Leon Conrad

‘Story and Structure: A complete guide’ is a handbook for anyone interested in writing and  storytelling. It tells the untold story of what makes a story, a ‘story’. Conrad describes his approach, which is based on six primary symbols (inspired by Professor George Spencer-Brown’s book ‘Laws of Form’), as a simple, visual way to analyse and compare different story  structures. The six symbols approach is a useful way to understand how story works, how  and why structures differ, and why story is a much wider phenomena than most people  understand. It has the potential to help us not only understand stories better, but also to understand ourselves better. He provides examples of 18 distinct story structures, some well-known and some less well known, from across different cultures and eras (from the earliest written records to the present day). Conrad describes the methodology of the  approach and applies it to different story structures, as well as describing the implications for the approach, and how the methodology can be applied in the practice of writing, from poetry to creative writing, teaching and anthropology.  

‘Story and Structure: A complete guide’ by Leon Conrad is a comprehensive, well-researched and insightful handbook. The book is well structured, and easy to read and understand. This book will help readers appreciate the importance of story structure, and will help anyone to  write better stories. It is an essential read for anyone interested in writing and storytelling, 

including writers, storytellers, teachers, poets, and readers.  

I really wish I had read this book ten years ago, when I started my own writing journey. 

Star rating: 5 Stars   

Summary: A fascinating insight into how story works, which will help readers appreciate  the importance of story structure.