About GriotsWell
Discovery and Sharing of the World's Diverse Storytelling
The Problem
For 80 years, writers worldwide have learned the same structures: Hero's Journey. Three-Act. Save the Cat. Dan Harmon's Story Circle. Blake Snyder's Beat Sheet. All brilliant. All useful. All LINEAR.
Story structure education has been dominated by a single architectural approach—linear time progression, conflict-driven escalation, individual transformation—while the world's narrative wisdom remained locked behind academic research, language barriers, and institutional gatekeeping.
The Discovery
After 400+ hours of research per structure, we discovered something that changed everything: Story structures are architecturally diverse.
Anansi Web Pattern
West African Akan tradition, 2,000+ years. WEB ARCHITECTURE where every thread connects. Multiple storylines weave simultaneously. Pattern completion, not dramatic peak.
Griot Performance Cycle
West African Mandé tradition, 800+ years. SPIRAL TIME where past and present exist simultaneously. Ancestors present in the performance. Cyclical causality, not sequential plot.
Ancient Egyptian Ma'at
5,000+ years. BALANCE-SEEKING architecture. Chaos disrupts cosmic order → trials → order restored. Restoration, not triumph.
Aboriginal Songlines
65,000+ years. GEOGRAPHIC MAPPING where land is the narrative. Sacred sites as story beats. Physical journey = spiritual journey = story structure.
These aren't variations of Hero's Journey. These are fundamentally different architectural systems.
Web patterns. Spiral time. Balance-seeking. Geographic mapping. Cyclical calendars. World-turning. Network storytelling.
Not better or worse than linear structures. DIFFERENT ARCHITECTURES for different stories.
The Research
Every structure on GriotsWell represents 400+ hours of dedicated research.
Not 400 hours total. 400+ hours PER STRUCTURE.
Source-based research: Original tradition texts, ethnographic studies from cultural researchers, oral tradition recordings, academic papers from cultural scholars, historical context from origin traditions.
Not derivative research: Not Western interpretations, not colonial anthropology, not secondhand scholarship, not AI-generated summaries.
Authentic preservation: Direct engagement with source materials, respect for cultural context, proper attribution, educational framing.
What Makes Us Different
400+ Hours Per Structure: Not surface-level summaries. Deep research ensuring authenticity.
Source-Based Research: Direct engagement with original traditions, not colonial interpretations.
Architectural Diversity: We teach that story structures use fundamentally different architectures—not variations of the same formula.
Educational Mission: Technology serving preservation, education, and global access to narrative wisdom.
Respectful Approach: Cultural context included. Proper attribution. No appropriation.
Our Vision
"Building technology that honors the world's storytelling traditions."
Every culture's narrative wisdom deserves recognition. Every storyteller deserves access to architectural diversity. Every story deserves the structure that fits its DNA.