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  • 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)
  • Written by: Lisa Cron
  • Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
  • Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
  • 3.7 out of 5 stars (3 ratings)

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Story Genius

Written by: Lisa Cron
Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
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Publisher's Summary

Following on the heels of Lisa Cron's breakout first book, Wired for Story, this writing guide reveals how to use cognitive storytelling strategies to build a scene-by-scene blueprint for a riveting story. 

It's every novelist's greatest fear: pouring their blood, sweat, and tears into writing hundreds of pages only to realize that their story has no sense of urgency, no internal logic, and so is a page-one rewrite. 

The prevailing wisdom in the writing community is that there are just two ways around this problem: pantsing (winging it) and plotting (focusing on the external plot). Story coach Lisa Cron has spent her career discovering why these methods don't work and coming up with a powerful alternative, based on the science behind what our brains are wired to crave in every story we read (and it’s not what you think). 

In Story Genius, Cron takes you, step by step, through the creation of a novel from the first glimmer of an idea, to a complete, multilayered blueprint - including fully realized scenes - that evolves into a first draft with the authority, richness, and command of a riveting sixth or seventh draft.

©2016 Lisa Cron (P)2020 Random House Audio

Critic Reviews

"Using brain science, Cron busts the myths of good writing to help you find the real story behind all that plot and metaphor." (The Writer)

"In [Cron's] new book, Story Genius, she picks up the...theme...that a protagonist's internal struggle makes the story work, and offers step-by-step advice on how to exploit this truth about neuroscience for richer, deeper, better first drafts.... Cron provides exercises and examples to keep writers on track, always highlighting the fact that emotions engage the brain faster than anything else.... The concepts are easy to understand and they are certainly important. Even if you can't go on a retreat, you should try to find time to do the exercises for your own blueprint." (PsychologyToday.com)

"It's a simple question: 'How do you write an effective, engaging story?' Ask Lisa Cron. An accomplished author and story coach, she has just published her second book, Story Genius. A manual of sorts, it teaches cognitive storytelling strategies and uses actual brain science to help make its readers into better writers." (Creative Screenwriting)

What listeners say about Story Genius

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Getting inside the physiology of a story

Not an easy task but this writer does it with aplomb... and the narrator definitely adds value to every nuance that is explained. Loved this audio book.

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Good book, misleading promotion

This book isn't all that different from other writing out there. The description implies there would be psychological insights, but there's very little of that. A lot of time is spent on what doesn't work. More is spent on going through the process of crafting a book, but there is very little content that could be considered psychology or science. It is just another method of structuring a book that centers the story around characters. It is good, but has next to nothing to do with brain science beyond presenting the structure in a logical format.

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