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Story Genius by Lisa Cron (PART 3: CREATING AN EXTERNAL GAUNTLET TO SPUR…
Story Genius by Lisa Cron
PART 3: CREATING AN EXTERNAL GAUNTLET TO SPUR YOUR PROTAGONIST'S INTERNAL STRUGGLE
GOING BACK TO MOVE FORWARD: HOW TO HARVEST THE PAST TO MOVE THE PLOT FORWARD.
STORY LOGIC: MAKE SURE EACH "WHAT" HAS A "WHY"
BUILDING YOUR BLUEPRINT: HOW TO KEEP TRACK OF ALL THE MOVING PARTS.
THE SECRET TO LAYERING: SUBPLOTS, STORYLINES, AND SECONDARY CHARACTERS
THE REAL "AHA!" MOMENT: WHERE WILL YOUR STORY END?
WRITING FORWARD: STORIES GROW IN SPIRALS.
THE OPENING: OF YOUR NOVEL AND THE STORY GENIUS BLUEPRINTING SYSTEM.
Part 1: WHAT A STORY IS AND ISN'T
Story: The Brain's Decoder Ring
How Story Hacks the Reader's Brain
Stories install meaning by allowing us to feel it ourselves.
We don't turn to story to escape Reality.
We turn to Story to
navigate
Reality.
It's
emotion
, not logic, that telegraphs
meaning.
What a Story Really is.
Story must entertain.
In a nutshell: A story is about how the things that happen affect someone in pursuit of a difficult goal, and how that person changes
internally
as a result.
"Think of the protagonist’s internal struggle as the novel’s live wire. It’s exactly like the third rail on a subway train—the electrified rail that supplies the juice that drives the cars forward. Without it, that train, no matter how well constructed, just sits…"
"And that internal change? That, my friends is what the story is actually about: how your protagonist's external dilemma - aka the plot - changes her worldview."
"We don't come to story simply to watch the events unfold; we come to experience them through the protagonist's eyes, as she struggles with what to do next."
The Hardwired Purpose of Story
World's first VR that allowed us to plan for the thing that has always scared us: the unknown, the unexpected.
Myths Galore: Everything we were led to believe about story
Myth of the Shitty First Draft.
The Myth of Plotting.
Myth of Pantsing.
The Myth of External Story Structure Models.
Myth of Great Writing.
"You Can't Have an After Without a Before."
PART 2: CREATING THE INSIDE STORY
THE WHY: WHY EXACTLY DOES YOUR PROTAGONIST CARE?
THE WORLDVIEW: YOUR PROTAGONIST'S, THAT IS
THE WHO: WHOSE LIFE WILL YOU UTTERLY UPEND?
WHAT NEXT? THE BEAUTY OF CAUSE AND EFFECT.
THE WHAT IF? EXPECTATION, BROKEN!
THE WHEN: THE OFFER YOUR PROTAGONIST CAN'T REFUSE