Storyworthy

Thirty-six-time Moth StorySLAM champion Matthew Dicks demonstrates that everyone can and should be a storyteller, teaching that all great stories tell of a five-second moment in a person's life brought to greatest clarity. The book introduces "Homework for Life" (five daily minutes identifying the most storyworthy moment and recording it) and emphasizes that stories require transformation—without change, you only have an anecdote. Dicks challenges the notion that only extraordinary events make good stories, showing that the best stories often have small, subtle shifts of perspective like realizations while stuck in traffic or small mistakes teaching valuable lessons.

8 sections · 31 lessons

Course outline

Story Fundamentals

  1. Five-Second Heart
  2. Architecture
  3. Transformation
  4. Story Fundamentals

Finding Stories

  1. Daily Reflection
  2. Storytelling Lens
  3. Crash & Burn
  4. Four Questions
  5. Finding Stories

Story Structure

  1. Begin Opposite
  2. Stakes Matter
  3. Dinner Test
  4. Heart Endings
  5. Story Structure

Building Suspense

  1. The Elephant
  2. Elephant Transformation
  3. The Backpack
  4. Breadcrumbs
  5. The Hourglass
  6. Crystal Balls
  7. Building Suspense

Crafting Techniques

  1. But & Therefore
  2. Physical Space
  3. Present Tense
  4. Surprise
  5. Contrast
  6. Crafting Techniques

Truthful Storytelling

  1. Five Permissible Lies
  2. Applying Liberties
  3. Omission
  4. Truthful Storytelling

Authentic Delivery

  1. Vulnerability
  2. Not Theater
  3. Cinema Mind
  4. Authentic Delivery

Common Mistakes

  1. No Spoilers
  2. Avoid Pitfalls
  3. Vacation Stories
  4. Common Mistakes

Start learning with Wondering