Story Grid Writing Podcast

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Latest Episodes:

Units of Story (beats, scenes, acts, etc) Jan 13, 2016

Show notes

Learn the units of story telling -- beats, scenes, sequences, acts, etc -- and how they make you a better writer and editor.

The 5 Commandments of Storytelling Jan 06, 2016

Show notes

Learn the 5 commandments of storytelling and how it will make your story better.

We mention the transcript of George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and Larry Kasdan discussing the creation of Indiana Jones. You can see that here.

The Martian and A Christmas Carol Dec 23, 2015

Show notes

Learn how the Story Grid works with Andy Weir's The Martian and Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol.

Click here to download Shawn's Foolscap Story Grid for The Martian.

Click here to download Shawn's Foolscap Story Grid for A Christmas Carol.

Click here to download Tim's Foolscap Story Grid for The Martian.

The 8 stages of grief/writing Dec 16, 2015

Show notes

How does the Kübler-Ross model from psychiatry apply to your writing? Also, how to develop your characters and applying the Story Grid to non-fiction.

Point of View and Narrative Device Dec 09, 2015

Show notes

How can narrative device make your storytelling easier? We also discuss the two types of inciting incidents and how the Story Grid applies to he movie Dead Calm.

The Mathematics of Storytelling Dec 02, 2015

Show notes

Story Grid Math. How many scenes, words, turns does your book need? Also discussed is the 5 commandments of storytelling and Tim's attempt at a rewrite.

Click here to read Tim's scene rewrite.

6 questions (good) editors ask Nov 25, 2015

Show notes

In this episode, Shawn and Tim deep dive into the editing process. They discuss when to start working with an editor and the six questions every (good) editor is asking.

They also talk macro vs micro story and the the five different parts of every story.

Lastly, click here to download the full 14 page critique Shawn did of Tim's first scene.

Shawn rips apart Tim's scene Nov 18, 2015

Show notes

Shawns critiques (rips apart) Tim's first scene. Along the way, they discuss Agatha Christie, Wes Craven, Hemingway, and Freddy Krueger.

Homework was given in this episode to watch Dead Calm and read Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants.

Click here to download and read Tim's scene discussed in this episode.

How not to waste 100k words Nov 11, 2015

Show notes

How does The Martian work with The Story Grid? Plus, we discuss how to make sure your story is good before writing 100k words and the difference between Internal and External genre.

How does Stephen King write? Nov 04, 2015

Show notes

How does Stephen King do it? Plus, Shawn and Tim talk about flailing as a writer and how good character development is really done.