Your Hero's Unwritten Diary

Unit 1
Introduction
Page !1 | The Art of Storytelling: Your Hero’s Journey sunyi.co

Exercise 1 Introduce Yourself
Introduce Yourself Go to the “Introductions” thread in the community section of the course and introduce yourself.
1.Tell us your name, where you live, and what you do.
2.What makes you different from others in your field?
3.Your goal for taking this course? What do you hope to accomplish through storytelling?

Unit 2
Finding Your
Story

Exercise 2 Reverse Engineer The Story
Audience Desires 1
Make a list of your audience’s most
common pains and desires. What
problems are they trying to solve? 2
See if there are any myths around these
problems. (i.e. they think cheaper
solution will save them money, but it will 3
cost them more in the long run.)

Exercise 2 Reverse Engineer The Story
Unique Selling Points 1

Write down all of your unique selling
points. What makes you better than
your competition? 2
Think about how your unique selling
point can be the answer to the myths
that your audience believes. (i.e. by 3
paying more and doing it right the first
time, they actually save money)

Exercise 3 Your Unwritten Diary
Your Stories 1
Think about things that happened in
your life that taught you a lesson about
the myths your audience believes. How 2
did you learn the truth?
Try to think of a specific event rather

than a general time period. Include 3
“when", "where", and "with who”.

Exercise 3 Your Unwritten Diary
Find Your Story Go through the 3 lists you made ("Audience Desires”, “Unique Selling Points”, and “Your Stories”)
and find a combination with one item from each list that relates to each other. Write them below.
Audience Desire
Unique Selling Point
Your Story

Exercise 4 Story Structure
1. Hook
Talk about the pain or desires of your
audience. (i.e. “Do you struggle with
___?” or “Imagine one day you ___”.)
Introduce yourself and the story you’re

about to tell them.
2. Premise
This is the beginning of your hero’s
journey. Talk about the the old “you”.
What were you struggling with? What

were some things you were ignoring
and didn’t realize it?

3. Trigger
What's the incident (or series of
incidents) that triggered you to deal with
your struggle?
There should be a clear moment when

you were forced to make a decision or
take an action.

4. Outcome
What was the unexpected outcome of
your decision or action?
5. Lesson
What's the lesson you learned from this
incident? How did it help you in your
career or life?
6. Conclusion
How is the lesson related to your unique
selling point? How does it help your
audience?

Exercise 5 Your First Draft
Your First Draft Write the full story from the 6-part structure in a Word Doc or Google Doc. Make a note of each
part so you know where they begin and end.
Tone of Voice Write the way you talk. See if the tone of voice is consistent with how you talk/write to a close
friend. If not, fix it.
A good way to test this is to say each sentence out loud and ask yourself how your friends would
react. Would they say "that sounds like you” or would they say “why do you sound so proper”.

Unit 3
Being Relatable

Exercise 6 Character Flaw & Conflict
Character Flaw Try to find the internal character flaw in your story. It should be something the “old you” were doing
that the “new you” stops doing by the end of the story. If the character flaw isn’t clear, fix it so it
becomes clear.
Strong Conflict Is there a strong conflict in the Trigger part of the story that confronts your character flaw? A strong
conflict should force you to do something that the “old you” normally wouldn’t do because of the
character flaw. If the conflict isn’t clearly shown in the story, make sure it does.
Remember, at any point during this course, if something doesn't work in your story, it's okay to go
back and come up with a different story. Writing is process of discovering and re-writing.

Exercise 7 Show, Don't Tell
“Show” Examples 1
Think about the struggle in the Premise
part of your story. What are some
examples of things you did that show
the struggle?

Exercise 8 Avoid Cliché
More Examples 1
Try to come up with some more
examples of your struggle that's less
cliche.

Exercise 9 Being Vulnerable
Even More Examples 1

Come up with some more examples
that you feel embarrassed or
uncomfortable to share.

Exercise 9 Vulnerable Story
Add To Premise From the list of examples you came up with, find one (or more) that you think is the most vulnerable
and original. Add it to the Premise part of your story.

Exercise 10 Balancing Humility & Authority
Remove Bragging Read your story and remove any part where you’re bragging or humble-bragging. This includes
talking about your talent, how much people like you, or what kind of college degree or awards you
have.
Demonstrate Expertise In Premise or Trigger part of your story, try to add specific example or statement that demonstrate
your expertise. The goal is to make it believable that you’re an expert by explaining something only
someone with experience would know, but is simple enough that a common person would
understand.
Use Mixed Perspective If there are any general criticisms made in the story, rewrite it in 1st person plural. For example,
instead using 3rd person:
Most people are selfish. They always talk about themselves.

Include yourself in the group:
Most of us are selfish. We always talk about ourselves.
Name Drop At The End Try to add achievements like credentials, reputable clients, or awards in the Lesson part of your
story. Talk about how the lesson helped you with achievements in your career and life.

Unit 4
Storytelling
Techniques

Exercise 11 Building Tension
Spoil The Ending After you introduce yourself in the Hook, you can tell them exactly what's going to happen at the
end of the story. For example: "My name is _____ and here’s a story of how I _____”
Cliffhanger After each part of the story where tension is resolved, add a line that will build tension for the next
paragraph.
The Ticking Clock Is there a ticking clock or a deadline you can impose on your story to create tension? If so, add it
into the story.
Something Unusual Add an unusual scenario in the story. For example, in the Outcome part of my story, I get a text from
my client 2 weeks after the project was complete telling me to come downstairs, which is unusual.
Mystery Gun Is there a mystery gun you can plant earlier in the story that doesn't make sense until it’s resolved
later in the story? If so, add it into your story. For example, earlier in my story I talk about guitars with
my client's husband and later they give me a guitar as a gift.
New Obstacles Try to incorporate a series of obstacles in the story, not just one. As soon as you get over one
obstacle, a new obstacle should be introduced.

Exercise 12 Writing Techniques
Actions Over Thoughts In Trigger and Outcome part your story and look for any sentences that are thoughts or feelings. If
you can, try to rewrite them as actions that demonstrate those thoughts and feelings. Here's an
example of a thought:
Leslie was so nice and accommodating.

And here’s an example of actions that explain that thought:
As soon as I walked in, Leslie greeted me with a big smile and a glass of
homemade lemonade. While I was working, she would often check in and ask “do
you need anything Sun?”
Describe The Environment In Trigger and Outcome part of your story, try to add anything that can bring the audience into the
story by describing the environment. Make them picture the story as it’s happening in their mind.
For example, stead of saying:
I went downstairs and she surprised me with a gift. It was an electric guitar.
Be more descriptive:
It was snowing, but I saw her waiting outside her car with the trunk open. She had
a big smile on her face. I walked over and saw a brand new red Fender Strat inside
a guitar case as she yelled out “surprise!”

Use Dialogues The audience can imagine the character’s personality by showing how they talk. Try to convert any
conversations in the story into a dialogue. For example, instead of describing what they said:
She told me her husband also plays the guitar and asked me if I want to see his
guitar collection.
Put it in dialogue to show how they said it:
With a pleasantly surprised look on her face, she said “my husband also plays the
guitar!” Then she pointed at the door with her thumb and asked “do you wanna
see them?”
Name Characters Try to name any characters in the story to make it more believable. It helps the audience picture
them in their mind and keep track of who said/did what. For example, this can get confusing:
My boss asked my co-worker if it can be done sooner. He said it was possible.

Then he turned to me and started yelling.
Naming them makes it more clear who did what:
My boss Jerry asked my co-worker Dan if it can be done sooner. Dan said it was
possible. Then Jerry turned to me and started yelling.

Use Present Tense When describing actions, try to use present tense. It makes the audience get into the story as if it
was happening now. For example, instead of:
He walked over to my desk, so I looked up at him. Then he said…

Make it present tense:
He walks over to my desk, so I look up at him. Then he says…
Describe Physical Emotions Wherever you can in the story, describe the physical emotions of how things felt in your body. It
brings the audience into the story. For example, instead of just describing how you felt:
I was exhausted. As soon as I sat on the couch, it felt so comfortable and I

couldn’t fight the urge to stay awake.
Try to describe how you felt in your body:
As soon as I sat on the couch, the soft cushions just pulled me in. It felt like a huge
teddy bear was hugging me around my shoulder and neck. I was trying to stay
awake, but my eyelids were getting heavier and heavier.

Dramatic Pause Add pauses in your story through line breaks to control the tempo and build more tension. For
example, here’s a paragraph without any pause:
After being honest about what happened, I thought for sure he was going to fire
me, but then a miracle happened. He said “thank you for being honest with me.”
Here’s the same paragraph with dramatic pause:
After being honest about what happened, I thought for sure he was going to fire
me, but then…
A miracle happened!
He said “thank you for being honest with me.”

Make Lists If you're using series of examples, put it in a list so it's easier to read. A good place to do this would
be in the Hook when you describe audience pain/desires. For example:
Do you want to work with a designer who:
• listen and understand your goals

• actually meets deadlines
• pays attention to details
• most of all, care about your project
Then you might want to hear this story.

Change Perspectives It gets repetitive and boring when everything is written from 1st person point of view, like:
I heard the doorbell ring. I saw him come in. I didn’t panic. I was surprised.
Try to mix between 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person point view:
The doorbell rang. He came in. You might be surprised to hear that I didn’t panic
Change Sentence Lengths Using just short sentences can get boring and monotonous. For example:
I made the zoom function. I spent three nights. I didn’t mind. It was my best work.
She was surprised. It was worth it.
Try to use mix of short, medium, and long sentences to make it interesting:
It was the best website I’ve ever made. It was a masterpiece. I even stayed up
three nights in a row trying to make a magnifying glass zoom function so I can
surprise her. I didn't mind. It was all worth it.

Unit 5
Writing For The
Web

Exercise 13 Headlines
Write Headlines 1
Write headlines you can add throughout
the story to grab people’s attention.
Ideally there should be a headline for 2
each of the 6 part of the story, but it's
not mandatory. Watch Unit 5/Lesson 2
for more tips on how to write catchy
headlines. 3
Test Scannability Read your headlines to see if you get a rough idea of the story from reading only the headlines.

Exercise 14 Test Readability
Cut Anything Unnecessary Cut out anything that doesn’t directly support the story. Don't add anything just to prove a point or
show off how smart you are. For example in this sentence, the first part is just me bragging:
As I mentioned in my storytelling masterclass, write as if you’re talking to a 12-

year old.
It can be cut out altogether:
As I mentioned in my storytelling masterclass, Write as if you’re talking to a 12-

year old.
Read It Out Loud Read the story out loud or have someone read it out loud. Notice where you get stuck with a word
or phrase where you have to go back and re-read it. Re-write those sentences to make it simpler.
For example this sentence is difficult to read:
The realization that I came to was that for whatever reason, I had a tendency to
make my stories unnecessarily long and complicated.
Make it easier to read by simplifying it:
I was making my stories long and complicated

Exercise 14 Test Readability
Write For 7th Graders The average American reads at the 7th grade level. Try to avoid difficult words or long sentences.
Test the reading level of your story by pasting it into Hemingway (https://hemingwayapp.com/). It
will tell you the readability grade level as well as notes on how to improve readability. Try to get the
reading level below Grade 8.
Rinse & Repeat Writing is a process of rewriting. Read your entire story to test readability and keep repeating until
you feel that it's tight as it can get. Try to read from a fresh perspective and see if it makes sense
from a stranger's point of view. We tend to overlook things that are obvious to us, but might not be
for someone without background knowledge.

Final Project
Share Your Story

Exercise 15 Evaluation
Step 1: Self Evaluation The next 3 pages have a Rubric Scoring Guide you can use to evaluate your own writing. Go
through each of the 9 criteria in the guide and give yourself a score, then add up the total score.
Step 2: Share Your Story Go to the Final Project lesson and click "Create your project” to share your story.
Step 3: Peer Evaluation Now read and evaluate stories from other students (at least 3) using the Rubric Scoring Guide. Try
to find stories that have less than 3 comments. Leave them a comment with their score and your
feedback. Try to answer the following questions when leaving your feedback:
• What parts of the story were most relatable?
• What parts of the story kept your attention?
• What areas of the story need improvement?
Self Re-evaluation After you've evaluated 3 stories, come back and re-read your story and re-evaluate it. See if your
evaluation has changed or stayed the same.
Share Your Experience What did you think of the course? Did you accomplish the goal you set in the introduction? What
were some of your favorite lessons? Please share your experience in the review!

Rubric Scoring Guide
4 3 2 1
Excellent Strong Satisfactory Needs Work
Story has a very clear 6-part Story has a very clear Premise, Story has a very clear Premise Premise and Lesson are not
Structure
structure (Hook, Premise, Trigger, Trigger, Outcome, and Lesson. and Lesson. The rest isn’t really really clear.
Outcome, Lesson, Conclusion). The rest isn’t really clear. clear.
Relevance Audience Desire and Selling Selling Point is clear and relevant Audience Desire and Selling Audience Desire and Selling
Point are very clear and are to the story, but Audience Desire Point are not really clear or has Point are not really clear or has
relevant to the story. isn’t really clear. little relevance to the story. no relevance to the story.
Show vs. Tell Premise shows a perfect Premise shows a good example Premise describes the struggle The struggle isn’t really clear in
example of the struggle through of the struggle through actions through adjectives, but doesn’t the Premise.
actions and not just adjectives. and not just adjectives. show an example through
actions.
Originality Example of the struggle is Example of the struggle is Example of the struggle isn’t Example is a cliché that’s been
vulnerable and original. vulnerable, but also kind of vulnerable, but a sob story. used a million times.
Something that everyone thinks cliché.
but no one says.
Writing The story uses all of the 10 The story uses most of the The story uses few of the writing The story doesn’t use any of the
writing techniques (in Unit 4/ writing techniques, but not all. techniques. writing techniques. It doesn’t
Lesson 2) to draw in the reader. draw in the reader.

Rubric Scoring Guide
4 3 2 1
The story constantly raises and Some parts of the story raises The story raises and release The story never raises tension,
Tension
releases tension from start to and releases tension, but is not tension only once (during Trigger not ever during Trigger &
finish. constant from start to finish. & Outcome). Outcome. It’s too predictable.
Readability When reading the story out loud, When reading the story out loud, When reading the story out loud, When reading the story out loud,
you never get stuck on a word or you get stuck on a word or you get stuck on a word or you get stuck on a word or
sentence. sentence about 1 to 3 times. sentence about 4 to 7 times. sentence more than 7 times.
Scannability When scanning the headlines When scanning the headlines When scanning the headlines When scanning the page quickly,
quickly, you get the gist of the quickly, you don’t get the gist of quickly, you get the gist of the you don’t really get the gist of the
story and it makes you want to the story, but it makes you want story, but doesn’t make you want story and it doesn't make you
read the details. to read the details. to read the details. want to read the detail either.
Focus The story supports one single The story supports one single The story has two or more The story is trying to say too
lesson. There are zero lesson, but it can be tighter. lesson. To focus on one lesson, many things and it's hard to
unnecessary words or There are few unnecessary big part of the story can be follow the point of the story.
sentences. words or sentences. removed.

Rubric Scoring Guide: Total Score
31-36 23-30 14-22 9-13

Congratulations! You've You've written a solid story You're almost there. Feel No worries. There’s always
written a hero's journey you can start sharing with free to start telling your room for improvement in
story that’ll have your the world. If you want, you story, but I recommend storytelling. Go back and
audience on the edge of can continue to get going back to the lessons re-work the exercises until
their seats. Go out there feedback and improve your and see what you can apply you get it right.
and start telling your story! story. Great job! to keep improving your
story.

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Unit 1

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Unique Selling Points 1

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Try to think of a specific event rather

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Unique Selling Point

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Introduce yourself and the story you’re

What were you struggling with? What

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There should be a clear moment when

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Even More Examples 1

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Most people are selfish. They always talk about themselves.

Most of us are selfish. We always talk about ourselves.

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Leslie was so nice and accommodating.

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My boss asked my co-worker if it can be done sooner. He said it was possible.

Page !22 | The Art of Storytelling: Your Hero’s Journey sunyi.co

He walked over to my desk, so I looked up at him. Then he said…

He walks over to my desk, so I look up at him. Then he says…

I was exhausted. As soon as I sat on the couch, it felt so comfortable and I

Page !23 | The Art of Storytelling: Your Hero’s Journey sunyi.co

Page !24 | The Art of Storytelling: Your Hero’s Journey sunyi.co

Do you want to work with a designer who:

• listen and understand your goals

Then you might want to hear this story.

Page !25 | The Art of Storytelling: Your Hero’s Journey sunyi.co

Page !26 | The Art of Storytelling: Your Hero’s Journey sunyi.co

Page !27 | The Art of Storytelling: Your Hero’s Journey sunyi.co

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As I mentioned in my storytelling masterclass, write as if you’re talking to a 12-

As I mentioned in my storytelling masterclass, Write as if you’re talking to a 12-

I was making my stories long and complicated

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31-36 23-30 14-22 9-13

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