Creating a Story Grid - Part 2

FromStory Grid Writing Podcast

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Creating a Story Grid - Part 2

FromStory Grid Writing Podcast

ratings:

Length:

32 minutes

Released:

Jul 6, 2017

Format:

Podcast episode

Description

Tim and Shawn continuing building out the Story Grid Graph to evaluate the first draft.
See Tim's Story Grid Spreadsheet here.

Released:

Jul 6, 2017

Format:

Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

Click here to Subscribe in iTunes. Helping you become a better writer. Join Shawn Coyne, author of Story Grid and a top editor for 25+ years, and Tim Grahl, struggling writer, as they discuss the ins and outs of what makes a story great. More at www.StoryGrid.com.

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How to write a great beginning hook: How do you write an opener for your book that grabs people's attention and doesn't let go? Shawn shares great insights on this along with how to develop believable characters. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
63 min listen
Do you have to be depressed to be a good writer?: Another wide ranging episode that eventually lands on an important question. Kurt Vonnegut said "You cannot be a good writer of serious fiction if you are not depressed." Is this really true? by Story Grid Writing Podcast
57 min listen
The Mathematics of Storytelling: Story Grid Math. How many scenes, words, turns does your book need? Also discussed is the 5 commandments of storytelling and Tim's attempt at a rewrite. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
65 min listen
Diving deep into genre: Shawn and Tim dive deeper into genre and how to find the best internal and external conflicts. Along the way they discuss the hero's journey, love stories, and a woman from the sea. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
65 min listen
Shawn rips apart Tim's scene: Shawns critiques (rips apart) Tim's first scene. Along the way, they discuss Agatha Christie, Wes Craven, Hemingway, and Freddy Krueger. See full show notes at storygrid.com/podcast to download and read Tim's first scene. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
73 min listen
What is literary vs commercial fiction?: Shawn and Tim discuss literary vs commercial fiction and start diving into the giant subject that is genre. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
75 min listen
The Martian and A Christmas Carol: Learn how the Story Grid works with Andy Weir's THE MARTIAN and Charles Dickens's A CHRISTMAS CAROL. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
85 min listen
The 8 stages of grief/writing: How does the Kübler-Ross model from psychiatry apply to your writing? Also, how to develop your characters and applying the Story Grid to non-fiction. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
67 min listen
The 5 Commandments of Storytelling: Learn the 5 commandments of storytelling and how it will make your story better. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
60 min listen
How not to waste 100k words: How does The Martian work with The Story Grid? Plus, we discuss how to make sure your story is good before writing 100k words and the difference between Internal and External genre. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
70 min listen
Where do great story ideas come from?: The question every author gets... "Where do you come up with story ideas?" Also, how to write characters that are truthful, even when you can't relate with them. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
57 min listen
Pub 101: Finding an Agent and Selling Your Book: In this three part series, Shawn and Tim discuss the ins and outs of the publishing industry. Learn how to find an agent and sell your book to a major publisher. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
54 min listen
Shawn rips apart Tim's scene (again): Tim writes another scene for Shawn to critique. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
57 min listen
How to plot and outline your story: As Tim begins to plot and outline his story, he gets Shawn's input on exactly how to do it. This process is filled with potential time wasters and distractions, and Shawn helps Tim avoid them. See Tim's initial outline and other downloads at storygrid.com/podcast. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
52 min listen
When to get feedback from other writers: A wide ranging episode where Shawn and Tim discuss a new way to think about beginning hooks, the high concept "What if?" pitch, when to open the door and get other writer's feedback, and how the "Power of 10" will help your editing process. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
54 min listen
What is narrative device?: How can narrative device make your storytelling easier? We also discuss the two types of inciting incidents and how the Story Grid applies to he movie Dead Calm. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
62 min listen
How does Stephen King write?: How does Stephen King do it? Plus, Shawn and Tim talk about flailing as a writer and how good character development is really done. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
69 min listen
Better Non-fiction with Story Grid: Shawn explains how Story Grid can help you be a better non-fiction writer. Also, the editing process and how to know when your book is "done". by Story Grid Writing Podcast
50 min listen
And that's what life is all about: How can you become a better writer? Join Shawn Coyne, a bestselling editor with 25+ years experience, and Tim Grahl as they dive into the craft of story telling. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
62 min listen
How to Write Faster: How can you get more writing done? Is the "wall" even real or just in your head? by Story Grid Writing Podcast
57 min listen
How to Story Grid a Book: Talking about Story Grid is one thing, putting it into practice is quite another. Tim struggles with applying Story Grid to Harry Potter. In addition, specificity, ins and outs of publishing, and more. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
52 min listen
Can I just rip off Harry Potter?: The Hero's Journey and how it works with Story Grid. The characters and scenarios. Also, how to learn from one book to write your own. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
51 min listen
Units of Story (beats, scenes, acts, etc): Learn the units of story telling -- beats, scenes, sequences, acts, etc -- and how they make you a better writer and editor. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
57 min listen
6 questions (good) editors ask: The 6 questions (good) editors ask and the 5 parts of every story. See the full show notes to download Shawn's critiques of Tim's first scene. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
64 min listen
First draft is done. Now what?: Tim has finished his first draft and Shawn gives advice on what happens next and what questions Tim should be asking himself. If you'd like to read Tim's first draft, you can do that at storygrid.com/podcast. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
55 min listen
What is the Theme of your Story?: What is your theme or controlling idea, and how does it help you tell a better story? Tim and Shawn also discuss how to avoid getting caught in analysis-paralysis and how to build your world the right way. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
50 min listen
Character Trumps Plotting: As Shawn and Tim continue discussing the Middle Build and driving the story with characters or plotting. See Tim's scenes at storygrid.com/podcast. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
64 min listen
What do your characters want? (plus, Tim gets frustrated): This is the first episode that Tim gets noticeably frustrated. Shawn is trying to teach him how to avoid cliches, hit the right conventions for his genre, and make sure his character's motivations are clear. Unfortunately, Tim is having a hard time catching on. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
71 min listen
The Most Important Genre: If you had to pick one genre to master, what should it be? Shawn answers the question in this week's episode. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
54 min listen
What if my writing sucks?: It was at 8000 words in that Tim realized his writing was terrible. So how does he keep going? Shawn offers his advice on overcoming this and other types of resistance. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
62 min listen

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Narrative Device: This Affects Every Single Word You Write: Who is telling your story? Who are they telling it to? Why are they telling it? This is the Narrative Device! The Narrative Device consists of three main components: - Author: The Author is someone who is capable of telling the POP premise as a story to shed light on the problem another person has. - SAM: The Single Audience Member is a person with a problem related to the one the protagonist faces in the POP premise. - Problem: A specific problem that the POP premise can shed light on. What Shawn, Danielle, and Leslie are trying to teach Tim this week is how this affects every single word of his writing. Click here to read Tim's scene: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ugNstol1I3DGyIcOQ13pdkkgyKKGddFvAE7LH_-OLng/edit?usp=sharing To see the transcript of this episode, visit: https://storygrid.com/episode-273 — Get a free copy of our book Story Grid 101: The First Five Principles of the Story Grid Methodology: https by Story Grid Writing Podcast
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624 Break Down: The Surprising Mistake in Tim's First Draft: In this episode we start comparing the Story Grid 624 Analysis of the first draft of Tim's scene to EYE WITNESS by Ed McBain. Pretty quickly we see that Tim made one small mistake that ends up having a huge impact on the rest of the scene. In EYE WITNESS, the author switches the protagonist near the beginning of the scene. Tim doesn't do this and, as you'll see, this causes a lot of problems! Click here to read Tim's scene: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tbbo6LuApXL9Y6YGCcXC44dcRYrTcR_8snOV9UCShwo/edit#heading=h.ukpkmg7nyrlr To see the transcript of this episode, visit: https://storygrid.com/episode-268 — Get a free copy of our book Story Grid 101: The First Five Principles of the Story Grid Methodology: https://storygrid101.com This is Episode 268 of the Story Grid Podcast: https://storygrid.com/podcast by Story Grid Writing Podcast
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Beat Breakdown: Analyzing Writing Line-by-Line - Part 3: Learn how your line-by-line writing can be improved by the Story Grid Beat methodology. In this episode, we show you the final line graph generated by our beat-by-beat analysis and how this can help you write better scenes. — Get a free copy of our book Story Grid 101: The First Five Principles of the Story Grid Methodology: https://storygrid101.com For episode transcript and downloads: https://storygrid.com/episode-263 This is Episode 263 of the Story Grid Podcast: https://storygrid.com/podcast This is our in-depth analysis of the short story EYE WITNESS by Ed McBain: https://amzn.to/3Q2UpqV by Story Grid Writing Podcast
62 min listen

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Who's the Most Guilty Person in Your Story? Hero, Victim, and Villain - Part 2: Nobody is innocent in your story. Everyone is hiding something. You must adjust these levels correctly in order for your reader to connect with the right characters. This is the focus Danielle, Leslie, and Shawn take on Tim's scene this week. Click here to read Tim's scene: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1M_rP2ARaDQbSlGBmNRESszzYuNN-nrxa0pdJjt0qQRU/edit?usp=sharing To see the transcript of this episode, visit: https://storygrid.com/episode-277 — Get a free copy of our book Story Grid 101: The First Five Principles of the Story Grid Methodology: https://storygrid101.com This is Episode 277 of the Story Grid Podcast: https://storygrid.com/podcast by Story Grid Writing Podcast
69 min listen
Truth in Fiction: How to Write and Develop Believable Characters: How do you ground your characters in a reality that your reader will believe even though you are making the whole thing up? This week Tim makes the mistake of sterilizing his protagonist to the point where he is no longer interesting or believable. Shawn, Danielle, and Leslie walk him through the steps of using character development and a strong narrative device to fix these problems. Click here to read Tim's scene: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10bdr_tF4ASohz0cHoNjlbNmsLOVXiDpFw54ugHYLZI8/edit?usp=sharing To see the transcript of this episode, visit: https://storygrid.com/episode-274 — Get a free copy of our book Story Grid 101: The First Five Principles of the Story Grid Methodology: https://storygrid101.com This is Episode 274 of the Story Grid Podcast: https://storygrid.com/podcast by Story Grid Writing Podcast
73 min listen
Why Story Grid Is Different: This week Shawn sits down with Story Grid Editor, Valerie Francis, to discuss why (and how) the Story Grid method is different from other structural and developmental editing methods. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
65 min listen
John Wick Analysis: Part 1 - Genre and Controlling Idea: Access the full Story Grid analysis of John Wick at https://storygrid.com/wick. This is the first in a four part series analyzing the movie John Wick using the Story Grid methodology. This 2014 movie, written by Derek Kolstad, is a genre leading action movie. Story Grid Certified Editor Rachel Arsenault (https://www.rachel-arsenault.com) and Tim Grahl start by looking at the Story Grid Five Leaf Genre Clover before diving into the quadrants and controlling idea. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
38 min listen
How to Story Grid a Book: Talking about Story Grid is one thing, putting it into practice is quite another. Tim struggles with applying Story Grid to Harry Potter. In addition, specificity, ins and outs of publishing, and more. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
52 min listen
Hero, Victim and Perpetrator: The Must-Have Relationships in Your Story: Who is the Hero, Victim, and Perpetrator in your story? What are the relationships between each of them? The more vague or ungrounded each of these relationships are, the more the story will not read as believable. This is the focus Danielle, Leslie, and Shawn take on Tim's scene this week. Click here to read Tim's scene: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OQd5NxTcn2JLwrphueCX91A4wXN9BEQFBYwbyN7NJ1M/edit?usp=sharing To see the transcript of this episode, visit: https://storygrid.com/episode-275 — Get a free copy of our book Story Grid 101: The First Five Principles of the Story Grid Methodology: https://storygrid101.com This is Episode 275 of the Story Grid Podcast: https://storygrid.com/podcast by Story Grid Writing Podcast
57 min listen
Final Edits of a Short Story: Beat Construction and 624 Analysis: Now that Tim has had a breakthrough on his iteration of EYE WITNESS by Ed McBain, we're getting down to fixing individual Beats and checking to make sure he's adhered to the Story Grid 624 Analysis. You really see the Story Grid Tools shine in this episode as Leslie and Danielle apply them to Tim's writing to find places still left to fix. Click here to read Tim's scene: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1b-RzszE7YzLEn5fSlWAqVQ_OkXhuJg3cxfZImXzIkYI/edit?usp=sharing To see the transcript of this episode, visit: https://storygrid.com/episode-282 — Get a free copy of our book Story Grid 101: The First Five Principles of the Story Grid Methodology: https://storygrid101.com This is Episode 282 of the Story Grid Podcast: https://storygrid.com/podcast by Story Grid Writing Podcast
65 min listen
John Wick Analysis: Part 2 - Acts and Structure: Access the full Story Grid analysis of John Wick at https://storygrid.com/wick. This is the second in a four part series analyzing the movie John Wick using the Story Grid methodology. This 2014 movie, written by Derek Kolstad, is a genre leading action movie. Story Grid Certified Editor Rachel Arsenault (https://www.rachel-arsenault.com) and Tim Grahl start by looking at the Story Grid Five Leaf Genre Clover before diving into the quadrants and controlling idea. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
41 min listen
Story Grid and Non-fiction: The 4 categories of non-fiction and how the Story Grid applies to them. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
48 min listen
Beat Breakdown: Analyzing Writing Line-by-Line - Part 3: Learn how your line-by-line writing can be improved by the Story Grid Beat methodology. In this episode, we show you the final line graph generated by our beat-by-beat analysis and how this can help you write better scenes. — Get a free copy of our book Story Grid 101: The First Five Principles of the Story Grid Methodology: https://storygrid101.com For episode transcript and downloads: https://storygrid.com/episode-263 This is Episode 263 of the Story Grid Podcast: https://storygrid.com/podcast This is our in-depth analysis of the short story EYE WITNESS by Ed McBain: https://amzn.to/3Q2UpqV by Story Grid Writing Podcast
62 min listen
Conflict and Emotional Connection: Every Beat, Trope, and Scene Must Have These: There are lots of insights in this week's episode of the podcast. We look at the emotional connection between the hero and victim, ensuring there is conflict at every level of the story, and how better to lock in to the narrative device. Click here to read Tim's scene: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1V6ja3HN4uKuS0J4x6pvWBUwkZUiE5uJov5jM3Gj-Yvw/edit?usp=sharing To see the transcript of this episode, visit: https://storygrid.com/episode-278 — Get a free copy of our book Story Grid 101: The First Five Principles of the Story Grid Methodology: https://storygrid101.com This is Episode 278 of the Story Grid Podcast: https://storygrid.com/podcast by Story Grid Writing Podcast
62 min listen
Hero's Journey Archetypes - Part 2: Shawn and Tim continue talking through the Hero's Journey Archetypes, who they are, and how they should be in your story. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
60 min listen
How to Start a New Novel: Now that The Threshing is done and (almost) published, Tim is ready to start his next book! What are the first steps down this path? How can Story Grid help him plan correctly? Shawn walks him through this in this week's episode. Download the Foolscap in the show notes. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
51 min listen
The History of the Story Grid Universe.mp3: Shawn and Kim go back to the beginning and discuss the origins of Story Grid. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
24 min listen
Hero Archetypes and Grounding Reality: Shawn and Tim finish up talking about the Hero Archetypes and then delve into what it takes to ground your book in a realistic world. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
62 min listen
624 Review + Trope and Beat Introduction: We have wrapped up our 624 analysis of Ed McBain's short story EYE WITNESS. In this episode, Leslie does a review of the 624 then Danielle does an introduction for Tropes and Shawn follows up with introducing Beats. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
70 min listen
The Story Grid Spreadsheet: Shawn and Tim discuss one of the most important Story Grid tools and how to use it. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
57 min listen
Does On-the-Surface mean External Genre?: Continuing the discussion on the Story Grid Trinity, Shawn Coyne and Kimberly Kessler discuss the On-the-Surface level of the trinity and how the relates to external genres. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
35 min listen
Hero's Journey Archetypes - Part 1: The sprint is on to finish The Threshing. This week Shawn and Tim begin working through the Archetypes of the Hero's Journey. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
48 min listen
Line Edits: Putting the Final Touches on Eye Witness by Story Grid Writing Podcast
62 min listen
How to plot and outline your story: As Tim begins to plot and outline his story, he gets Shawn's input on exactly how to do it. This process is filled with potential time wasters and distractions, and Shawn helps Tim avoid them. See Tim's initial outline and other downloads at storygrid.com/podcast. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
52 min listen
Five Commandments of Storytelling - Part 1: Continuing our 624 analysis of Ed McBain's short story EYE WITNESS, we are talking through the Five Commandments of Storytelling. This is a three part episode as we deep dive through each commandment. In this episode, we go through the Inciting Incident and the Turning Point Progressive Complication. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
46 min listen
How to Write a Great Scene: Shawn shares about a new project at Story Grid headquarters that will help teach the micro level of storytelling to writers. See more at storygrid.com/ground by Story Grid Writing Podcast
37 min listen

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Creating a Story Grid - Part 2

Creating a Story Grid - Part 2

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