Story Grid Writing Podcast

How do you write a book you're proud to publish?

Tim opens with a stat that frames the whole conversation: the average unpublished writer he surveyed has been at it for nearly 15 years. He puts the question to Shawn dir

The Final Episode

This will be the final episode of the Story Grid Podcast for the foreseeable future. Tim gives some background on why this decision was made along with an update on his c

Crazy Rich Asians: Part 4 - What Writers Can Learn

Access the full Story Grid analysis of Crazy Rich Asians at https://storygrid.com/crazy. What can writers learn from studying this 2018 film? This is the final in a fou

Crazy Rich Asians: Part 3 - Genre Conventions and Story Theme

Access the full Story Grid analysis of Crazy Rich Asians at https://storygrid.com/crazy. What can writers learn from studying this 2018 film? This is the second in a fo

Crazy Rich Asians: Part 2 - 5 Commandments of Storytelling

Access the full Story Grid analysis of Crazy Rich Asians at https://storygrid.com/crazy. What can writers learn from studying this 2018 film? This is the first in a fou

Crazy Rich Asians: Part 1 - Is this a RomCom?

Access the full Story Grid analysis of Crazy Rich Asians at https://storygrid.com/crazy. What can writers learn from studying this 2018 film? This is the first in a fou

John Wick Analysis: Part 4 - What Writers Can Learn and Obligatory Moments

Access the full Story Grid analysis of John Wick at https://storygrid.com/wick. This is the final in a four part series analyzing the movie John Wick using the Story Gri

John Wick Analysis: Part 3 - Genre Conventions and Five Commandments

Access the full Story Grid analysis of John Wick at https://storygrid.com/wick. This is the third in a four part series analyzing the movie John Wick using the Story Gri

John Wick Analysis: Part 2 - Acts and Structure

Access the full Story Grid analysis of John Wick at https://storygrid.com/wick. This is the second in a four part series analyzing the movie John Wick using the Story Gr

John Wick Analysis: Part 1 - Genre and Controlling Idea

Access the full Story Grid analysis of John Wick at https://storygrid.com/wick. This is the first in a four part series analyzing the movie John Wick using the Story Gri

Line Edits: Putting the Final Touches on Eye Witness

We're down to line edits on Tim's iteration of the masterwork Eye Witness by Ed McBain. Shawn, Danielle, and Leslie provide final feedback on how to clean up the last fe

Final Edits of a Short Story: Beat Construction and 624 Analysis

Now that Tim has had a breakthrough on his iteration of EYE WITNESS by Ed McBain, we're getting down to fixing individual Beats and checking to make sure he's adhered to

Does Tim Actually Get It Right? How to Nail the Narrative Device

Does Tim Actually Get It Right? How to Nail the Narrative Device On Tim's 10th draft, he finally makes a breakthrough on his iteration of EYE WITNESS by Ed McBain! And

How to Connect with Characters: Finding the Motivation and Shadow in Yourself

In this impromptu episode, Tim and Danielle discuss the ongoing problems with the work on the Ed McBain EYE WITNESS scene and why Tim can't connect with his characters.

Writing or Just Pretending? When there is Zero Flow and Everything is $h*t

Shawn takes a crack at rewriting Tim's scene to help him understand what he's missing on the Narrative Device. Then we hear Leslie and Danielle's edits and feedback on w

Conflict and Emotional Connection: Every Beat, Trope, and Scene Must Have These

There are lots of insights in this week's episode of the podcast. We look at the emotional connection between the hero and victim, ensuring there is conflict at every le

Who's the Most Guilty Person in Your Story? Hero, Victim, and Villain - Part 2

Nobody is innocent in your story. Everyone is hiding something. You must adjust these levels correctly in order for your reader to connect with the right characters. Th

Hero, Victim and Perpetrator: The Must-Have Relationships in Your Story

Who is the Hero, Victim, and Perpetrator in your story? What are the relationships between each of them? The more vague or ungrounded each of these relationships are, t

The Impact of a Story Theme: An Interview with Scott Mann and Randle Surles about the book Operation Pineapple Express

Figuring out your Story Theme is the key to unlocking the entire roadmap of your story. Scott Mann is the author of the new book → Operation Pineapple Express: The Incre

Truth in Fiction: How to Write and Develop Believable Characters

How do you ground your characters in a reality that your reader will believe even though you are making the whole thing up? This week Tim makes the mistake of sterilizin