Science of Storytelling Skill (Will Storr)

Mode Detection

Determine mode before doing anything else:

• Write mode: User wants to CREATE narrative copy (founder story, About page, brand origin, case study, long-form hook, character-driven blog opener).
• Audit mode: User wants to EVALUATE existing narrative against Storr's framework.

If the user is asking for a homepage, ad, one-liner, or scan-first marketing surface, stop and recommend the storybrand skill instead. This skill is for narrative engagement, not direct-response structure.

WRITE MODE

Step 1: Build the Sacred Flaw worksheet (REQUIRED — never skip)

Read references/sacred-flaw.md for the full 8-step worksheet with sentence stems and examples.

If character/brand context is already known in this session, fill in the worksheet from context and only ask when an answer cannot be confidently determined. Otherwise, ask each question. Record all answers before writing any copy.

Who is the "character"? In business storytelling the character is usually:

• Founder narrative / About page → the founder
• Case study → the customer
• Brand origin → the founder OR the brand's first customer
• Blog hook / long-form sales → either a named protagonist or the reader themselves

The Sacred Flaw approach applies the same way regardless. Pin down ONE character before drafting.

Worksheet steps to complete:

1. STARTING POINT — milieu, what-if, argument, or character
2. SACRED FLAW — the flawed theory of control they have made identity-defining
3. ORIGIN DAMAGE — the specific childhood/early-career scene that built the flaw
4. PERSONALITY — Big Five lens; what version of the self emerges
5. HERO-MAKER MOMENT — when the flaw worked; the "superpower" scene
6. CHARACTERISTIC WORLD — what the flaw gives them; what they fear losing
7. STORY EVENT — the real-world happening that overwhelms the flaw
8. PLOT (5 acts) — This is me, it's not working → Is there another way? → I have transformed → Can I handle the pain? → Who am I going to be?

Step 2: Apply to the Output Surface

Read references/surfaces.md for the full applications and templates (it also has a per-surface effort-budget table — worksheet + drafting time by surface).

Available surfaces:

• Founder narrative / About page — flaw → ignition → transformation arc
• Case study — customer as flawed hero; product as agent of change
• Brand origin story — the founder's sacred flaw that produced the company
• Blog hook / long-form opener — change in the first sentence, curiosity gap, dramatic question
• Long-form sales page — reader-as-hero, theory of control breaking, "God moment" close

Step 3: Engineer for the brain

Read references/craft-rules.md for the line-level rules:

• Open with change (or its threat) inside the first sentence
• Curiosity gap — pose puzzle, plant evidence someone knows
• Filmic word order (subject → verb → object), active voice
• Three specific sensory qualities per object (show, don't tell)
• "Because" between scenes, never "and then"
• Describe environment to describe character

AUDIT MODE

Read references/audit-checklist.md for the full checklist.

For each failed item: state what specifically is broken, quote the offending copy, and suggest the exact fix.

If the user wants a numeric score, read references/scoring.md.

Troubleshooting

User can't identify the sacred flaw. Walk them through the sentence stems in references/sacred-flaw.md (e.g. "The thing people most admire about me is…", "I'm only safe when I…"). The flaw is whichever answer immediately suggests a suite of behaviours.

User skips the worksheet and wants narrative directly. Do not skip it. Say: "I need 5 minutes of Sacred Flaw answers first — otherwise the story has no engine. Let's go fast." Then ask only what can't be inferred from context.

Character feels flat after drafting. They have no flaw, or the flaw is too generic. Storr: "You'll know when you have it because you'll feel your character lurch alive in your imagination." If you don't feel that, the flaw is wrong.

The arc feels rushed. Probably skipped Act IV (the pain of change). Without it the transformation reads as unearned.

Customer copy: should the brand be the hero? No. In every business application the customer (or founder-as-customer-of-their-own-vision) is the hero. The product is the agent that breaks or rebuilds their theory of control. Storr and StoryBrand agree on this. Brand-as-hero kills the story.

Conflict with the storybrand skill. They don't conflict — they layer. StoryBrand structures the marketing surface. Storytelling deepens character and arc inside that structure. If asked to choose, use StoryBrand for scan-first surfaces (homepage, ad, one-liner) and Storytelling for read-first surfaces (founder story, About, case study, long-form).

Pairing with other skills

• the storybrand skill for marketing structure (homepage, one-liner, email, CTA, plan). Run first if both apply.
• the ann-handley skill for voice and quality polish on the draft Storytelling produces.

Typical pipeline for long-form: the storytelling skill (character + arc) → the ann-handley skill (voice + line-edits) → the storybrand skill only if the piece also has to convert.

Examples

Write mode — founder narrative: User: "Use Science of Storytelling to write our founder's About page." Skill: Fills Sacred Flaw worksheet from context → identifies flaw ("I'm only safe when I out-work everyone"), origin damage scene, hero-maker moment, the story event that broke the flaw → drafts About page with change in the first sentence, theory of control front and center, transformation arc that ends in the "God moment" of the company's founding.

Write mode — case study: User: "Write a case study about how our pest control service helped a Phoenix homeowner." Skill: Customer = hero with sacred flaw ("A good host has a perfect house"). Ignition point = pest sighting at a dinner party. Acts I-V map to the engagement timeline. Product appears as the agent that lets the customer rebuild their theory of control on healthier terms.

Audit mode: User: "Audit this About page against Storr." Skill: Loads audit-checklist.md → runs each check → "Opening FAIL — 'Founded in 2014' has no change. Rewrite to open with the moment something broke. Flaw check FAIL — founder is described only by virtues. Storr: a character's value is in their imperfections. Add the flaw that made the company necessary."

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