify?
- Drive: Develops vs. repeats same beat?
- Plot: Character-driven vs. author-imposed?
- Causality: All events causally connected? Each essential?

**Structural Completeness:**
- Which steps present and working well?
- Which steps missing or underdeveloped (especially middle)?
- Where does plot fragment or drag (dead middle)?
- Is opponent's plan (Step 11) intricate enough?
- Do revelations build or stall?

## Output Instructions

**IMMEDIATELY return the complete 22-step analysis directly in your response using this structure:**

```markdown
# 22-Step Analysis: [Story Name]

**Story Type**: [Forward Development / Reverse Engineering / Plot Diagnosis]
**Length**: [Appropriate for 22 steps? Short vs feature-length]

## FRAME (Step 1)

*Planning overview combining Steps 20, 3, 5 to establish the overall range of change*

**Self-Revelation (Step 20 - Endpoint)**:
- Psychological: [What hero learns about who they are]
- Moral: [What hero realizes about how they've acted toward others]

**Weakness/Need (Step 3 - Beginning)**:
- Psychological weakness: [Flaw hurting hero themselves]
- Psychological need: [What must overcome]
- Moral weakness: [How hero clearly hurting others]
- Moral need: [What must overcome to stop hurting others]

**Desire (Step 5)**: [Specific goal driving hero; level: survival/revenge/win/achieve/etc.]

**Initial Error**: [What hero wrong about at beginning - cannot learn at end unless wrong at beginning]

## STEPS 2-22

**Step 2 - Ghost/Story World**:
- Ghost: [Past event haunting hero; open wound; counterdesire]
- Story world: [Arena, settings; how expresses hero's weakness]
- Opening type: [Community start / Running start / Slow start]

**Step 3 - Weakness/Need (Detailed)**:
- Psychological weakness: [How inner person is damaged; specific flaw ruining life]
- Psychological need: [What must fulfill for better life]
- Moral weakness: [How hero clearly hurting at least one other person at story start]
- Moral need: [What must overcome to stop hurting others]
- Problem: [Immediate crisis hero faces at beginning; outgrowth of weakness]

**Step 4 - Inciting Event**: [External event causing goal; "frying pan into fire" - hero thinks solves problem but gets into worst trouble]

**Step 5 - Desire (Detailed)**:
- Specific goal: [What hero wants; extends through most of story]
- Starting level: [Where desire begins - should be low to allow building]
- How it builds: [How desire intensifies and stakes increase through story]

**Step 6 - Allies**: [Who helps; their desire lines; how define hero through comparison]

**Step 7 - Opponent**:
- Who: [Character/entity]
- **Opponent's goal**: [Must be SAME goal as hero]
- Values: [How differ from hero's]
- Why necessary: [Best able to attack hero's great weakness]
- What's hidden: [Iceberg opponent hierarchy if applicable]

**Step 8 - Fake-Ally Opponent**: [Who; appears to help but actually opponent; true allegiance]

**Step 9 - First Revelation & Decision**:
- Revelation: [Explosive new info, preferably about opponent]
- Decision: [What hero decides]
- Changed desire: [How goal bends not breaks]
- Changed motive: [Why want it now]

**Step 10 - Plan**: [Hero's strategy to overcome opponent; why will initial plan fail]

**Step 11 - Opponent's Plan & Counterattack**:
- Opponent's strategy: [Detailed]
- Hidden attacks: [List specific attacks opponent has devised]
- Main counterattack: [How sprung on hero as revelation]
- **Note**: More intricate and hidden = better plot

**Step 12 - Drive**: [Series of actions hero performs; ensure development not repetition; immoral steps hero begins taking]

**Step 13 - Attack by Ally**: [How ally confronts hero's immoral actions; hero's justification]

**Step 14 - Apparent Defeat**: [What happens 2/3-3/4 through; why feels devastating; only ONE defeat]

**Step 15 - Second Revelation & Decision**:
- Revelation: [New info showing victory still possible]
- Obsessive drive: [Hero becomes tyrannical]
- Changed desire: [Goal intensifies]
- Moral decline: [Continued immoral actions]

**Step 16 - Audience Revelation**: [What audience learns hero doesn't know; shows true power of opposition; often fake-ally reveal]

**Step 17 - Third Revelation & Decision**: [Hero discovers (often fake-ally truth); becomes more determined]

**Step 18 - Gate/Gauntlet/Visit to Death**: [Conflict intensifies, options narrow; mortality realization spurs fight]

**Step 19 - Battle**:
- Final confrontation: [Where/when; smallest space possible]
- **Values fighting**: [What two sides fighting for - not just who stronger]
- Who wins goal: [Outcome]
- How hero like opponent yet different: [Crucial differences clearer in similarity]
- Theme explosion: [How theme first explodes in audience's mind]

**Step 20 - Self-Revelation (Detailed)**:
- Psychological: [What hero learns about who they really are; seeing themselves honestly]
- Moral: [What hero realizes about how they've acted toward others]
- How shown through action: [Not stated directly; revealed through what hero does]
- Quality: [Sudden, shattering, new - something hero didn't know until this moment]
- Optional double reversal: [Does opponent also have self-revelation? How do they connect? What is moral vision?]

**Step 21 - Moral Decision**:
- Two courses of action: [Choices]
- Values each represents: [What each stands for]
- Hero's choice: [What chosen]
- Proves self-revelation: [How demonstrates what learned]

**Step 22 - New Equilibrium**: [What fundamentally changed; higher or lower level; lasting impact]

## REVELATIONS SEQUENCE

**Total count**: [Number - industry standard: 7-10 for hit films]

| # | Revelation | Source | About Opponent? | Intensity (1-10) | Builds from previous? |
|---|------------|--------|-----------------|------------------|-----------------------|
| 1 | [What learned] | [How/from whom] | [Yes/No] | [#] | N/A |
| 2 | [What learned] | [How/from whom] | [Yes/No] | [#] | [Yes/No - explain] |
| 3 | [What learned] | [How/from whom] | [Yes/No] | [#] | [Yes/No - explain] |
| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... |

**Sequence Assessment**:
- Logical order (hero would learn them): [Yes/No/Mostly - explain]
- Build in intensity: [Yes/No/Mostly - explain; note any drops]
- Increasing pace (closer together): [Yes/No/Mostly - explain]
- Reversals: [Any reversals where understanding changes instantly?]

## ORGANIC CONNECTIONS

**Frame**: Self-revelation addresses beginning weakness/need? [Analysis]

**Desire ↔ Opponent**: Competing for SAME goal? [Yes/No - explain]

**Opponent ↔ Weakness**: Necessary opponent (best able to attack hero's great weakness)? [Analysis]

**Revelations**: Build logically and intensify? [Analysis]

**Drive**: Develops (not repeats same beat)? [Analysis]

**Plot**: Character-driven vs. author-imposed? [Analysis]

**Causality**: All events causally connected? Each essential? [Analysis]

## ASSESSMENT

**Seven-Step Foundation**: [Are seven key steps solid? If not, recommend seven-step skill first]

**Strengths**: [What works well in structure]

**Weaknesses/Missing**:
- Which steps missing/underdeveloped (especially middle)?
- Where plot fragments or drags (dead middle)?
- Step 11 (opponent's plan) detailed enough?
- Revelations build or stall?

**Recommendations**:
- What to work on first?
- Missing connections to strengthen?
- How to fix weak steps?
- Ripple effects of changes?

**Next Steps**:
*Concrete actions to develop this story further*
1. **Scene Outline**: [Key scenes to develop]
2. **Character Details**: [What to flesh out]
3. **Setting/World Research**: [What to explore]
4. **Tone/Voice Samples**: [What to try]
5. **Backstory Expansion**: [What to develop]
```

**CRITICAL - DO NOT:**
- Use bash commands or date command
- Create files or use heredocs
- Execute code or print intermediate drafts
- Ask follow-up questions before providing analysis
- Reference file paths or directories

**Just return the complete filled-in analysis immediately in your response.**

---

*Based on John Truby's 22-Step Story Structure from The Anatomy of Story*

## Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

- **Author:** [scott2b](https://github.com/scott2b)
- **Source:** [scott2b/claude-skills](https://github.com/scott2b/claude-skills)
- **License:** Apache-2.0

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.

## Pricing

- **Free** — Free

## Security capabilities

Automated source analysis of v0.1.0 — what this tool can access:

- **Network access:** no
- **Filesystem access:** no
- **Shell / process execution:** no
- **Environment & secrets:** no
- **Dynamic code execution:** no

*"Yes" means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it is unsafe.*


## Versions

- **0.1.0** — security scan: passed — Imported from the upstream source.

## Links

- Listing page: https://agentstack.voostack.com/l/skill-scott2b-claude-skills-story-structure-22-step-api
- Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/scott2b
- Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse

---
Listed on AgentStack — the marketplace for AI agent skills and MCP servers. Every listing is security-reviewed. Creators keep 70%.