We are Obsessed with the Audience

Why? Because story doesn’t exist without the audience. Regardless of the heart and soul you’ve put into your story, regardless of the hours, months, and even years you’ve spent crafting it—your story doesn’t really live until it connects with an audience.

That’s why we start every Story Code™ analysis with these questions:

Who is your intended audience?
How do you want them to feel at the end of the story?

40 years of Story Code™ research reveals that audiences have a surprisingly predictable emotional response to different kinds of stories. Regardless of personal taste and biases, a general polling of the masses will illicit the same average response to the following kinds of stories:

DRAMA: inspired, triumphant, empowered
Think Hidden Figures, Top Gun Maverick, Wonder Woman

COMEDY: happy, elevated, satisfied
Think Groundhog Day, Everything Everywhere All at Once, The Sandlot

TRAGEDY: sad, contemplative, ennobled
Think Gladiator, Charlotte’s Web, The Fault in our Stars

SATIRE: provoked, amused, sometimes battered
Think: The Sting, Cat in the Hat, Shawshank Redemption

The glorious thing is there are all sorts of variations and hybrids of these four kinds, that an author can literally mix and mingle the elements to get the precise emotional response they want. In addition, there are ways to soften a story, or darken a story to further refine that response.

And the Story Code™ maps it all structurally. It’s simple and simply life changing.

We invite you back for more. In each blog post, we’ll share findings from the Story Code™ research and how it can transform your writing.