Book Analysis: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Why would a Christian writer want to analyze a classic book like The Wonderful Wizard of Oz?

Book versus Film

First, most writers are familiar with the story of Oz through the lens of several films, including The Wizard of Oz (1939), but few have read the original book by L. Frank Baum.

Copyrighted in 1899, the published novel included beautiful illustrations by W. W. Denslow. Within Baum’s fantasy world, you will find a story structure that helps you lay a firm foundation for your book.

Second, a familiar story helps your brain process the insights that come from a thorough analysis.

Insights from Analyzing a Book

The book’s length is about 39,000 words, and to save you the trouble of sourcing a public domain copy, the download contains the unabridged text.

What’s different? The Trellis Method was used to break down the text into the 18 Story Beats and 52 scenes. Those insights will help you see and appreciate how story structure enhances the writer’s ability to engage and hold readers’ interest.

Story Structure, Not Formula

Top writers read a lot of books. Whether by design or intuitively, bestselling authors adopt and apply story structure to their books.

You can find bestselling author quotes that dismiss story structure, and some of them complain about formulaic writing. However, take the time to analyze their books, and you’ll find a story structure designed to please readers.

Without that story structure, the familiar patterns people love, few writers would achieve bestseller status.

Free Download of the Book Analysis

If you’re interested in learning more about story structure, Story Beats, plots, subplots, point of view, scenes, and themes, consider downloading your free copy of A Step-by-Step Book Analysis: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

What have you learned by breaking down a story into its structural elements?