Story Grid Writing Podcast

We all hit those times where we don't know whether to rework what we've written or keeping pushing forward. Shawn talks Tim through this decision.

After hearing the listener messages from the 100th episode, Shawn reflects on what the last two years have meant to him... and then we dive back into my story.

In this 100th episode of the Story Grid Podcast, we here from you the listeners about what this show has meant to you over the last two years.

Are you doing NaNoWriMo next month? If so, you should be getting ready NOW. Shawn walks you through how to use the Story Grid to prepare for writing an entire novel in one month.

Discover insights on overcoming obstacles in writing, exploring different plot structures, the importance of genre choice in storytelling, and the role of commercial considerations. The hosts also share their excitement for writing and upcoming episode celebration.

As Tim finished up the Beginning Hook and enters the Middle Build, a very important question comes to light. Download Tim's Beginning Hook.

This is episode 96. We're almost to the two year anniversary of the show. Tim spends a bit of time reflecting on the past, present, and future of the Story Grid Podcast. To share your story, visit: http://storygrid.com/tell

Shawn continues answering questions from listeners about genre, the hero's journey, and more. Questions answered in this episode: Can the mentor also be the villain? Practical ways to workshop and come up with story ideas and to find inspiration. What core components make up a story premise? How can I use the Story Grid methodology in relation to short story? What novels do you recommend for studying the Redemption Plot and the Education Plot? Shawn and Steven Pressfield have worked together on many epic war novels. What are the obligatory scenes and conventions of the war genre? In the horror genre you put aliens under both uncanny and supernatural, is that because it depends on how they will be viewed in the story?

Tim continues throwing your story questions at Shawn. Submit your questions for future episodes at twitter.com/storygrid. Can you talk more about the Society genre, please? Does this lend itself better to a mini-plot story (with multiple protagonists) than an arch-plot story? How do you go to "the end of the line" in a story like The Accidental Tourist? Clearly, the stakes are not life or death, so how do you show a fate worse than death? How do we track sub-plot on the one-page Foolscap Global Story Grid? Or, do we track them at all? In the Action genre, Clock subgenre, the book gives four sub-subgenres with different villain types driving the plot: Ransom, Holdout, Countdown, and Fate. In Fate, Time itself is the villain, and the example is Back to the Future. Does that last one apply only to time-travel stories? How do “Time” and “Circumstances” differ as clock devices/villains? Is deus ex machina ever a good thing? What are the values at stake for a non-fiction? What do recommend writers do about writer’s block? What has Shawn learned through this process? Has he changed his mind about anything since working with Tim? Is there an ideal time to engage an editor and/or beta readers?

A Q&A with Shawn Coyne. Tim took questions from Twitter and Facebook and spends an hour going through them with Shawn. Questions asked: Can you tell us how making a story with multiple protagonists works with the hero's journey? Like in Game of Thrones? In a love story, does the All Is Lost scene necessarily have to the be Lovers Break Up scene? Global Value Shifts: In The Story Grid, you give two core values per internal and external genre. For example, the core values for thrillers life/death, and for maturation it's naivete/worldiness. However, when we actually start to plot our stories, the move from one value to another is gradual. That is the value shift moves from life to unconsciousness to death to damnation (THRILLER) and naivete masked as sophistication to naivete to cognitive dissonance to sophistication (MATURATION). Is this value progression consistent within a genre? That is, do all thrillers follow the same progression as Silence of the Lambs, or is it only the life/death that is consistent. Likewise, would all maturation plots follow the progression you outline for Pride & Prejudice, or is it only naivete/worldiness that is consistent? I would love to Shawn to explain the difference between the Worldview sub-genres, and the subtleties between what makes one maturation vs education for example. So often a character learns something, some lesson or comes to greater understanding about a truth but I have trouble differentiating if it's a maturation vs education vs revelation. Kramer vs Kramer for example...is this an education plot? How evenly would you space the K-Ross points through a story? Does it even matter? Or are they just guidelines for the emotional arc?