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

all protagonists stand on the threshold of the novel they’re about to be flung into with two things about to burn a hole in their pocket: 1. A deep-seated desire—something they’ve wanted for a very long time. 2. A defining misbelief that stands in the way of achieving that desire. This is where the fear that’s holding them back comes from. Taken together, these two warring elements will become your novel’s third rail, the live wire that everything that happens must touch, creating the emotional jolt that forces your protagonist to struggle as he tries to figure out what to do. This is what lets us know what matters most to him; it’s the emotional yardstick by which readers will measure the meaning of every event, every plot twist, every turn, allowing them to anticipate how he will react. So that you can lay down your novel’s third rail, let’s dig a little deeper and define exactly what that desire and that misbelief-driven fear might look like.