Lisa Cron - Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel

W hats the biggest mistake writers make? This is the question Ive been asked most frequently over the years. The answer is easy: they dont know what a story is. So even though they have a great idea, their prose is gorgeous, and theres a lot of action, theres no real story, and so no driving sense of urgency, which translates to: no readers.

The result? Countless writers end up heartbroken because no matter how hard they work, how many writing workshops they take, how many degrees they earn, they still cant get an agent, cant get a book deal, and if they decide to self-publish (in order to show those talent-blind publishing bigwigs a thing or two), they cant get anyone other than their friends and family to buy their book. The statistics can be scary. In 2012, the New York Times reported that most self-published books sell fewer than 150 copies; surveys reveal that agents reject over 96 percent of the submissions they receive (personally, Id put the number even higher). So its no surprise that writers end up disappointed, sad, and sometimes even a tad bitter. Worse, theyre convinced that their failure proves one thing only: they have no talent.

Thats when that internal voice we all have, the one that pretends to have our best interest at heart, moves in for the kill. Whatever made me think I could be a writer? I should give it up immediately and express my creativity some other way. LikeI dont knowinterpretive dance. Dont! Not only because chances are you do have the talent, but seriously, the world has way too many interpretive dancers as it is.

Heres the truth: not understanding how story really works is not your fault. Its on a par with not knowing exactly how your body absorbs the nutrients in the food you eat. You know that it does, and if you took high school biology, you probably remember that it has something to do with cells and membranes and amino acids, but the how of it is invisible (thank heaven). The same is true of the effect that storyall storieshave on you, and even more surprising, why they have that effect.

This book is designed to help you crack the story code, and make what was invisible, visiblenot to mention eminently doable. It will turn you into a Story Genius. It will show you, step by step, how to craft a blueprint for your story that will set you up for success from the get-go. It will also drastically cut down on rewriting timeand its the only thing that will. Youll not only hook readers from the very first sentence, but your novelor screenplay, play, or short storywill be deeper, richer, and more compelling than anything youve written before. How can I be sure? Because were not talking about some new flavor-of-the-month writing system conjured out of thin air. Were talking brain science.

Humans are wired for story. We hunt for and respond to certain specific things in every story we hear, watch, or readand theyre the exact same specific things, regardless of the genre. Why is this so? Because story is the language of the brain. We think in story. The brain evolved to use story as its go-to decoder ring for reality, and so were really expert at probing stories for specific meaning and specific infoand I mean all of us, beginning at birth. Even a kindergartner recognizes an effective story, because its built into the architecture of the brain. Story is how we make sense of the world around us; its a system that predates written language by eons. Heck, before spoken language, we grunted and signed in story. Id wager that early in the morning, the cranky among us still do.

Because our response to story is hardwired, its not something we have to learn or even think about, which is why we are often unaware of the power story has over us. When a story grabs you, youre in its sway, no questions asked. You may have heard the oft-expressed sentiment that getting lost in a good story demands a willing suspension of disbelief. In fact, this couldnt be less true, because it implies we have a choice as to whether we fall under the spell of a captivating story. We dont have a choice. The power story has over us is biological. But while responding to story is hardwired, creating a story is not. As the great Southern writer Flannery OConnor once noted, Most people know what a story is until they sit down to write one. But heres the part she missed: before we can learn to write a story, we have to know what a story actually is. That is, we have to know whats really hooking and holding readers.

The problem is that most writers mistake story for the things we can see on the page: the stunning prose, the authoritative voice, the intense and exciting plot, the clever structure. Its a very natural mistake, and a crippling one. Because while no one could deny that all those things are important, they lack the crucial element that gives a story meaning and brings it to life.

What drives a story forward is, at first blush, invisible. Its not talent. Its not voice. Its not the plot. Think electricity. The same way even the most powerful lamp is useless unless its plugged in, a story cant engage readers without the electricity that illuminates the plot, the voice, and the talent, bringing them to life.

The question is: what, specifically, generates that juice?

The answer is: it flows directly from how the protagonist is making sense of whats happening, how she struggles with, evaluates, and weighs what matters most to her, and then makes hard decisions, moving the action forward. This is not a general struggle, but one based on the protagonists impossible goal: to achieve her desire and remain true to the fear thats keeping her from it. As well explore in detail, story is not about the plot, or what happens. Story is about how the things that happen in the plot affect the protagonist, and how he or she changes internally as a result.

Think of the protagonists internal struggle as the novels live wire. Its exactly like the third rail on a subway trainthe electrified rail that supplies the juice that drives the cars forward. Without it, that train, no matter how well constructed, just sits there, idling in neutral, annoying everyone, especially at rush hour. Ultimately, all stories are character drivenyes, all stories, including 50 Shades of Grey, A Is for Alibi, Die Hard, War and Peace, The Goldfinch, and The Little Engine That Could.

In a novel, everythingaction, plot, even the sensory detailsmust touch the storys third rail in order to have meaning and emotional impact. Anything that doesnt impact the protagonists internal struggle, regardless of how beautifully written or objectively dramatic it is, will stop the story cold, breaking the spell that captivated readers, and unceremoniously catapulting them back into their own lives.