# Story Structure Myth Distilled

> Analyze and develop mythic story structure using John Truby's Myth genre framework to create epic journeys with world-building, symbolic resonance, and themes of destiny/immortality. Token-optimized distilled version.

- **Type:** Skill
- **Install:** `agentstack add skill-scott2b-claude-skills-story-structure-myth-distilled`
- **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-myth-distilled

## Install

```sh
agentstack add skill-scott2b-claude-skills-story-structure-myth-distilled
```

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

## About

# Story Structure: Myth Genre (Distilled)

**PRIMARY DELIVERABLE: Creates timestamped reference documents saved to files.**

Analyzes and develops Myth structure using John Truby's framework from *The Anatomy of Genres* chapter 4. Myth tracks the development of the self over a lifetime through a physical journey that manifests inner change.

## Purpose

Myth is the essential mind in story form, the first Story Code. **Key insight:** Life is a journey to understand oneself. **Immortality is the central theme.**

Creates: detailed story worlds, Great Chain of Being character hierarchies, journey maps with symbolic elements, and tracks external journey = internal change.

## When to Invoke

For stories with:
- Epic journeys where hero discovers destiny
- Elaborate world-building (fantasy, sci-fi, superhero)
- Life process from birth to death to rebirth
- Themes of destiny, immortality, self-questioning
- Gods, supernatural beings, hierarchical character types
- Ecological balance between nature and technology

**Prerequisites:** Basic structure (7 or 22 steps) should exist. This skill layers Myth-specific elements.

## The Myth View

**Mind-Action:** Life is a journey to understand oneself. The hero encounters opponents on a journey that exposes their deeper self, leading to self-revelation and rebirth.

**Key Principle:** Every landmark in the external journey must be a physical manifestation of inner change.

**Theme:** Being is self-questioning and a search for destiny. Immortality (literal or through legacy) is the main theme.

## Bundled Resources

**References:**
- `references/myth-steps-distilled.md` - Myth story steps and variations

**Assets:**
- `assets/myth-analysis-template.md` - Comprehensive analysis template

## Task Instructions

### Step 1: Establish Output Location

**In Claude Code:**
1. Get date: `date +%Y-%m-%d`
2. Ask where to save (suggest `structure/`)
3. Filename: `YYYY-MM-DD-[story-name]-myth-structure.md`

**In Claude Desktop/Web:**
- Note output as markdown artifact
- Remind user to save with timestamped filename

### Step 2: Understand Story Context

Ask which story to analyze. Search project files if in Claude Code.

Understand if this is:
- New mythic story needing structure
- Existing draft with world-building issues
- Genre diagnosis

**Genre check:** Confirm Myth characteristics:
- Physical journey, circular return home
- Story world/natural world prominent
- Destiny/immortality theme
- Character hierarchy (not just humans)

### Step 3: Assess Basic Structure Foundation

Check if 7 key steps or 22 steps are established (weakness/need, desire, opponent, plan, battle, self-revelation, new equilibrium).

**If undefined:** Strongly recommend using story-structure-7-steps or story-structure-22-step first.

**Myth steps enhance, don't replace, basic structure.**

### Step 4: Determine Myth Variation

**Male Myth (Warrior Journey):**
- Linear plot (hunt/quest)
- Warrior/searcher hero
- Violent battle ending
- Values: divide and conquer
- Shame culture
- Sword talisman

**Female Myth (Cyclical Growth):**
- Circular plot (agricultural cycle)
- Multiple rebirths
- Non-violent problem-solving
- Values: combine and grow
- Guilt culture
- Non-violent talisman (seeds, shoes)
- Good witches, female power celebrated

**Hybrid:** Elements of both

**Transcendent:** Creation Myth/Female Myth primary focus/Ecological Myth

Ask which variation fits the story.

### Step 5: Build Story World (MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENT)

**Key Point:** Story world is the most important element in Myth. Spend the most time here.

**Seven steps for creating story world:**

**1. Define Arena**
- Unified place with boundary
- Multiple subworlds within

**2. Land-People-Technology Interaction**
- **LAND:** Natural settings (forests, rivers, mountains, deserts, oceans, etc.)
- **PEOPLE:** Society, culture, man-made spaces (castles, villages, cities)
- **TECHNOLOGY:** Tools (animal, magical, mechanical, digital)
- What unique combination?

**3. Set Up Value Oppositions**
- Hero's values vs Opponent's values
- What they're fighting over (deepest level)

**4. Create Subworlds Based on Values**
- **Utopia:** Land-people-technology in balance = community (freedom, growth, hero's rise)
- **Dystopia:** Out of balance = harsh predatory world (slavery, hero's weaknesses)

**5. Define Social System**
- Hierarchy of power
- Rules of operation
- How system traps individuals
- How culture justifies system

**6. Define Technology and Magic System**
- Primary tools
- Magic powers, who has them, limits, how acquired, can they be terminated
- **Key:** More magic power = less vulnerable = less useful to story

**7. Determine World Development**
- Begin with world of slavery (expresses hero's weakness)
- How does world change as hero changes?
- End state: utopia achieved/restored, balance, or tragic failure

### Step 6: Create Character Web

**Great Chain of Being:**
Design hierarchy of beings (gods, angels, superheroes, heroes, kings, nobles, commoners, animals, plants, minerals). Doesn't require all levels but needs detailed hierarchy placing humans within natural world.

**Archetypes** (with essential strength and shadow):
- **Warrior:** Enforcer of right / Kill or be killed
- **Searcher:** Questioning, self-improvement / Purposeless
- **Teacher:** Spreads knowledge / Forces thinking
- **Rebel:** Acts against enslaving system / Provides no alternative
- **Trickster:** Defeats unjust power / Lies, cheats, steals

**For each major character:**
- Archetype and unique twist
- Strength and shadow
- Level in Great Chain

**Hero = Searcher** on dangerous physical journey

**For Female Myth:**
- Female-dominated world
- Good witches (celebrating female power)
- Non-traditional allies
- Male ally as fake but useful

### Step 7: Work Through Myth Story Steps

Layer these Myth-specific steps onto basic structure:

**1. Ghost—Difficult Birth/Rebirth**
- Begin with birth or rebirth of hero
- Loss of father/mother

**2. Weakness-Need—Becoming a Hero**
- Hero needs to become heroic (not conscious desire)

**3. Inciting Event—Talisman**
- Object with unknown power
- Expresses hero's identity/destiny

**4. Desire—Journey and Destiny**
- Goal embedded within hero (what born to do)
- Journey has specific end point
- Circular form (returns home)
- **Meander plot shape:** Winding path, many successive opponents

**5. Allies—Wise Old Man/Woman**
- Companions, including Teacher archetype
- What they lack that journey reveals they have

**6. Opponent—Successive Strangers**
- Strangers met in succession (creates episodic challenge)
- Each challenges different aspect of weakness
- **Techniques to overcome episodic structure:**
  - Each defeat = mini self-revelation
  - Family Trip (family comes along)
  - Ongoing main opponent
  - Iceberg opponent (hidden hierarchy)

**7. Drive—Symbolic Objects**
- External symbols mean something within hero
- Symbolic characters (animals, machines, devil)
- Symbolic paths (journey, labyrinth, ladder)
- Symbolic objects (tree, cross, shadow, talismans)
- Symbolic places (underworld, garden)

**8. Revelation—Opponents Attack**
- Hero learns about each opponent's attack method
- Creates unique plans
- Mini self-revelations

**9. Gate, Gauntlet, Visit to Underworld**
- Conflict intensifies, options narrow
- Hero faces mortality, sees ancestors/future
- Spurs to action

**10. Battle**
- **Male Myth:** Big violent battle
- **Female Myth:** Non-violent problem-solving
- Values fighting, not just strength

**11. Self-Revelation—Public/Cosmic**
- **Public:** Learns identity as king/chosen leader
- **Cosmic:** Moral vision of how society should exist
- Must be detailed and specific

**12. New Equilibrium—Outgrow the Code**
- Returns home changed
- Spiritually reborn
- In tune with destiny and natural forces
- Often marries/remarries

### Step 8: Map the Journey

Track journey as specific map:
- Starting point (home)
- Major stops with subworlds visited
- Revelations at each stop (target: 7-10 for average Myth)
- Goal destination
- Return home (if circular)

**Verify revelations:**
- Build in logical order
- Increase in intensity
- Increase in pace toward end
- Most about opponent

### Step 9: Assess Transcendent Possibilities (Optional)

**Creation Myth / Origin Story:**
- Tracks culture/character development
- Individual growth mirrors cultural growth
- Establishes moral code for society

**Female Myth (Primary Focus):**
- Multiple rebirths throughout
- Female-dominated world
- Combine and grow emphasized
- Examples: *Wizard of Oz*, *Avatar*, *Arrival*

**Ecological Myth:**
- Nature vs technology
- Hero transforms technological to natural
- Final rebirth combines both
- Balance or defeat (Machine in the Garden)

### Step 10: Assess Organic Connections

Verify connections:
- Story World ↔ Weakness
- Talisman ↔ Identity
- Journey ↔ Internal Change
- Opponents ↔ Weakness
- Symbols ↔ Theme
- Self-Revelation ↔ Community
- New Equilibrium ↔ Rebirth

### Step 11: Provide Analysis and Recommendations

**For new stories:** Which elements need development? Is story world detailed enough? Is character hierarchy established?

**For existing drafts:** Which steps present/missing? Is journey episodic or building? Are symbolic elements consistent?

**For diagnosis:** Is this truly Myth? Which variation? What would strengthen mythic elements?

### Step 12: Save Documentation (REQUIRED)

**MANDATORY: Task incomplete until file saved.**

**In Claude Code:**
1. Create directory: `mkdir -p structure`
2. Write file: `YYYY-MM-DD-[story-name]-myth-structure.md`
3. Use `assets/myth-analysis-template.md` format
4. Offer supplementary docs if needed
5. Confirm file path to user

**Validation Checklist:**
- [ ] Date obtained
- [ ] Save location confirmed
- [ ] Analysis completed
- [ ] File written
- [ ] File path confirmed

**In Claude Desktop/Web:**
- Create as markdown artifact
- Remind user to save with timestamped filename
- Offer to explore specific elements

## Important Reminders

- **Story World is paramount** - Most important element, spend most time here
- **Layer on basic structure** - Myth steps enhance 7/22 steps, don't replace them
- **Male vs Female matters** - Affects almost every step
- **Great Chain of Being** - Create hierarchy, not just human characters
- **Physical = Internal** - External journey manifests internal journey
- **Circular journey** - Hero returns home to discover what was always within
- **Symbolic language** - Everything has meaning connected to hero's internal state
- **Immortality theme** - Destiny, legacy runs through all Myth
- **Opponents challenge weaknesses** - Each targets different aspect
- **Public and cosmic** - Self-revelation larger than personal
- **Avoid episodic structure** - Use techniques to prevent "same step" repetition

## Integration with Other Skills

- **story-structure-7-steps** - Establishes foundation; Myth builds on it
- **story-structure-22-step** - For complex Myths, use 22 steps first
- **symbol-web** - Deepens symbolic elements inherent in Myth
- **narrative-inventory** - Shows if genre elements present
- **narrative-keywords** - Identifies themes of destiny, immortality

---

*Based on John Truby's "Myth: The Life Process" from The Anatomy of Genres. Token-optimized distilled version that leverages semantic knowledge of Truby's framework.*

## 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-myth-distilled
- Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/scott2b
- Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse

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