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Story Line: Finding Gold in Your Life Story
"Story Finding Gold in Your Life Story" is a practical and spiritual guide to drawing upon your own story and fictionalizing it into your writing. As a Story Consultant and former VP of Current Programs at CBS/Paramount, most of the author’s work with writers has focused on creating standout scripts by elevating story.
- GenresWritingNonfiction
258 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 2011
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184 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 12, 2011
If you are a screen writer or aspiring to be one, I highly recommend you read this book. For myself it has helped improve my script but also one of the big things it did was reaffirm for me that what I had written was really solid.
One of the surprising things for me was that there is a real warmth to this book. You can feel the caring that the author has for her readers and the love she has for the craft. She wants to help. I have read other books about screen writing and found them to be much more dry. This book is written in such a caring way and the film examples are such that any movie fan should be able to relate.
The book also gave me ideas for even more scripts which was a wonderful surprise. It is encouraging, educational and inspiring. We all have a story. Some of us have stories more interesting than others but after reading the book I realized that within all of us lie many screenplays. This book will help you to write them.
One of the surprising things for me was that there is a real warmth to this book. You can feel the caring that the author has for her readers and the love she has for the craft. She wants to help. I have read other books about screen writing and found them to be much more dry. This book is written in such a caring way and the film examples are such that any movie fan should be able to relate.
The book also gave me ideas for even more scripts which was a wonderful surprise. It is encouraging, educational and inspiring. We all have a story. Some of us have stories more interesting than others but after reading the book I realized that within all of us lie many screenplays. This book will help you to write them.
January 19, 2012
I've chatted with Jen online many times and listened to her interviews of well know Hollywood insiders. She has an interesting story herself. Because of that, after years of working with Aaron Spelling as his assistant, she had to make her own way. And so she did, inventing her own career. I have a friend who is at a crossroad in her life and wanted to write a book and this book of Jen's was my first thought for her. She bought it and we are about to see how it has affected her. But it's that kind of a book, especially for writer types, but not necessarily so. I've never read a book before quite like it. Not that it is a perfect book but she has a way of telling you things that is in some way healing and helpful.
October 30, 2022
This 226-page book was published eleven years ago and still remains pertinent. Grisanti has a background of twelve years as a studio executive mentored by Aaron Spelling, working as Vice President of Current Programs at CBS/Paramount, and serving as a mentor for the CBS Diversity Program. She launched her own company (Jen Grisanti Consultancy Inc.) in 2008 and was hired to be the Writing Instructor at NBC’s Writers on the Verge. She is also a blogger for the Huffington Post.
The foundation for this book is to deepen a writer’s writing skills and increase your audience’s connection with your story. This is accomplished by each writer calling on their own life experiences to add depth and reality to their stories.
The book is divided into four sections: Set Up (the universal life moments that start the story), Dilemma (establishing the character’s dilemma and a clear goal for them), Action (how the character’s strong dilemma and a clear goal lead their central character into action), and Goal (what the character’s life is like after attaining their goal).
This book is aimed at scriptwriting, but I believe that the concepts can be used in any genre of writing. I am a pantser that writes flash fiction and cozy mysteries, and I took a great deal away with me after reading this book. Using my own life experiences as a springboard for my writing will make blocking out my stories easier and has already given me more confidence in what I am writing.
This book is an excellent guide for writing and decision-making, as well as for focusing on the process without getting lost in it. Bottom line – as writers, we have to do the work!
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is willing to get in touch with their own life experiences, wants to make a living as a writer, and wants to connect with their audiences in a strong fashion. This book is for all writers, not just screenwriters.
The foundation for this book is to deepen a writer’s writing skills and increase your audience’s connection with your story. This is accomplished by each writer calling on their own life experiences to add depth and reality to their stories.
The book is divided into four sections: Set Up (the universal life moments that start the story), Dilemma (establishing the character’s dilemma and a clear goal for them), Action (how the character’s strong dilemma and a clear goal lead their central character into action), and Goal (what the character’s life is like after attaining their goal).
This book is aimed at scriptwriting, but I believe that the concepts can be used in any genre of writing. I am a pantser that writes flash fiction and cozy mysteries, and I took a great deal away with me after reading this book. Using my own life experiences as a springboard for my writing will make blocking out my stories easier and has already given me more confidence in what I am writing.
This book is an excellent guide for writing and decision-making, as well as for focusing on the process without getting lost in it. Bottom line – as writers, we have to do the work!
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is willing to get in touch with their own life experiences, wants to make a living as a writer, and wants to connect with their audiences in a strong fashion. This book is for all writers, not just screenwriters.
June 25, 2023
Fantastic book! Reread it and it hits home more now than the first time I read it. Feels really empowering in terms of the purpose of stories and writers.
The core of the book, of course, is to think about your own life-changing moments and the emotions that went with it, and to use those emotions in stories, instead of using the real events. That is also an option, of course, but if you don’t like to write about yourself (like me), fictionalizing the emotions seems like a great idea!
The book rather assumes a planned and structured, well thought-over way of writing, whereas I write in an intuitive way, but I’m sure it will resonate.
So, very inspiring, very clear and useful story examples. That the examples are from screenwriting and not from books makes no difference to me.
There are also lots of clarifying and moving personal stories from the author, that make the book also personal for me. Thank you, Jen Grisanti!
The core of the book, of course, is to think about your own life-changing moments and the emotions that went with it, and to use those emotions in stories, instead of using the real events. That is also an option, of course, but if you don’t like to write about yourself (like me), fictionalizing the emotions seems like a great idea!
The book rather assumes a planned and structured, well thought-over way of writing, whereas I write in an intuitive way, but I’m sure it will resonate.
So, very inspiring, very clear and useful story examples. That the examples are from screenwriting and not from books makes no difference to me.
There are also lots of clarifying and moving personal stories from the author, that make the book also personal for me. Thank you, Jen Grisanti!
April 11, 2025
A great way of inserting your own emations into your work to create story. Jen is a great resource for all writers--not just female.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews