The Story Spine has been used by Pixar as a structure for creating a variety of memorable stories. Every Pixar movie follows the 5 steps along the spine, bringing them alive with unforgettable characters and emotional plot twists.

 As both a movie lover and a medical writer, I set my self an obvious challenge: to apply the story spine to medical writing as a way to create compelling scientific stories. The result may seem familiar.

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Once upon a time there was…

A terrible medical condition. It affected x million people around the globe and was the x-th leading cause of death.

Every day…

Patients with this disease suffer with poor quality of life and increased risk of x. Existing therapeutic approaches have improved xyz, but a significant unmet need remains to improve x for patients.

One day…

A new class of drug was investigated in clinical trials. It was different to the other drugs, and people didn’t trust it. Against the odds, it demonstrated efficacy and good tolerability in x patient populations.

Because of that…

The drug was approved to treat the terrible condition x. Further benefits were revealed in post hoc analyses and phase 4 studies.

Until finally…

Data from clinical trials and real world studies support the benefits of this new medicine for patients, leading experts support its use, and it is incorporated into global guidelines.

If this story structure seems familiar to you, it’s because it is tried and tested. Compelling stories often follow a flow that closely resembles this, whether the hero is a clownfish or a monoclonal antibody.

A creative medical writer will be able to make their work stand out by weaving in some innovative features, and presenting the story in an interesting way. Since adding this topic to my mentoring and training sessions, I’ve seen an agency use the Story Spine to successfully create the flow of a new business pitch!

Remember that the audience must have reason to root for your story’s character (the new drug): perhaps it is an unexpected hero (a unique mode of action) or is getting around an old problem with a smart new solution (novel technology). It must be trustworthy, with its story rooted in an honest representation of the data.