In praise of Wired For Story (Cron 2012)
In praise of Wired For Story (Cron 2012)
I’ve been reading Lisa Cron’s great book, Wired For Story (2012).
...If you’re a fiction writer (e.g. short stories, novels, prose, and even film writers…!), I highly recommend it!
Wired For Story: The Writer's Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence (Cron 2012)
And, I just wanted to note a few pearly-gems of wisdom, from this great book…
Here is, just one:
(Screenwriting guru Syd Field also previously said that the Theme in a movie script should be stated in dialog on page 3, but: whatever. ...Things change! And Story Gurus have different systems.
My own system [ StoryAlityHigh-RoI Movie Screenwriting ] says, the 14% mark (e.g. page 11 of a 90-page movie script) is when the Theme should come out…
So – be all that as it may…)
…In a short story, or a novel, stating the whole story in the first line, is: just a really great trick to do!
…Besides, it’s fun! A cool little writing-challenge! It also solves, the problem of: “What’s my first sentence in this story, going to be?”
(Hint: You can of course, wait till the story is written as a first rough draft, to come back and insert it! In fact, that may even be, a very good `rule of thumb’…)
As a writing mini-task, it also actually makes you work harder(or, maybe not harder, but just: a bit longer?) as a writer, mainly so’s the reader doesn’t have to! When they read that opening line, (well; if you’ve done it right?), they kinda know: where you’re going with this story!
(…just: Not, howyou’ll get there!)
---------------
…But - a Question: (Just playing Devil’s Avocado, now, for a moment)
Wait…Does every great story, ever, do this?
Let's look at some semi-random examples:
So - Maybe, as a fun exercise, go to: 100 Best First Lines From Novels ... And see, just how many of them, this John Irving `rule of thumb’ applies to – ?
(Namely: Have the very first line, tell the whole story!)
…Well, so, maybe not every single great (novel) story ever does it, but; Who even cares?
…I love it, and, what’s more,
I am going to do itwhenever I can, from now on! …So there.
It’s like, having a (hyper-compressed!) Abstract, or, a 25-word logline, sort of. But, inside the story!
…Nice! (…Why didn’t I ever read this line of advice, by John Irving before?)
…And/Or, Why didn’t I ever know, or think of (discover) this, myself?
Well anyway, now I do know it! And so do you! So = thank you, Lisa Cron!
And, thank you, brain science! (...Man, I love all that stuff.)
Moving right along - Cron (2012) also rightly notes,
Wow!
That opening sentence... sure does hook you right in!
(Well it did, me!)
As Cron notes, it also tells you: Whose story it is (Joel’s), what’s happening, and gives a sense of the stakes… (i.e., somebody got murdered, as that great philosopher, The Clash once said).
Also, I see, the titleof the Elizabeth George novel kind of not only attracts our attention, but gives us a bit of context also. It raises questions, that we want answered! (i.e., “What Came Before He Shot Her”… We wonder: Wait, who,shot who?)
The topic of murdersure seems to get our attention. …Ahem. (See David Buss on human Evolutionary Psychology, and, the things (subjects and topics) which tend to attract most human attention and thus, seem to - most often - get in the news headlines…)
(i.e., Whom got murdered? And, by whom? And, Why? …Wait, could this happen to: me…?)
In one way, the real job of the writer is: to trigger questions in the reader that they want answered.
i.e.: (The below is me, thinking further, on some of Cron 2012)
(See my PhD blog! https://storyality.wordpress.com/)
I love Cron’s definitionof story, too:
(As indeed, manygreat stories, are indeed about: Change...! Namely, How, a person adapts / changes / adjusts /shifts their Worldview, or their Psychology, or, Mindset. Or, their Emotionallandscape…! Or in other words: copingmechanisms! The adaptation of a system, to a change in its environment!)
In short, many great prose stories are showing potential ways, that [bio-psycho-socio-cultural] systems [e.g.: us, humanimals!] can adapt to their environment. …Or, in very short: Evolution!)
Cron (2012) also rightly writes:
In each great chapter of this great book, Cron also really busts some old writing myths:
...Check out the book, it's great...!
Cron also cites my favourite literary scholar, Brian Boyd (whose work hugely influenced my StoryAlity PhD):
And in terms of, a story as a unified whole:
And on theme :
I also (very) often think about Mood, Tone, Atmosphere, Emotion in stories. (...And, in movies!)
So here also, is another great call:
And Cron also notes how Theme comes last, behind character and plot , for the reader:
Lisa Cron: Wired For Story (TED, 2014)
A few more of my favourite quotes from Wired For Story (Cron 2012) are below:
(All aspiring writers should tattoo these behind their eyelids!)
Some are: great `general fiction writing Guidelines / Heuristics'; others are brain science, and how it applies to (or gives insights into) human nature, and `drama', and writing and reading...
All are solid gold, so you should read the book!
----------------------
One of my favourite thinkers is Steven Pinker... Cron notes:
Also Cron points out, all lifeforms are designed as survival machines:
This next one ties into the fact that `g' intelligence (aka I.Q.) is pattern-recognition:
The above point by Cron (2012) reminds me that, (a) we're Ev Psych systems (with IF/THEN rules built in over deep time;
Source: Models of Human Nature, and Ev Psych
Harari also notes in Sapiens (2015) and Homo Deus (2017), that emotions are algorithms )... check out, from the 22 minutes, through to the 27 minutes mark of this great video:
Harari: "What we call emotions are actually: algorithms, calculating probabilities" (@ 26 mins)
...And, moreover, the above quote by Cron (on: ` If, Then, Therefore' algorithms ), also reminds me that (b) we're all probably living in a Sim...
But anyway - moving right along:
But again, a key point is that, solving problems, gives us a drug rush!
So - use that, for your reader's benefit! (And: pleasure!)
...This one (below) is a doozy: Cron has a truly great insight here...
She suggests that the old `rule of thumb', `Show, Don't Tell' is figurative , not literal...(!)
Just: brilliant writing advice!!!
And, the quote below, I like, simply as: I see the world using the Systems View; and Systems (including us humanimals) are, energy, information, and matter. But - all 3 can be `reduced' to: information! (Which is also, why: we're probably, living in a Sim... but anyway!)
Namely, What information does the reader get, and, when (and how) do they get it?
And, what effect will it [each new packet or chunk or even bit/byte of information] have...?
(Which is also why, structure, and, setups & payoffs, and surprises, twists and reversals are: so important! In: masterful storytelling.)
The below is such an important heuristic for: self-editing! (i.e., Your own writing.)
As, this, is actually what my (2016) PhD, on highest vs lowest RoI movie storytelling was all `about'!
Buy it! Read it! (...I'm an Information Scientist, among other things.)
Here is a great one, too:
Buy it! Read it!
(I'm also a Problem-Solving Studyer, among other things.)
Now here comes a fun one:
It's creative writing! (i.e., New, useful, and surprising is: the tripartite definition of creativity.)
e.g. Take an old cliche, and freshen it up!
...I love it. I love, this book.
I love the writing in it.
I heart Lisa Cron. But mainly: her book!
Read it! Buy it!
I love this too:
That's really all you need, to build an Artificial Intelligence.
(Sounds easy, right? In practice, it's: complex!)
Below, I love how Cron defines Pacing;
(it's not just about: alternating "action" scenes with "quiet" ones!)
STORY SECRET: There’s no writing; there’s only rewriting. (Cron 2012, p. 220)
In other words, Creative Practice Theory -!
Source:
Creative Practice Theory
As a writer, you have to learn - and internalize - all the `rules' of writing, through: practise, practise, practise. Until it becomes a reflex action, not a conscious task.
Like, say, doing `drills', in the army, or, when you learn mixed martial arts, or boxing!
In Creativity Science, this process is called `internalizing the domain'...
You have to embed all the rules / skills / moves / techniques in your mind and even body, so you can execute them all together, flawlessly.
Every single sentence is - sometimes - not just doing about ten things at once, sometimes, it's doing hundreds of things all at once!
Of course, if you've done it right, the average reader never even suspects... They just: enjoy the ride!
And Cron even cites `the ten-year rule' in creativity! (Yay!)
(Side Note: When Cron mentions "chunks" above, she means: George Miller's 1956 work on information processing, memory and cognition. Anyway read the book for all the details! - JTV)
...In summation,
I very highly recommend this terrific book, for any prose fiction writer...!
...And, here also, are a few others I would recommend...!
P.S. - I mean, a small caveat: Cron’s (2012) brilliant book is mainly about writing: Novels...…Short stories,may have, slightly-different criteria…!(But, loads of it, also definitely applies!)
...Write On!
And, thanks for reading!
~JTV
-----------------------------
Dr. Joe T. Velikovsky, Ph.D. (Communication & Media Arts)
& High-Movie-RoI Consultant (see: The StoryAlity PhD)
-------------------
`The word communication will be used here in a very broad sense to include all of the procedures by which one mind may affect another. This, of course, involves not only written and oral speech, but also music, the pictorial arts, the theater, the ballet, and in fact all human behavior... The language of this memorandum will often appear to refer to the special, but still very broad and important, field of the communication of speech; but practically everything said applies equally well to music of any sort, and to still or moving pictures, as in television." - The Mathematical Theory of Communication, (Shannon & Weaver 1949, pp. 3-4).
Also:
“I know you think you understand what you thought I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant” - (attributed, and ironically, possibly mistakenly, to: Robert McCloskey, namely the children's book author and illustrator, date of quote unknown)
& this autosig is not even near complete yet, asJT Velikovsky is also a:
Transmedia Writer-Director-Producer: Movies, Games, TV, Theatre, Books, Comics
Transmedia Writing Blog: http://on-writering.blogspot.com.au/
& (High-RoI) Story/Screenplay/Movie Analyst - and Evolutionary Systems TheoristSee: https://storyality.wordpress.com/
& Bio-Culture (Science & the Arts) & Transmedia ResearcherAcademia link: https://aftrs.academia.edu/JTVelikovsky
See, also:
Joe Velikovsky on IMDb:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/joeteevee
Okay - the autosig is over now. You can stop reading.
-----------------------------------------
REFERENCES
I’ve been reading Lisa Cron’s great book, Wired For Story (2012).
...If you’re a fiction writer (e.g. short stories, novels, prose, and even film writers…!), I highly recommend it!

Wired For Story: The Writer's Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence (Cron 2012)
And, I just wanted to note a few pearly-gems of wisdom, from this great book…
Here is, just one:
`As John Irving once said,
“Whenever possible, tell the whole story of the novel in the first sentence.”
Glib? Yeah, okay. But a worthy goal to shoot for.’
(Cron, 2012, p. 17, bold emphasis mine)It strikes me that, this greatadvice (or, heuristic / guideline / rule (of thumb) / algorithmic instruction) is similar to Blake Snyder’s (Save The Cat!) movie-screenwriting advice, of:
Have the Theme of the whole movie story on page 5, spoken out aloud, in a line of dialog…
(Screenwriting guru Syd Field also previously said that the Theme in a movie script should be stated in dialog on page 3, but: whatever. ...Things change! And Story Gurus have different systems.
My own system [ StoryAlityHigh-RoI Movie Screenwriting ] says, the 14% mark (e.g. page 11 of a 90-page movie script) is when the Theme should come out…
So – be all that as it may…)
…In a short story, or a novel, stating the whole story in the first line, is: just a really great trick to do!
…Besides, it’s fun! A cool little writing-challenge! It also solves, the problem of: “What’s my first sentence in this story, going to be?”
(Hint: You can of course, wait till the story is written as a first rough draft, to come back and insert it! In fact, that may even be, a very good `rule of thumb’…)
As a writing mini-task, it also actually makes you work harder(or, maybe not harder, but just: a bit longer?) as a writer, mainly so’s the reader doesn’t have to! When they read that opening line, (well; if you’ve done it right?), they kinda know: where you’re going with this story!
(…just: Not, howyou’ll get there!)
---------------
…But - a Question: (Just playing Devil’s Avocado, now, for a moment)
Wait…Does every great story, ever, do this?
Let's look at some semi-random examples:
“Call me Ishmael.” (…Hmm, well, just in that case, not really?)
“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” (Yes!!)
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” (Yes!!!)
(Source: http://americanbookreview.org/100BestLines.asp...
So - Maybe, as a fun exercise, go to: 100 Best First Lines From Novels ... And see, just how many of them, this John Irving `rule of thumb’ applies to – ?
(Namely: Have the very first line, tell the whole story!)
…Well, so, maybe not every single great (novel) story ever does it, but; Who even cares?
…I love it, and, what’s more,
I am going to do itwhenever I can, from now on! …So there.
It’s like, having a (hyper-compressed!) Abstract, or, a 25-word logline, sort of. But, inside the story!
…Nice! (…Why didn’t I ever read this line of advice, by John Irving before?)
…And/Or, Why didn’t I ever know, or think of (discover) this, myself?
Well anyway, now I do know it! And so do you! So = thank you, Lisa Cron!
And, thank you, brain science! (...Man, I love all that stuff.)
Moving right along - Cron (2012) also rightly notes,
`…here are the three basic things readers relentlessly hunt for, as they read that first page:
1. Whose story is it?
2. What’s happening here?
3. What’s at stake?’
(Cron, 2012, p. 16)Cron then cites a great opening sentence, in this case from Elizabeth George’s novel What Came Before He Shot Her:
“Joel Campbell, eleven years old at the time, began his descent into murder with a bus ride.”
(George, cited by Cron, 2012, p. 18)
Wow!
That opening sentence... sure does hook you right in!
(Well it did, me!)
As Cron notes, it also tells you: Whose story it is (Joel’s), what’s happening, and gives a sense of the stakes… (i.e., somebody got murdered, as that great philosopher, The Clash once said).
Also, I see, the titleof the Elizabeth George novel kind of not only attracts our attention, but gives us a bit of context also. It raises questions, that we want answered! (i.e., “What Came Before He Shot Her”… We wonder: Wait, who,shot who?)
The topic of murdersure seems to get our attention. …Ahem. (See David Buss on human Evolutionary Psychology, and, the things (subjects and topics) which tend to attract most human attention and thus, seem to - most often - get in the news headlines…)
(i.e., Whom got murdered? And, by whom? And, Why? …Wait, could this happen to: me…?)
In one way, the real job of the writer is: to trigger questions in the reader that they want answered.
i.e.: (The below is me, thinking further, on some of Cron 2012)
In a `Love/Romance’ genre story: Will the boy get the girl, and, will they live happily ever after?
In a Crime (and/or Mystery) genre story: Will the murderer be caught?
In…any genre of story: Will, the protagonist(s) achieve their goal, (whatever, thatspecific overall goal, might be…?) …Or, if not, then what? - Is it at least, still, a satisfying story, on some level(s)-?
(As: Tragedies / `unhappy endings’ can be awesome, too. See Hamlet, Manchester By The Sea, The Great Gatsby, and, whatnot.)Anyway, below is another timeless gem, from Cron 2012, about writing a great story:
`Simply put, we are looking for a reason to care.
So for a story to grab us, not only must something be happening, but also there must be a consequence we can anticipate.
As neuroscience reveals, what draws us into a story and keeps us there is the firing of our dopamine neurons, signaling that intriguing information is on its way.’
(Cron, 2012, p. 13)Aw Man: I love neuroscience...
(See my PhD blog! https://storyality.wordpress.com/)
I love Cron’s definitionof story, too:
`So what is a story?
A story is how what happens affects someone who is trying to achieve what turns out to be a difficult goal, and how he or she changes as a result.
Breaking it down in the soothingly familiar parlance of the writing world, this translates to
“What happens” is the plot.
“Someone” is the protagonist.
The “goal” is what’s known as the story question.
And “how he or she changes” is what the story itself is actually about.’
(Cron, 2012, p. 11)This definition is also worth comparing with Jon Gottschall's (The Storytelling Animal, 2012):
`Story = Character + Problem + Attempted Solution’ (Gottschall 2012)Although, I note, not allgreat prose stories are about characters who change, I still really do love this approach in Cron (2012)-!
(As indeed, manygreat stories, are indeed about: Change...! Namely, How, a person adapts / changes / adjusts /shifts their Worldview, or their Psychology, or, Mindset. Or, their Emotionallandscape…! Or in other words: copingmechanisms! The adaptation of a system, to a change in its environment!)
In short, many great prose stories are showing potential ways, that [bio-psycho-socio-cultural] systems [e.g.: us, humanimals!] can adapt to their environment. …Or, in very short: Evolution!)
Cron (2012) also rightly writes:
`As counterintuitive as it may sound, a story is not about the plot or even what happens in it.
Stories are about how we, rather than the world around us, change.
They grab us only when they allow us to experience how it would feel to navigate the plot. Thus story, as we’ll see throughout, is an internal journey, not an external one.’
(Cron, 2012, pp. 11-2)Cron makes another great point:
`Every single thing in a story—including subplots, weather, setting, even tone—must have a clear impact on what the reader is dying to know:
Will the protagonist achieve her goal?
What will it cost her in the process?
How will it change her in the end?
What hooks us, and keeps us reading, is the dopamine-fueled desire to know what happens next.’
(Cron, 2012, p. 20)
In each great chapter of this great book, Cron also really busts some old writing myths:
`MYTH: Beautiful Writing Trumps All
REALITY: Storytelling Trumps Beautiful Writing, Every Time’
(Cron, 2012, p. 20)And Cron also has great (really helpful) checklists, at the end of each chapter!
...Check out the book, it's great...!
Cron also cites my favourite literary scholar, Brian Boyd (whose work hugely influenced my StoryAlity PhD):
`Think of it as the “So what?” factor.
It’s what lets readers in on the point of the story, cluing them in to the relevance of everything that happens in it. Put plainly, it tells them what the story is about.
As literary scholar Brian Boyd so aptly points out, a story with no point of reference leaves the reader with no way of determining what information matters:
Is it: “the color of people’s eyes or their socks? The shape of their noses or their shoes? The number of syllables in their name?”’
(Cron, 2012, pp. 24-5)I love this book! So full of useful writing advice and great wisdom.
And in terms of, a story as a unified whole:
`A story is designed, from beginning to end, to answer a single overarching question.’
(Cron 2012, p. 25)A great heuristic!
And on theme :
`Happily, theme actually boils down to something incredibly simple:
• What does the story tell us about what it means to be human?
• What does it say about how humans react to circumstances beyond their control?
Theme often reveals your take on how an element of human nature—loyalty, suspicion, grit, love—defines human behavior.'
(Cron 2012, pp. 29-30)And Cron has yet more great advice:
`So why not take a second to ask yourself,
What is it I want my readers to walk away thinking about?What point does my story make?How do I want to change the way my reader sees the world?’
(Cron 2012, p. 31)Another myth, busted by Cron:
`Myth: The plot is what the story is about.
Reality: A story is about how the plot affects the protagonist.’ (Cron 2012, p. 31)
I also (very) often think about Mood, Tone, Atmosphere, Emotion in stories. (...And, in movies!)
So here also, is another great call:
`Tone belongs to the author; mood to the reader.'
(Cron 2012, p. 35)
And Cron also notes how Theme comes last, behind character and plot , for the reader:
`...Besides, did you ever go into a bookstore saying to yourself,
What I’d really like is a book about survival and how catastrophes bring out the gumption in some and not in others?
Or I’m dying to curl up with a good book that traces the defects of society back to the defects of human nature?
Or What I’m so in the mood for is a book that is a metaphor for Latin America?
I don’t think so.
Which isn’t to say that you might not leave with Gone with the Wind, Lord of the Flies, or One Hundred Years of Solitude, whose authors, when pressed, described their themes as such.’
(Cron 2012, p 36)As for information-processing, Cron makes another brilliant point :
`In the second it takes you to read this sentence, your senses are showering you with over 11,000,000 pieces of information. Your conscious mind is capable of registering about forty of them.
And when it comes to actually paying attention?
On a good day, you can process seven bits of data at a time.
On a bad day, five.
On one of those days? More like minus three.’
(Cron, 2012, p. 7)Brain science tells us, every single thought or experience is accompanied by emotion:
`According to Damasio, “No set of conscious images of any kind on any topic ever fails to be accompanied by an obedient choir of emotions and consequent feelings.”
If we’re not feeling, we’re not breathing. A neutral protagonist is an automaton.’
(Cron 2012, pp 47-8)Here is Lisa Cron's (great) TED Talk:
Lisa Cron: Wired For Story (TED, 2014)
A few more of my favourite quotes from Wired For Story (Cron 2012) are below:
(All aspiring writers should tattoo these behind their eyelids!)
Some are: great `general fiction writing Guidelines / Heuristics'; others are brain science, and how it applies to (or gives insights into) human nature, and `drama', and writing and reading...
All are solid gold, so you should read the book!
----------------------
`The bigger the word, the less emotion it conveys.' (Cron 2012, p. 63)This is a great one. i.e., Never use a long word, when a short one will do the trick. (Well; unless for some reason, you really want to avoid conveying emotion! Which can be fine; in its place!)
One of my favourite thinkers is Steven Pinker... Cron notes:
`Steven Pinker defines intelligent life as “using knowledge of how things work to attain goals in the face of obstacles.”’ (Cron 2012, p. 66)I'm always interested in definitions of intelligence, mainly due to: my fascination with intelligence (`g'), multiple intelligences (e.g. see Howard Gardner), and, Artificial Intelligence...! (JTV)
`As Pinker is quick to point out, without a goal, everything is meaningless.' (Cron 2012, p. 67)In other words, as Popper notes: Life creates Values, and Values create Goals.
Also Cron points out, all lifeforms are designed as survival machines:
`Remember, we’re hardwired to instantly evaluate everything in life on the basis of: is it safe or not?’ (Cron 2012, p. 105)
`In order to survive, we’re wired to draw conclusions about everything we see, whether or not we have all–or any–of the facts…’ (Cron 2012, p. 85)The above is a serious cognitive bias, which causes a great many problems!
`Scenery without subtext is a travelogue.' (Cron 2012, p. 123)The above is just a great reminder that scenery description (in fiction) can get boring fast, unless it serves a real story purpose!
`Story is about how we handle the conflict of: the battle between fear and desire.’ (Cron 2012, p. 126)Side Note: Stanley Kubrick's first feature film was called Fear and Desire ! (Another Side Note: It wasn't very good, but that's not the point. Or, maybe it is the point... Even creative geniuses take time to learn the storytelling craft! And, have to learn via Theory, Trial and Error, what works. In short, even in the Arts, all of life is doing science. ...For real!)
This next one ties into the fact that `g' intelligence (aka I.Q.) is pattern-recognition:
`...the brain is wired to hunt for meaningful patterns in everything, the better to predict what will happen next based on the repetition or the alteration of the pattern (which means, first and foremost, that there need to be meaningful patterns for the reader to find).’ (Cron 2012, p. 131)
`We’re hardwired to love problem solving; when we figure something out, the brain releases an intoxicating rush of neurotransmitters that say, “Good job!” The pleasure of story is trying to figure out what’s really going on (which means that stories that ignore the first two facts tend to offer the reader no pleasure at all).’ (Cron 2012, pp. 131-2)In other words, Popper was always right: All Life Is Problem Solving (1999)...
`Those who are truly brave tend not to see themselves as brave at all.’ (Cron 2012, p 135)The above is just a great observation about Human Nature. Like, a proverb! Good to remember when depicting any brave character in your writing.
`...the three dreaded Cs: a convenience, a contrivance, or a coincidence.’ (Cron 2012, p. 137)Yikes! The above is just a great point about 3 `pitfalls' for early-career writers to avoid. They can "break" your story for the reader. (In: a big, bad way.)
`The good news is, when it comes to keeping your story on track, it boils down to the mantra if, then, therefore.
If I put my hand in the fire (action), thenI’ll get burned (reaction). Therefore, I’d better not put my hand in the fire (decision).
Action, reaction, decision—it’s what drives a story forward.’ (Cron 2012, p. 147)I LOVE THIS...
The above point by Cron (2012) reminds me that, (a) we're Ev Psych systems (with IF/THEN rules built in over deep time;

Source: Models of Human Nature, and Ev Psych
Harari also notes in Sapiens (2015) and Homo Deus (2017), that emotions are algorithms )... check out, from the 22 minutes, through to the 27 minutes mark of this great video:
Harari: "What we call emotions are actually: algorithms, calculating probabilities" (@ 26 mins)
So then... the real `trick' - as a fiction writer - is: How do you trigger the right algorithms (the right: emotions) in your reader...?
...And, moreover, the above quote by Cron (on: ` If, Then, Therefore' algorithms ), also reminds me that (b) we're all probably living in a Sim...
But anyway - moving right along:
`…the pleasure doesn’t come from the joy of reading a compelling story as much as from having solved a difficult problem, which is genuinely intoxicating. ’ (Cron 2012, p. 150)The above makes more sense in context; so, read the book!
But again, a key point is that, solving problems, gives us a drug rush!
So - use that, for your reader's benefit! (And: pleasure!)
...This one (below) is a doozy: Cron has a truly great insight here...
She suggests that the old `rule of thumb', `Show, Don't Tell' is figurative , not literal...(!)
`MYTH: "Show, Don't Tell" is literal - Don't tell me John is sad, show him crying.
REALITY: "Show, Don't Tell" is figurative - Don't tell me John is sad, show me why he's sad.'...Which, is a major insight, in my view!
(Cron 2012, p. 152)
Just: brilliant writing advice!!!
And, the quote below, I like, simply as: I see the world using the Systems View; and Systems (including us humanimals) are, energy, information, and matter. But - all 3 can be `reduced' to: information! (Which is also, why: we're probably, living in a Sim... but anyway!)
`As with life, new information causes us to re-evaluate the meaning and emotional weight of all that preceded it, and to see the future with fresh eyes.
In a story, it influences how we interpret every single thing that happens—how we read every nuance—and in so doing raises specific expectations about what might occur in the future.’ (Cron 2012, p. 161)The brain is designed as a prediction machine (to help us: survive and replicate). And, in a sense, all storytelling is just about managing information:
Namely, What information does the reader get, and, when (and how) do they get it?
And, what effect will it [each new packet or chunk or even bit/byte of information] have...?
(Which is also why, structure, and, setups & payoffs, and surprises, twists and reversals are: so important! In: masterful storytelling.)
The below is such an important heuristic for: self-editing! (i.e., Your own writing.)
`A digression is any piece of information that we don’t need and therefore don’t know what to do with.' (Cron 2012, p. 164)And omg, I LOVE this one (below)...
As, this, is actually what my (2016) PhD, on highest vs lowest RoI movie storytelling was all `about'!
`There’s an old saying:
`Good judgment comes from experience; experience comes from bad judgment.’
The trouble is, bad judgment can be deadly.'I also love the truth and simplicity (thus: beauty) of this:
(Cron 2012, p. 167)
`Information is currency.' (Cron 2012, p. 174)...Did I mention, how much I love this book?
Buy it! Read it! (...I'm an Information Scientist, among other things.)
Here is a great one, too:
`In the beginning, no-one ever spends more than the minimum effort required to solve a problem.
But honestly, can you remember the last time the smallest amount of effort solved anything?’ (Cron 2012, p. 176)Ahem... Did I mention, how much I love this book?
Buy it! Read it!
(I'm also a Problem-Solving Studyer, among other things.)
Now here comes a fun one:
`There’s no such thing as a free lunch–unless it’s poisoned.’ (Cron 2012, p. 178)Check out the above... It's what Pinker (2015) and Thomas and Turner (2017) call `Classic' Style writing...
It's creative writing! (i.e., New, useful, and surprising is: the tripartite definition of creativity.)
e.g. Take an old cliche, and freshen it up!
...I love it. I love, this book.
I love the writing in it.
I heart Lisa Cron. But mainly: her book!
Read it! Buy it!
`The most basic way to get someone’s attention is this: to break a pattern.' (Cron 2012, p. 187)The above, from Cron's Chapter 10, is all about: Setups and Payoffs. Fantastic stuff!
I love this too:
`Memories aren’t just for reminiscing. They never were. Memories are for navigating the now.’ (Cron 2012, p 201)The human brain is about: memory, computation, and learning.
That's really all you need, to build an Artificial Intelligence.
(Sounds easy, right? In practice, it's: complex!)
Below, I love how Cron defines Pacing;
(it's not just about: alternating "action" scenes with "quiet" ones!)
`Pacing is the length of time between moments of conflict.’ (Cron 2012, p. 204)And - I also really love this one:
`Ch 12 – The Writer’s Brain on StoryCOGNITIVE SECRET: It takes long-term, conscious effort to hone a skill before the brain assigns it to the cognitive unconscious.
STORY SECRET: There’s no writing; there’s only rewriting. (Cron 2012, p. 220)
In other words, Creative Practice Theory -!

As a writer, you have to learn - and internalize - all the `rules' of writing, through: practise, practise, practise. Until it becomes a reflex action, not a conscious task.
Like, say, doing `drills', in the army, or, when you learn mixed martial arts, or boxing!
In Creativity Science, this process is called `internalizing the domain'...
You have to embed all the rules / skills / moves / techniques in your mind and even body, so you can execute them all together, flawlessly.
Every single sentence is - sometimes - not just doing about ten things at once, sometimes, it's doing hundreds of things all at once!
Of course, if you've done it right, the average reader never even suspects... They just: enjoy the ride!
And Cron even cites `the ten-year rule' in creativity! (Yay!)
`...Nobel laureate Herbert Simon estimates that it takes about ten years to really master a subject. By then we've gathered upward of fifty thousand "chunks" of knowledge which the brain has deftly indexed so our cognitive unconscious can access each chunk on its own whenever necessary.'
(Cron 2012, p. 221)
(Side Note: When Cron mentions "chunks" above, she means: George Miller's 1956 work on information processing, memory and cognition. Anyway read the book for all the details! - JTV)
...In summation,
I very highly recommend this terrific book, for any prose fiction writer...!

...And, here also, are a few others I would recommend...!
P.S. - I mean, a small caveat: Cron’s (2012) brilliant book is mainly about writing: Novels...…Short stories,may have, slightly-different criteria…!(But, loads of it, also definitely applies!)
...Write On!
And, thanks for reading!
~JTV
-----------------------------
Dr. Joe T. Velikovsky, Ph.D. (Communication & Media Arts)
& High-Movie-RoI Consultant (see: The StoryAlity PhD)
-------------------
`The word communication will be used here in a very broad sense to include all of the procedures by which one mind may affect another. This, of course, involves not only written and oral speech, but also music, the pictorial arts, the theater, the ballet, and in fact all human behavior... The language of this memorandum will often appear to refer to the special, but still very broad and important, field of the communication of speech; but practically everything said applies equally well to music of any sort, and to still or moving pictures, as in television." - The Mathematical Theory of Communication, (Shannon & Weaver 1949, pp. 3-4).
Also:
“I know you think you understand what you thought I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant” - (attributed, and ironically, possibly mistakenly, to: Robert McCloskey, namely the children's book author and illustrator, date of quote unknown)
& this autosig is not even near complete yet, asJT Velikovsky is also a:
Transmedia Writer-Director-Producer: Movies, Games, TV, Theatre, Books, Comics
Transmedia Writing Blog: http://on-writering.blogspot.com.au/
& (High-RoI) Story/Screenplay/Movie Analyst - and Evolutionary Systems TheoristSee: https://storyality.wordpress.com/
& Bio-Culture (Science & the Arts) & Transmedia ResearcherAcademia link: https://aftrs.academia.edu/JTVelikovsky
See, also:
Joe Velikovsky on IMDb:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/joeteevee
Okay - the autosig is over now. You can stop reading.
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REFERENCES
Published on October 02, 2018 08:24
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