Month: July 2015

Mixing Genres

Story Grid Bonus Material

A friend of mine emailed me over the weekend asking about a coming of age/maturation story he’s working on. He’s read the recent posts about the redemption story and wanted more information about “mixing genres.” He knows for certain that his global story is driven by his lead character’s progression from naivete to worldliness but… Read more »

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Innovating Convention

Story Grid Bonus Material

On our Foolscap Global Story Grid for our Untitled Redemption Story we’ve reached the place to write down the conventions and obligatory scenes for the Redemption/Performance combo plate of External/Internal genres. Before I didactically launch into them, though, let me first put forth this: Writing and its partner in crime, Editing, is extremely difficult. And… Read more »

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Form vs. Formula

Story Grid Bonus Material

There is a certain breed of writer that I just can’t seem to reach. As the brilliant Strother Martin drawled as the Captain in Cool Hand Luke, the situation can be summed up as “a failure to commune-cate (communicate).” The crux of our problem is in my assertion that there is a very big difference… Read more »

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Your Story Sets Up Your Work

Podcasts

Today’s post features a transcript of an interview I did with Marx Pyle and his partner Julie at GenrEtainment.  If you’d rather listen to it, you can find it here.  What strikes me as I do more and more of these interviews is the necessity of being able to tell your own Story effectively.  If… Read more »

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The Story Spinal Cord

Story Grid Bonus Material

For today’s Story Grid Bonus, here’s more about the crucial role of NEED, your protagonist’s subconscious Object of Desire. I’ve been talking about Story Spine—the critical Story within the Story that sucks readers into deep emotional connection. And I’ve put forth that what your lead character wants—the micro scene-to-scene little wants that build to the… Read more »

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Articles By Popularity

Internal Genres Part 2: Character Driven Stories through Life ValuesThe Units of Story: The BeatGenre’s Five Leaf CloverThe MathStories Need Great VillainsGenres have Conventions and Obligatory Scenes

Articles By Category

Editor Roundtable PodcastFundamental FridaysPodcastsStory GridStory Grid Bonus MaterialStorygridding The Tipping Point

Articles By Topic

The Editor’s 6 Core QuestionsThe 5 Commandments of StorytellingEditing Your ManuscriptStory Grid for Non-fictionUnderstanding GenreStory Grid 101

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