From Initial Idea to Publishable Draft

Fundamental Fridays, Story Grid

How to develop your Personal Writing Process “What is the rhythm of a writer’s day? First, you enter your imagined world. As characters speak and act, you write. What’s the next thing you do? You step out of your fantasy and read what you’ve written. And what do you do as you read? You… Read more »

Editor Roundtable: Bite Size Edition: Thawing the Fiction Freeze

Editor Roundtable Podcast, Story Grid

Welcome to the new Bite Size Edition of the Editor Roundtable Podcast. Here on the Roundtable we’re dedicated to helping you become a better writer, following the Story Grid method developed by Shawn Coyne. In these episodes we’ll be bringing you some shorter solo articles and interviews on topics that interest us as writers. It’s… Read more »

Categorizing Scenes

Podcasts

[0:00:00.2] TG: Hello and welcome to the Story Grid podcast. This is a show dedicated to helping you become a better writer. I’m your host, Tim Grahl, and I am a struggling writer trying to figure out how to tell a story that works. Joining me shortly is Shawn Coyne. He is the creator of… Read more »

Writing a Page-Turner: Part 1

Fundamental Fridays

As a novelist, I’m fascinated by what keeps readers turning pages. How do we hook a reader at page one, and keep her spellbound until the end? I’ve been looking for an answer to this question for three years, and my search has led me to something called Narrative Drive. What is Narrative Drive?… Read more »

Editor Roundtable: Story Grid 101: Coco

Editor Roundtable Podcast, Story Grid

We wind up Season 3 with another episode of Story Grid 101. Each of the Roundtable Editors is tackling one of the Story Grid Five Commandments for a deep dive into the fundamental structure of scene, act, and global story, using the Pixar animated feature, Coco as our model. This 2017 family favorite… Read more »

Write Better Novels Using a Masterwork to Guide You

Fundamental Fridays, Story Grid

The Case for Analyzing Masterworks, Part II All right, fellow Story Grid nerds. Time for some tough talk. (We’re serious writers. We can handle it.) Shawn Coyne tells us to “study masterworks.” How many of you have actually gone out and done it? How many of you have taken a masterwork in your genre… Read more »

Editor Roundtable: The King’s Speech

Editor Roundtable Podcast, Story Grid

This week, Leslie pitched The King’s Speech as a great example of emotional stakes. This 2010 film, which won Oscars for best picture, best actor, and best screenplay, was directed by Tom Hooper from a screenplay by David Seidler, who himself developed a stammer as a child. Genre: Performance with Status Sentimental Beginning Hook… Read more »

Thawing the Fiction Freeze

Fundamental Fridays

New! This blog post is now available in audio. Learning to write fiction is too serious a business to be mixed in with leftovers from freshman composition. —John Gardner, The Art of Fiction Capable, professional writers of nonfiction often report freezing up when they set out to write a novel. Faced with the blank screen… Read more »

How to Spreadsheet Your Novel

Podcasts

[0:00:00.5] TG: Hello and welcome to the Story Grid Podcast. This is a show dedicated to helping you become a better writer. I’m your host, Tim Grahl and I am a struggling writer trying to figure out how to tell a story that works. Joining me shortly is Shawn Coyne, he is the creator of… Read more »

Editor Roundtable: Inception

Editor Roundtable Podcast, Story Grid

This week we’re going deep into the dream world with Anne’s pitch, Inception, as a great example of nested storytelling. This 2010 science fiction heist film, nominated for 8 Academy Awards—four of which it won—was written and directed by Christopher Nolan. Now, we always try to discuss our movie in a way that lets… Read more »

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From Initial Idea to Publishable Draft

Fundamental Fridays, Story Grid

Editor Roundtable: Bite Size Edition: Thawing the Fiction Freeze

Editor Roundtable Podcast, Story Grid

Categorizing Scenes

Podcasts

Writing a Page-Turner: Part 1

Fundamental Fridays

Editor Roundtable: Story Grid 101: Coco

Editor Roundtable Podcast, Story Grid

Write Better Novels Using a Masterwork to Guide You

Fundamental Fridays, Story Grid

Editor Roundtable: The King’s Speech

Editor Roundtable Podcast, Story Grid

Thawing the Fiction Freeze

Fundamental Fridays

How to Spreadsheet Your Novel

Podcasts

Editor Roundtable: Inception

Editor Roundtable Podcast, Story Grid

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