STORY ARCHITECTURE ACADEMY
Watch stories get built from the blueprint up
Each episode demonstrates one architectural framework β the blueprint stage, the drafting stage, and the finished story. Free on YouTube. Organized by architecture type so you can go directly to the tradition that fits your work.
Not sure where to start?
The Idea Wizard asks five questions about your story β characters, conflict type, emotional core, community role, and how time moves β and recommends the architecture types most likely to serve your narrative. Free, no account required, takes about 10 minutes.
Start the Idea Wizard βTHE CURRICULUM
9 Architecture Types Β· Episodes organized by type
Each architecture type has its own episode block. When episodes are live, they appear with the embedded video and companion resources. Until then, each block shows what's coming and links to the architecture hub page where you can explore the tools now.
The Western standard β and the foundation for the discovery. Hero's Journey, Three-Act, Save the Cat. All the same architecture. Understanding this is the first step.
Episode 1: Rising Crisis Structure β "Open for Business"
The linear rising crisis structure built from scratch. Blueprint first, then the complete demo story alongside it.
Episode 2: Romantic Arc β "Santa XXXIV"
Linear romantic arc structure. How desire, obstacle, crisis, and union become a complete architectural blueprint.
The Griot tradition. Narrative that circles through the same territory at deeper levels each pass. Memory, community, and time layered onto each other.
Episode 3: Pachakuti Cycle β "The First Franchise"
Spiral and cyclical architecture demonstrated through a complete demo story. The world-overturning structure in practice.
The Anansi tradition. Stories that spread outward, connecting character to consequence to community wisdom. The web reveals its shape through accumulation.
Anansi Web Pattern β Episode Coming
How interconnection replaces causality. Building a story where the web is the structure.
Pachakuti, Medicine Wheel, Mayan Calendar. Time as a wheel. Stories that complete a cycle and overturn the world. The ending is also a beginning.
Cyclical Architecture β Episodes Coming
The Andean, Indigenous American, and Mesoamerican cyclical traditions in practice.
Ma'at. The goal is not victory β it is restoration of cosmic order. The antagonist is corruption, not evil. Resolution is healing, not triumph.
Balance Architecture β Episodes Coming
Ancient Egyptian Ma'at and the restoration tradition in practice.
Songlines. Polynesian Navigation. Location is not setting β it is plot. To move through the landscape is to move through the story.
Geographic Architecture β Episodes Coming
The Aboriginal Australian Songline and Polynesian Navigation traditions in practice.
Vision Quest. The protagonist tries, fails, learns, and tries again. Wisdom earned through iteration, not seized through force.
Multi-Trial Architecture β Episodes Coming
Vision Quest and Animal Spirit Guide traditions in practice.
Arabian Nights. Every narrative event is a transaction. Survival through wit, cunning, and the art of keeping the exchange alive.
Negotiation Architecture β Episodes Coming
Arabian Nights Nesting and the exchange tradition in practice.
KishΕtenketsu. Ma. No antagonist. No rising conflict. Tension from surprise and the pleasure of unexpected connection.
KishΕtenketsu β Episodes Coming
The Japanese four-act structure and Ma principle in practice.