John Truby

It would certainly surprise John Truby that I regard him as one of my most influential teachers. There are not many librettists among his students. He is a sought-after story consultant in the film-industry, and his disciples usually become screenwriters. Attending the lessons of Truby's scriptwriting class, Great Sreenwriting, in Los Angeles I've learned a lot about story architecture which I use for my drama musicals. Truby taught me to focus on the hero's "moral" and emotional growth, "moral" standing for his or her relation to other people and the community he lives in. Protagonists, that's the ceterum censeo of this great teacher, have to grow in a meaningful way in a well-told story. The choice the protagonist has to make, typically near the end of the story, betrays your - the writer's - view of the proper way to act in the world. That makes every good story unavoidably a very personal statement of the writer.