Wired for Story: The Writer's Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence

by Lisa Cron

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.

“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.

1. Whose story is it? 2. What’s happening here? 3. What’s at stake?

First drafts count, even if they’re usually pretty bad. But remember, there’s a huge difference between “trying hard” (which you want to do) and “trying to make it perfect from the first word on” (which is impossible and just might shut you down).