Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel (Before You Waste Three Years Writing 327 P (Paperback)

CONTENTS

Introduction 1


PART I. WHAT A STORY IS, AND WHAT IT ISN’T

Story: The Brain’s Decoder Ring 9
Myths Galore: Everything We Were Taught About Writing Is Wrong 19


PART II. CREATING THE INSIDE STORY

The What If? Expectation, Broken! 35
The Who: Whose Life Will You Utterly Upend? 53
The Why: Why, Exactly, Does Your Protagonist Care? 67
The Worldview: Your Protagonist’s, That Is 85
What Next? The Beauty of Cause and Effect 105
The When: An Offer Your Protagonist Can’t Refuse (But Probably Wants To) 123


PART III. CREATING AN EXTERNAL GAUNTLET TO SPUR YOUR PROTAGONIST’S INTERNAL STRUGGLE

9 The Opening: Of Your Novel and of the Story Genius Blueprinting System 147
10 The Real “Aha!” Moment: Where Will Your Story End? 165
11 Building Your Blueprint: How to Keep Track of All the Moving Parts 187
12 Going Back to Move Forward: How to Harvest the Past to Set Up the Plot 195
13 Story Logic: Making Sure Each “What” Has a “Why” 209
14 The Secret to Layering: Subplots, Storylines, and Secondary Characters 223
15 Writing Forward: Stories Grow in Spirals 245