The Secrets of Story by Matt Bird was a game-changing book for me as a writer. I've read so many craft books on writing, and none of them came close to having such a useful impact on me as this one. This book focuses on what things make a good story into a great story - how theme and irony can elevate your story. It goes through in detailed actionable steps how to take all the disparate pieces of a story and turn them into an impacting experience for the reader. So many craft books I've read go over the same material and a lot of it reads as a how to with character, plot, dialog, etc - much like as an artist, I learned basics like light and shading and how to draw an egg realistically - instead this book zoomed out and felt like it was teaching me composition. What shapes and values do you design in a painting to make it beautiful and impacting. What shapes and values do you give a story to make it meaningful and impacting? I highly recommend this book!
Coming back to say I decided to give Story Genius a shot, and never heard of it, and I am finally breaking out of my stuckness with the 40,0000 word book I had been working on, thank you for helping me get to these breakthroughs!
Cats truly are angels on earth. I am 100% serious when I say I couldn't have written my novel without the support of my cat. lol. Hope you find those craft books helpful!
I usually don't deal in books on how to write books-not because I'm trying to reinvent the wheel and do something out of the ordinary/subversive so as to say "I'm too good for that" or "The masters of literature didn't need all these kinds of books-why should I?" The risk of being branded a troll aside (lol), one writing book that I highly recommend is "I Give You My Body" by Diana Gabaldon. It's an ebook she wrote on how to write s*x scenes using examples from her books.
Hearing you describe "Writing Down the Bones" reminded me of "The Emotional Craft of Fiction" by Donald Maass. Have you read this one? It's my favorite!
I’ve heard that if you plot your novel using the 15-beat structure from Save The Cat, that will peg you as a new unexperienced writer and might be a red flag for agents. Is that true? Did you use the 15-beat structure?
I don't think this is true at all. Having a plot that alternatives pinch-points and plot points drives narrative tension and creates a page-turner. And every agent wants to work with a page-turner, because page-turners make $$$!
I love Save the Cat! and Story Genius...I am currently reading Bird by Bird per your recommendation and can't wait to read the final one as well. I'm having a harder time finding newly released lighthearted crossover (New Adult) fiction that isn't primarily about the romance but more on the rites of passage arc. Any recommendations anyone?
I totally get that! I often find that, when I revisit a book - especially a craft book - later, it sometimes reads entirely differently to me than the first time and I end up loving it. I wonder if that will be the case for you and Story Genius!
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Want the full list of my favorite writer resources? Get it here: www.laurenkaywrites.com/writer-toolkit
David Farland's "Million Dollar Outlines" is great. He gets into the try/fail cycle and how stories can resonate with readers. RIP man.
I haven't read this one - will have to check it out!
Thank you for giving so much of your time. I enjoy your presentation style and your content.
Thank you so much! I actually took public speaking classes a while back. So I'm glad they worked -- haha!
@@laurenkaywrites please recommend books for non fictional ❤
@@neerajs.kholiya3934 working on this :)
The Secrets of Story by Matt Bird was a game-changing book for me as a writer. I've read so many craft books on writing, and none of them came close to having such a useful impact on me as this one. This book focuses on what things make a good story into a great story - how theme and irony can elevate your story. It goes through in detailed actionable steps how to take all the disparate pieces of a story and turn them into an impacting experience for the reader.
So many craft books I've read go over the same material and a lot of it reads as a how to with character, plot, dialog, etc - much like as an artist, I learned basics like light and shading and how to draw an egg realistically - instead this book zoomed out and felt like it was teaching me composition. What shapes and values do you design in a painting to make it beautiful and impacting. What shapes and values do you give a story to make it meaningful and impacting? I highly recommend this book!
Coming back to say I decided to give Story Genius a shot, and never heard of it, and I am finally breaking out of my stuckness with the 40,0000 word book I had been working on, thank you for helping me get to these breakthroughs!
Yesss! Love hearing this :)
Yes!! There is a general structure that every book/movie follows for sure! „Into the woods” by John Yorke explains this perfectly
I loved Stephen King's "On Writing"
He's wonderful. And his approach to writing is as well!
Great memoir. As a craft book though ... eh ...
The best.
@@t0dd000I think it’s full of good advice, if you’re a natural pantser.
@@ToTheNines87368 Oh. It's full of great advice. But it's more sound bites from a mentor than instructive. Pantser or not.
Bird by Bird is just crazy good.
I love it too!
Excellent suggestions. I’ve read two of the four, and plan to read the others very soon.
And I love cats, too!
Cats truly are angels on earth. I am 100% serious when I say I couldn't have written my novel without the support of my cat. lol. Hope you find those craft books helpful!
I usually don't deal in books on how to write books-not because I'm trying to reinvent the wheel and do something out of the ordinary/subversive so as to say "I'm too good for that" or "The masters of literature didn't need all these kinds of books-why should I?" The risk of being branded a troll aside (lol), one writing book that I highly recommend is "I Give You My Body" by Diana Gabaldon. It's an ebook she wrote on how to write s*x scenes using examples from her books.
I can't believe more people don't talk about Story Genius. Great video
These are well-explained. Good job :)
Thanks so much! :)
This is really useful. Thank you.
Thank YOU for watching!
When you were talking about Bird by Bird I started crying. Gonna read that for sure
It's really great!!
Hearing you describe "Writing Down the Bones" reminded me of "The Emotional Craft of Fiction" by Donald Maass. Have you read this one? It's my favorite!
I haven't! But I'll check it out :)
I’ve heard that if you plot your novel using the 15-beat structure from Save The Cat, that will peg you as a new unexperienced writer and might be a red flag for agents.
Is that true?
Did you use the 15-beat structure?
I don't think this is true at all. Having a plot that alternatives pinch-points and plot points drives narrative tension and creates a page-turner. And every agent wants to work with a page-turner, because page-turners make $$$!
Yeah. That's BS.
I love Save the Cat! and Story Genius...I am currently reading Bird by Bird per your recommendation and can't wait to read the final one as well. I'm having a harder time finding newly released lighthearted crossover (New Adult) fiction that isn't primarily about the romance but more on the rites of passage arc. Any recommendations anyone?
Hm ... might have to think on this and get back to you! Any sub-genre in particular?
I dig it.
Thank you! I digged (dug?!) them too. ;)
I struggled with and DNFed Story Genius. Just didn't like it. I intend to give it a try again some time.
I totally get that! I often find that, when I revisit a book - especially a craft book - later, it sometimes reads entirely differently to me than the first time and I end up loving it. I wonder if that will be the case for you and Story Genius!