Following on the heels of Lisa Cron’s breakout first book, Wired for Story, this writing guide reveals how to use cognitive storytelling strategies to build a scene-by-scene blueprint for a riveting story. It’s every novelist’s greatest fear: pouring their blood, sweat, and tears into writing hundreds of pages only to realize that their story has no sense of urgency, no internal logic, and so is … internal logic, and so is a page one rewrite.
The prevailing wisdom in the writing community is that there are just two ways around this problem: pantsing (winging it) and plotting (focusing on the external plot). Story coach Lisa Cron has spent her career discovering why these methods don’t work and coming up with a powerful alternative, based on the science behind what our brains are wired to crave in every story we read (and it’s not what you think).
In Story Genius Cron takes you, step-by-step, through the creation of a novel from the first glimmer of an idea, to a complete multilayered blueprint—including fully realized scenes—that evolves into a first draft with the authority, richness, and command of a riveting sixth or seventh draft.
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If you’re a writer who thinks that “plot” and “story” are the same thing, this book is for you.
If you’re a writer who focuses on the “externals” instead of the “internals,” then this book is for you.
If you’re a writer who depicts “what is” instead of “what if,” then this book is for you.
STORY GENIUS by Lisa Cron is my new best writing friend!
This is a good book, one of the best on writing that I’ve read so far. I love how the author stresses the importance of focusing on the character’s inner conflict.
It makes sense.
Still, there were a few things in the book that bothered me (**small rant ahead**)
First, there’s no brain science in the book. No links to Lancet/Science/Cell/Nature papers. The Blue Brain Project isn’t even mentioned. There isn’t any source material. The author uses sentences like “science has found that… scientists have discovered that” without giving any evidence or reference. I have a PhD in evolutionary biology, and while I can’t say that I know everything about the evolution of the brain, I know that it’s incredibly difficult for the scientists to prove that our brain is “hard-wired” (whatever that means) with a specific set of knowledge. Innatism is hard to prove, even for simple things. (No one has to explain to a new-born baby what to do to eat. That’s innate knowledge, but how do you prove it?) I seriously doubt someone discovered that our brain is hard-wired for story. Also, dopamine is about anticipation, as Prof Robert Sapolsky will tell you, not curiosity. It’s possible that we produce dopamine when we read a good book, but that doesn’t prove anything.
So, that part of the book was a disappointment.
The other thing I wasn’t particularly fond of was the story the author and her friend developed through the book. Ruby, the main protagonist of that story, has a shocking lack of empathy. She’s an empty shell, who enjoys making people suffer. She’s selfish and mean. Are we supposed to root for her? The fact that we know her backstory (rather weak, imo) doesn’t mean the reader is going to cheer for her. She kidnaps a dog (for very doubtful reasons) without even thinking what kind of reaction the owner or the dog might have. My dog would freak out and have a panic attack if a stranger grabbed her and took her away. I was so upset about Ruby that I couldn’t enjoy those examples. Also, I think that with Ruby the authors pushed the “inner conflict” too far because Ruby’s choices make no sense and don’t make me feel sympathetic towards her. They de-humanised it, turning it into a plot device, as ironic as it sounds.
Last thing, I suggest watching Abbie Emmons’ videos on how she plots a book with a three-arc structure. They’re based on Story Genius and are simply awesome.
Fellow authors: This book is EXCELLENT. I’m an educator and author–the writing I do is diverse–cozy mysteries, educational books as a contributor and educational blogs and articles for educational affiliations, psych thriller scripts, poetry, Hi-Lo YA series, educational writing craft books, and catalog descriptions as well as commercial scripts–Story Genius speaks to every type of writing I do because Cron focuses on the cognitive process and some of the psychological aspects of the writing process. Every writer has a different process–this book helps you understand how your brain works and how that directly applies to your writing. For me, it was ground-breaking to help me understand my process better and how I needed to tweak my process to up my writing game. Highly recommend to any type of writer.
Five stars, hands down. Story Genius, by Lisa Cron, is now on the indispensable writing references shelf of my working bookshelf. I’ve always been able to tell a good story, but, seemingly, didn’t fully understand what makes a story good. Story Genius got me closer to that answer. I didn’t understand why I liked movies such as Pretty Woman and American President while I found other, equally compelling stories lacking. I didn’t see the need to include scenes of personal revelation that did not directly contribute to my main story. I see now that every story that I’ve liked in the past had a good primary story line (lost on a remote island) and a human story (running for re-election). I applied the concepts and exercises from Story Genius to my work-in-progress as I read Story Genius. When I finish polishing my current novel, I will reread Story Genius. Jeff Bailey, author of The Defect.
This is a must-have for any writer’s craft library. A deep dive into character motivation, Story Genius changed the way I write.
A very useful book for writers at any stage of their career.
Highly recommended for anyone who has tried to or wants to write a novel. A real time saver!
Showed me how to look at story and character development in a different way that improved my book.
Genius!
I truly think Lisa’s book is genius, as the title suggests.
It focuses on plotting from the angle of character development.
To me, it was a completely unique way to look at plot, and if you use her methods I can guarantee that your characters will be deeper and more real, and your entire story will resonate on a deeper level.
Good information but not an easy read.
This is one of the best books on writing fiction I know. I use it when I coach writers and while it doesn’t work for everybody, I love it!
Not planning on writing a novel but I was interested in learning more about the art and science of story. The first half of the book was great for me. I found the brain science and how it can be used to create powerful stories awesome. I’ve read lots of books on brain science and psychology so it was great to see it applied to create stories.
I’m interested in learning from the book and applying this information to branding.
Very instructive, while being very entertaining.
Goes beyond the plot to the inner heart of the novel! Gave me great insight to improve what I have already written!
Excellent read for the evolving fiction writer.
Helped move forward my understanding of what to write and how; well worth the money.
Fine advice! It reminds me of the “ABDCE” structure that Max Apple (I understand) taught. A = Action that initiates the plot; B = Background problem of the story/What the protagonist brings to the Action; D = Development; C = Climax that resolves the Action; E = Ending that resolves the Background. There are two layers to a well-told piece of fiction. One is a Plot, which gradually reveals the Story. The Story is what the protagonist — and the reader — discover to be the truth of what the fiction was about and the Plot is how the protagonist and reader come to understand that truth. Without Plot, you just have an extended anecdote without suspense.
I’ve read scores of writing books, This is the best I’ve ever read. It has information that no other writing book has. To me, Lisa Cron is a genius herself.
It’s very insightful and I think organic in terms of weaving a story together