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StorySaurus Rocks Your Face Off

ByJamie
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When I was in second grade, Ms. George taught us how to write a story. She used the storysaurus. He was a dinosaur with spikes on his back. Each spike represented a chapter, and his whole body represented the story’s main plot. I fell instantly in love with storysaurus, and I still use him to this day.

And, because I love you–and because you probably have no idea what I’m talking about… I made you a little drawing:

(If you click the drawing, it should show you a larger version)

The thing about storysaurus is that he makes it super fun to plot stories, for kids, grownups, best selling authors, you know– the usual. 🙂

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52 Comments

  1. My dinos are thrilled to meet the storysaurus. They get their whole evolution so much better now. The day I figured out I could teach adult writers the same way I taught kids, it was like we got the dinos off our backs and played with them instead. I’ll share this with them. Check out PLOT & STRUCTURE by James Scott Bell for more ways to look at story arc. Thanks for this delightful post, and thanks to fun-cartoon-guy Dana Sullivan for leading me here.

    Reply

  2. I clicked over here from Heather Mc Corkle, and I have to say I LOVE this storysaurus. I have three boys in school and I have NEVER heard of this! Even I could understand this concept, and I think I’ll use this from now on.

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  4. Oh, I’m working on an outline now and I just saw this.

    As far as notes I just keep a long google doc of crazy, but for the “outline” I’ve been mostly following the Hero’s Journey and I use an actual outline in google docs.

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  7. Storysaurus is rockstar kind of awesome! I plot, all old school with pen and paper but I have nothing as cool as Storysaurus (why is there a deep male voice with an echo saying that in my head every time I read it?). Anyway, I just write notes, lots of notes…never ending notes. Fleshing out ideas, working on plot points, researching details, etc.

    It’s so bad that the hubs bought me a livescribe pen so I can load my notes into the computer and search them to make it easier to use the endless notes once I actually start to write.
    .-= Rhonda Cowsert´s last blog ..Incompetence is NOT An Art Form! =-.

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    1. @Rhonda Cowsert, see, I type SO much faster than I type that would never work for me 🙂

      But yes… that’s EXACTLY how you are supposed to say storysaurus…

      Reply

  8. OMG! Storysaurus is awesome. I still use various techniques from grade school, including ‘bunny ears’ to tie my shoes. *blush*
    .-= marybeth @ http://www.babygoodbuys.com´s last blog ..Printable Aveeno Coupon: Save $3 on 2 Aveeno Baby Essential Moisture Shampoo =-.

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  9. Plot? What’s that? LOL…no really though…I plot in my head mostly and in note form on my computer. Maybe storysaurus would help!? considering it….This post was awesome! Read it to hubs! Thanks! 😀
    .-= Melony´s last blog ..Help me, Help you! =-.

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    1. @Melony, haha I’m so glad he liked it. It’s always good when the hubses get to hear my post 🙂

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  12. Wow. My friend, you are one of a kind.

    I don’t outline. I don’t plot. The most I’ve done is make a timeline during the writing of what has happened already so I have a visual of where I currently am, but not where I am going.

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  13. Cafe Press is calling! StorySaurus should be on a t-shirt. He’s awesome! Plus, I kinda want a framed print of him in my office.
    .-= Shelli Cornelison´s last blog ..Sara Crowe: An Agent’s Perspective =-.

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  14. This is awesome! My students and I just did story-plotting and mapping to pictures like this. But I never thought of doing it for myself when I write! You are so cute. 🙂

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  17. I’ve never outlined before, but I have to say that a dinosaur might inspire me to do so. I think I might have to have a wall-sized drawing though…maybe I could paint something like a mural and use post-it notes to label the spikes for each new story! My husband would love that!

    – Liz
    .-= Liz Czukas´s last blog ..Teaser Tuesday – February 23, 2010 =-.

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  18. I love this. I may “steal” it from you. I’m a little confused at the climax being so far from the end. Seems like a lot of stuff after we solve all the problems. Or am I just totally confused???

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  19. Ya know, I always call my WIP outline a “story skeleton.”

    Now I’m thinking I should just blow it up like “the leg bone’s connected to the thigh bone, the protag’s connected to the…”
    .-= @jmartinlibrary´s last blog ..Flawless =-.

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  20. Dude. I love you. This is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. I think.

    I don’t usually outline until I’ve got about a third of my first draft done. And even then, I mostly just make a list of things I want to happen. Part of the reason for this is that I rarely write my stories/novels in the order of how they happen. I’ll get blocked writing chapter seven, so I’ll go and work on the climax. I’ll be bored with my character in chapter 9, so I’ll get to the part where I kill him off in the end. Etc. I keep telling myself I should outline, but it just hasn’t happened for me yet. The storysaurus, tho…this could be the start of a whole new Emily.
    .-= E. Kristin Anderson (Emily)´s last blog ..Distractions are my friend. That’s what I’ll keep telling myself. =-.

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  21. This is awesome! I laughed so hard I almost spit coffee out my nose! Then I looked at it and realized it’s a really good way to outline! Me, I do it the old fashioned way with roman numerals & all that boring stuff. I like your way much better!

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  22. Outlines are evil… and not in the good way.

    I basically keep an ideas file, which is where I say things like:

    “Someday you’re going to have to explain what that cryptic comment in chapter 3 means, so figure it out.”

    or

    “Right after she’s attacked by the killer hippopotamus, it’s totally time for some making out. Pick a boy, any boy.”

    But I don’t outline. Ever.

    I did write a synopsis of book 2 before I started… now that I’m 50k words into the book, that synopsis is FULL OF LIES.

    (I cannot be trusted.)
    .-= HWPetty´s last blog ..Cupcake Day: The most holy of holidays =-.

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    1. @HWPetty, haha I am the same way. That’s what I love about the saurus. Some day I want to get a giant magnetic one then I can get dry erase humps, and write on them and move them all around as needed… this is my dream outline.
      .-= Jamie´s last blog ..StorySaurus Rocks Your Face Off =-.

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  23. Hahaha! That is SO awesome. I might have to make a StorySaurus for my next book just so I can say things like, “yeah, of course I outline, I write it all on a giant picture of a dinosaur.”

    StorySaurus is EPIC. And, really, it does show where rising action and the such should be. So. totally legit also!
    .-= Rachel´s last blog ..Things =-.

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  25. I do a combination of methods I’ve gleaned from all over.

    There’s StoryFix’s four acts:
    Set-Up
    React
    Act
    Resolve

    There’s Jim Butcher’s Dominoes.
    Throw the dominoes on table.
    (Turning Pt1 I)
    Stand up the Dominoes
    Mid-point – knock em over
    Watch em fall.

    There’s I forget where I got it of the Not-Arc Arc.
    The story-line of equilibrium – up to turning pt one takes you way above the line, tp1 sends you crashing far below, then from there you climb up above the line again, last turning pt points you back to the line, and you end up at a new, better, slightly higher equilibrium. (It looks better drawn.)

    Um. Yah.
    .-= Jess´s last blog ..ROSEMARY AND RUE, Seanan McGuire =-.

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