Story Mechanics

35 posts

Story Mechanics make the product or message drive what happens next. Instead of sitting passively in the story, the feature sets events in motion, creates tension, unlocks change or becomes the reason the plot matters at all.

Awkward & Uncomfortable

Nobody wants to go there. So go there.

7 min read

Disloyalty

Fidelity is overrated. Build the affair instead.

6 min read

Anger

Don't calm them down. Point them somewhere to vent purposefully.

6 min read

Conspiracy & Superstition

Rational people are irrational. Build around It.

6 min read

Wordplay Metaphors

The brief was there all along. It was just hiding in the language.

5 min read

Social Death by Embarrassment

People will tolerate risk. They will not tolerate being 'that' person.

4 min read

Catastrophic Consequences

The bad decision doesn't need to be likely. It just needs to be vivid.

4 min read

Own Worst Enemy

The most effective villain in advertising is the one in the mirror.

5 min read

Reframe the Battle

The product isn't the hero. The fight is.

3 min read

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