00:01 Introduction Independent of genre and story structure What this talk is not about - marketing Works for less popular genres too Will work, but not for all readers - matter of taste Need many reviews to know if book is working or not, need a big dataset 09:55 Fixing an unpopular book Marketing questions - marketed to right people, right keywords Craft questions - killer premise, high stakes, right tropes, protagonist relatable, antagonist hateble in a relatable way, protagonist and antagonist paired properly, cause and effect trajectory (gets people turning pages), write from inside-out or outside-in, plot or story focused Run craft questions through two-part test (explained at the end) 11:25 Who are we? Brain makes us hallucinate To create ongoing hallucination make people suspend disbelief (feed the logic monster) and make them feel (lizard brain can glut on Id stuff) 12:25 Logic monster Example - 1995 Pride and Prejudice If readers point out logic holes, they are not in the story Get cerebrum (logic monster) to chill, accept the illusion, brain can't distinguish between story and reality, reader becomes protagonist Readers want stories that are the same but different Cerebrum wants things to be the same (safe), amygdala (lizard brain) looks for different/new If you don't feed the logic monster with sameness, you can't reach the primal lizard brain with exciting information 20:10 How do you want the reader to feel? If you don't know, story will misfire 21:30 Quieting the logic monster Use unassailable logic - three-act structure, cause-and-effect trajectory (inside-out not outside-in) Use the right story tropes in the right place, depending on genre Get continuity right After logic monster is quiet, can plan character's goals for each scene and whole story 22:55 Sidebar: Cause-and-effect trajectory Lisa Cron's book Story Genius Plot - what happens Story - why it matters to protagonist Balance of plot and story differs by genre - Hard SF is more plot, Romance is more story Cascading domino effect of protagonist reacting, causing reaction, reacting to reaction... Might not be best structure for all genres 29:30 What do you want the reader to feel? This is the hallucinating bit The lizard brain is about survival A talk by Jennifer Barnes, in Romance Writers of America 2018 video collection, Writing for Your Id. What kinds of Id things do you love. Use basic human things that we have in common that are necessary for survival - touch, beauty, power, competition, wealth, danger We want to feel full range of human experience What is your Id list, what is your reader's Id list - genre specific 39:20 Two-part test for craft questions Does it keep the logic monster (cerebrum) quiet? Does it speak to the Id (amygdala)? Same, same, same, different 43:30 Q&A
I’m glad you posted this, I got super lost in her talk. It went all kinds of directions, so I really appreciate a bullet list so I know I didn’t miss anything.
I'd just like to say, that Kate says people don't know who she is. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't ask me to point her out at conferences so they can speak to her, if that were true. There's a reason people talk about her in breathless whispers, as if she worked some kind of esoteric magic she found in a tome that caused 3d6 SAN loss, to help them get their story to work. I missed 20booksVegas this year, but if I could have, I would have flown out just to see this talk and I'm really hoping we'll both be in Madrid.
Kate, you did so well. I love your presentation style. This was marvelous and I certainly learned some new and good stuff. Sorry I missed this year's meetup.
She's an excellent speaker, so pleasant to listen to and a wealth of knowledge. This was great but probably just a tip of an iceberg. If she didn't say it herself I wouldn't have guessed she was nervous, stressed or didn't do speaking all the time.
She talks like it's an award show followed by her advice. Curious way to start a talk, but skip to 7:00 if you want to skip that. (No offense intended.)
![20Booksto50k[R]-Live Events](http://yt3.ggpht.com/ytc/AIdro_lkHlDNNAVrNLnAbVVuZZErImfnT_wLPqOJy_UpoPMLHw=s48-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj)
"Putting the author aside."
You're officially my hero. Thanks for being an ally and for the amazing talk. 🙏🏾
00:01 Introduction
Independent of genre and story structure
What this talk is not about - marketing
Works for less popular genres too
Will work, but not for all readers - matter of taste
Need many reviews to know if book is working or not, need a big dataset
09:55 Fixing an unpopular book
Marketing questions - marketed to right people, right keywords
Craft questions - killer premise, high stakes, right tropes, protagonist relatable, antagonist hateble in a relatable way, protagonist and antagonist paired properly, cause and effect trajectory (gets people turning pages), write from inside-out or outside-in, plot or story focused
Run craft questions through two-part test (explained at the end)
11:25 Who are we?
Brain makes us hallucinate
To create ongoing hallucination make people suspend disbelief (feed the logic monster) and make them feel (lizard brain can glut on Id stuff)
12:25 Logic monster
Example - 1995 Pride and Prejudice
If readers point out logic holes, they are not in the story
Get cerebrum (logic monster) to chill, accept the illusion, brain can't distinguish between story and reality, reader becomes protagonist
Readers want stories that are the same but different
Cerebrum wants things to be the same (safe), amygdala (lizard brain) looks for different/new
If you don't feed the logic monster with sameness, you can't reach the primal lizard brain with exciting information
20:10 How do you want the reader to feel?
If you don't know, story will misfire
21:30 Quieting the logic monster
Use unassailable logic - three-act structure, cause-and-effect trajectory (inside-out not outside-in)
Use the right story tropes in the right place, depending on genre
Get continuity right
After logic monster is quiet, can plan character's goals for each scene and whole story
22:55 Sidebar: Cause-and-effect trajectory
Lisa Cron's book Story Genius
Plot - what happens
Story - why it matters to protagonist
Balance of plot and story differs by genre - Hard SF is more plot, Romance is more story
Cascading domino effect of protagonist reacting, causing reaction, reacting to reaction...
Might not be best structure for all genres
29:30 What do you want the reader to feel?
This is the hallucinating bit
The lizard brain is about survival
A talk by Jennifer Barnes, in Romance Writers of America 2018 video collection, Writing for Your Id. What kinds of Id things do you love.
Use basic human things that we have in common that are necessary for survival - touch, beauty, power, competition, wealth, danger
We want to feel full range of human experience
What is your Id list, what is your reader's Id list - genre specific
39:20 Two-part test for craft questions
Does it keep the logic monster (cerebrum) quiet?
Does it speak to the Id (amygdala)?
Same, same, same, different
43:30 Q&A
I’m glad you posted this, I got super lost in her talk. It went all kinds of directions, so I really appreciate a bullet list so I know I didn’t miss anything.
Thank you!
Love your thoughtfulness!
I absolutely love the energy of this speaker. It’s so chaotic, it’s my favorite.
This is wonderful.
One of my favourite Human's ever. Within this talk you evoked memories of days past. Your humour and intensity have not waned .
I'd just like to say, that Kate says people don't know who she is. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't ask me to point her out at conferences so they can speak to her, if that were true. There's a reason people talk about her in breathless whispers, as if she worked some kind of esoteric magic she found in a tome that caused 3d6 SAN loss, to help them get their story to work. I missed 20booksVegas this year, but if I could have, I would have flown out just to see this talk and I'm really hoping we'll both be in Madrid.
Kate, you did so well. I love your presentation style. This was marvelous and I certainly learned some new and good stuff. Sorry I missed this year's meetup.
She's an excellent speaker, so pleasant to listen to and a wealth of knowledge. This was great but probably just a tip of an iceberg. If she didn't say it herself I wouldn't have guessed she was nervous, stressed or didn't do speaking all the time.
I absolutely loved this.
Amazing & lovely!
Super talk, Kate, with awesome insights.
Great talk! Thank you so much!
She talks like it's an award show followed by her advice. Curious way to start a talk, but skip to 7:00 if you want to skip that. (No offense intended.)
Beat me to it. This is a trope with Kate's talks it seems (no offence etc.). Thanks for the time stamp!