Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel (Before You Waste Three Years Writing 327 Pages That Go Nowhere)

by Lisa Cron

The purpose of story—of every story—is to help us interpret, and anticipate, the actions of ourselves and of others.

What happens in the story is the plot, the surface events of the novel. It is not the same thing as what the story is about.

Story is about what happens internally, not externally.

What If must revolve around something unexpected that throws a monkey wrench into someone’s well-laid plans;

Your Protagonist’s Brain Is Your Reader’s Portal

The past is never dead. It isn’t even past. —WILLIAM FAULKNER

The very specific worldview you’re going to unearth is the lens through which your protagonist will see and evaluate everything in your novel.

“write what you know” really means is, write what you know emotionally.

Fear sits right there next to longing.

You Must Get Emotion onto Every Page

Ask “Why?” of everything, and don’t stop asking until you’ve chased it down to its most story-specific, flesh-and-blood, “close your eyes and you can see it unfold” origin and there is not another “Why” to ask.

Ask “And so?” of everything. And so, why does my reader need to know this? And so, how does this move the story forward? And so, what will happen as a result? In other words: What. Is. The. Point? Harsh as it sounds, this question is your most stalwart friend; it will never pull punches, and it will often reward you with a revelatory, story-specific insight that you’d never have gotten to otherwise.