Analyzing Truby Techniques—Character desire, self-revelation, character relationships—in Nanako Dobashi's "A Shooting Star"

“A Shooting Star” - a short story by Nanako that was awarded third place in HIS Writes 2024, features the deep theme of romance and human relationships. Unlike most typical short stories, “A Shooting Star” is written in a unique poetic way that appeals to readers. Throughout the story, Nanako uses the technique of character development, tension and conflict, as she leads readers toward the character’s true choice. 

Before continuing this analysis, please look at Nanako Dobashi’s story, “A Shooting Star” to enjoy the analysis.

Analysis

In any great story, there are three significant components; change, character, and the world.

From the last analysis article, I went deep into the use of the character in Jiwoo Kim’s story, “Yuuya”. For this analysis, however, I want to put a spotlight on the change that takes place in a compelling story.

Change is important in any story because we all, as human beings, have three hidden desires: The desire to know, jump the hurdle, and become better versions of ourselves.

In the story, Nanako sets the foundational layer of the change by setting character to know herself.

In addition to this foundational layer, Nanako adds the character’s desire for change by starting off her two lines,  “He was like a shooting star. A sudden, bright streak of light entered my dark, but somewhat blissful, night.” When there are two or more layers in any story, while it has the downside that it might get too complicated depending on the author, it creates a strong wonder in the reader’s mind that makes the story entertaining. 

One final move used by Nanako in the story’s revolution is the character growth that happens at the end of the story. In there, Nananko shows the final result (new character) of conflicts between the main character and her boyfriend. Nanako starts to show the character’s growth by first listing things she wanted to be:

In the presence of nature, my soul found solace, soothing the ache of my pain. The cry of the owls steadied my heartbeat, and the sound of swaying trees dissolved any thoughts of surrender to darkness. I wanted to be like the trees, gracefully swaying with the rhythms of life while withstanding strong against the storms that tried to topple them. I wanted to be just like a sycamore, blossoming with resilience and grace as I grew.”

After all of these listings, Nanako finishes the character revelation by adding the notion that the character has gained, He was just a shooting star during an eclipse. Without the presence of the moon, he shone brighter than anything else in my night sky. So let the shooting stars move around and light up your night sky.” 

Any usual writer could finish writing about the new change brought by conflict with the description Nanako used above. Nevertheless, Nanako took one step forward in her writing, by making her final sentence a compacted version of what the new main character learned:

Let the shooting star pass.”

In summary, Nanako’s story, “A Shooting Star,” is written in an elegant novel format that anyone can easily read, relate, and enjoy. Even if you have already read Nanako's story, I encourage you to reread the story here to gain more wisdom and analysis as a writer.

Lastly, I want to give huge thanks to John Truby for providing our creative writing class with dynamic and effective ways to create a great story. You can try reading his book, The Anatomy of the Story, yourself.

Thank you for reading!