Welcome. Let’s think of story as a bridge.

You have something you’d like to express to your audience–an idea, a cause, or a product–and story is your bridge to carry them into your way of understanding. Story is the bridge that can carry them across the divide and to the other shore.

However, a bridge won’t be helpful if it isn’t structurally sound. If the construction isn’t well thought out, if it isn’t intentional in how the elements come together, or if it’s simply missing critical elements–well, then your audience will either fall off halfway through or they’ll take one look at your bridge and head the other direction.

The foundation of story, how you’ll build your bridge, is with the 4 Pillars: People, Places, Purpose, and Plot. While they seem simple at first glance, as we go deeper, we’ll uncover an incredible depth in each one.

Once we understand the foundation on which story is built–each Pillar, its role, and how to maximize it in your story–well, then you’re able to craft the strongest story with whatever constraints you find yourself with.

If you get stuck or have some questions, you have a few options. First, your Muse Guides are here to help ensure everything clicks. The best part is that you can message them directly from right inside the course. Just check out the bottom right of your screen. Clicking there will connect you to a real human. :)

There are also discussions at the bottom of each page. If you have a more involved question about the course content, that’s a great place to post it. Chances are, if you’re trying to figure something out, or you have an idea about how to apply the concept, it will also be of huge value to another member of our community.

What to Expect

We expect the entire course to take you roughly a dozen hours to complete. The key to deeper learning, though, is to make sure that you don’t simply remember a concept, but that you can analyze, apply, and interpret the idea in different contexts. It’s only when you reach that level of understanding that these ideas can really transform your career.

After taking two full cohorts through Muse, we’ve really come to some great structure on how to best approach the content.

We suggest that you plan on taking 8 weeks to get through the course content. One of the biggest keys here is consistency. Try to plan time every week where you can sit down and learn. If you can pick the same day and time every week, that is super helpful in crafting strong habits. Try to be practical–realize your own limits, and understand what times are going to be easy for you to procrastinate and what times you’ll feel refreshed and be ready to really focus on the content.

Overall, you’ve got an introduction, the 4 Pillars of story, and an outro section all about deeper applications. Plot is one of the toughest concepts to really grasp, so we like to leave 2 weeks for that section. That brings us to 7 weeks total, giving you 1 week to miss and still hit the 8-week timeline. :)

Within each module, you’ll find the following tools:

• Video tutorials broken down into a few digestible 5- to 15-minute segments that explain the core concepts. Download just the audio of these, or a transcript, if either of those are helpful.
• Each section has a super succinctly written recap that helps solidify the information from the video tutorials. Download PDFs of these to review offline or to take with you into the field.
• Case studies let you dive deeper and see the real-world applications. We always try to share a cross-section of our work, large and small, to really hammer home that these concepts of story do apply everywhere.
• And worksheets, where applicable, to apply that part of the process to your stories moving forward. These are downloadable and guide you through that part of the process so you can see each decision you need to make for your story, every step of the way.

One BIG Closing Tip. Create Strong Habits.

Give yourself the time and space to excel. Try to pick the same time every week where you can dedicate at least an hour. Push yourself to be consistent. Rather than trying to get through as much as you can every time you sit down, approach it one core concept at a time, go back and review the recap, try and apply the worksheets to a film you’re currently working on, and interact in the forum. Deeper learning comes in the application, analysis, and interpretation. Looking at your own work is where these ideas can really cement themselves.

How Muse Came to Be

Check out this video to learn about the history of Stillmotion and why we built Muse.

A Closing Note from Patrick

Personally, I’ve been living and breathing story for nearly just over a decade. Story is a constantly evolving understanding and consciousness. I’d encourage you to feel great about going back and reviewing things, taking a second or third pass in order to really go deep with your understanding. I’ve taught Muse hundreds of times in dozens of countries across the world. Each and every time, I see a new revelation about story.

We’re not here to help you sell anything to anybody, nor can we tell your story for you. Muse is about becoming a more moving and intentional storyteller. Connect your audience to the things that matter to you. And we promise that, if you put in the time, you’ll come out the other end of this a remarkable storyteller with the confidence, clarity, and process to tell stories that are felt, that say something, and that are remembered.

—Patrick (on behalf of the Stillmotion and Muse teams)