Story Grid

Default category for all Story Grid posts

Flash Forward: The Story Grid in Action

Story Grid

Just for fun, here is what The Story Grid info-graphic looks like for Thomas Harris’s novel The Silence of the Lambs.

The Realpolitik of Book Publishing

When a Story “works,” it makes you want to keep reading it or listening to it, or watching it. And what will happen next–while completely in keeping with its initial promise (a Western, a Bildungsroman, a ghost Story around a campfire, whatever)–delights over and over again. But the kicker is that the climax will be… Read more »

Knowing the Rules so You Can Break Them

Story Grid

There is a reason why I divided long form Story in business terms in The Autodidact’s Dilemma. A very good reason. And believe it or not, it has more to do with Art than Commerce.

Your Own Worst Enemy

Story Grid

A few years ago, a very talented line-by-line writer came to me for help. A publisher I respected had recommended her to me. The publisher believed (rightfully) that the woman had what it took to write bestselling thrillers. The publisher had passed on a number of her books…not because he didn’t find them compelling, but… Read more »

Works, Doesn’t Work

Story Grid

How many times have you read this snippet of a book review, either on Amazon.com or in a major newspaper or blog? This book is badly in need of an editor. It is not without irony that these sorts of reviews are most often attached to titles that have sold hundreds of thousands of copies…. Read more »

Where I Turned to Learn How to Edit

Story Grid

Just about everywhere I could. I asked seasoned book editors who told me that editing depended on what kind of Story was being told. You didn’t edit a Mystery in the same way you edited a Love Story or a Thriller or a Coming of Age novel. Each kind of Story has its own conventions… Read more »

The Autodidact’s Dilemma

Story Grid

Faced with the reality that the editors with whom I was apprenticed (very respected, very talented, and very generous) did not have the time or the textbooks necessary to teach me how to Edit, I set out to teach myself. The primary dilemma when we face a task that is foreign to us is “where… Read more »

Where Did The Story Grid Come From?

Story Grid

When I began my editorial career at one of the major New York publishing houses, there was no systematic process to learn how to edit a Story. That is, how to read a Story, diagnose its strengths and vulnerabilities, and then help the creator heighten the highs and eliminate the lows. There was no training… Read more »

What an Editor Does

Story Grid

When a person meets me for the first time and learns that I make my living as a literary editor, the first question he invariably asks is: “What exactly is it that you do?” The book I’m writing, The Story Grid: What Good Editors Know, and this website is the long answer. The short answer… Read more »

Newer Articles >>

Story Grid

Flash Forward: The Story Grid in Action

Story Grid

The Realpolitik of Book Publishing

Story Grid

Knowing the Rules so You Can Break Them

Story Grid

Your Own Worst Enemy

Story Grid

Works, Doesn’t Work

Story Grid

Where I Turned to Learn How to Edit

Story Grid

The Autodidact’s Dilemma

Story Grid

Where Did The Story Grid Come From?

Story Grid

What an Editor Does

Story Grid

Still not finding what
you're looking for?

The Book

First Time Writer

Resources

Story Grid

Still not finding whatyou're looking for?

The Book

First Time Writer

Resources

Still not finding what
you're looking for?