Beats
Writers encounter a wide range of problems no matter where they are on the journey to write a compelling story that satisfies readers. And when these obstacles arise, they don’t always know how to get to the bottom of the real problem much less solve it.
Story Grid Beats pare down your story problems into specific high-resolution mini-puzzles and offer actionable advice about how to solve them. With these handy guides, you’ll learn how to identify, reframe, and solve your story problems.
Action Story: The Primal Genre
Action Stories speak to ancient human desires. Readers want to experience heart-stopping fear and excitement and learn lessons of survival. How can you write a story that satisfies those desires? In Action Story: The Primal Genre, Story Grid founder Shawn Coyne takes you on a journey deep into the meaning of the genre. Coyne boils… Read more »
Conventions and Obligatory Moments: The Must-haves to Meet Audience Expectations
As writers, we all struggle to transform the messy raw materials in our minds into stories that will reach readers’ hearts. When it works, it feels like magic. But what really makes that magic happen? A few essential components, which Story Grid calls conventions and obligatory moments, can span the distance between writers and readers…. Read more »
Point of View: Why Narrative Perspective Can Make or Break Your Story
Finding the right point of view is one of the most important—and least understood—challenges writers face. Point of view extends far beyond the choice of first, second, or third person. POV determines all that a reader knows about the world inside a story. Is the murder told from the criminal’s, the detective’s, or the victim’s… Read more »
Story Grid 101: The Five First Principles of the Story Grid Methodology
What are the first principles in writing a story that works? At Story Grid, it’s easy to get distracted by the tools, spreadsheets, commandments, macro lense, micro lense, and on and on. However, all of this eventually comes back to five first principles. In Story Grid 101, Story Grid founder Shawn Coyne distills 30 years… Read more »
Story Grid Universe
Put the Work Above All Else, and Trust the Process. In this Story Grid Publishing manifesto, Shawn Coyne, the creator of Story Grid, tells a far-too-familiar fable about the state of publishing and where we can go together. We believe that we find meaning in the pursuit of literary creations that last longer than we… Read more »
The Five Commandments of Storytelling
Will ship by Tuesday, October 19th. Your story is important. It’s your opportunity to captivate readers and deliver a message that will change their lives forever. But somehow, it’s just not working. You’ve written multiple drafts and tried lots of “tips and tricks.” But time and again, readers aren’t connecting with your characters and the… Read more »
The Four Core Framework: Needs, Life Values, Emotions, and Events in Storytelling
What’s at the core of every great story that leads readers to rush breathlessly to the end and then share it with all their friends? At Story Grid, we believe great stories are built of four essential elements: Core Needs, Core Life Values, Core Emotions, and Core Events. Whether you’re writing an action adventure, a… Read more »
The Story Microscope: The Surprising Way a Spreadsheet Can Save Your Manuscript
You’re a writer with 1,001 questions about how to fix your manuscript and you want answers. It’s hard to see your whole story in enough detail to find all the problems, much less craft the best solutions. After months of effort, you’re deep inside the characters and plot so you need a tool that’s objective—something… Read more »
The Writer’s Daily Practice: A Guide to Becoming a Lifelong Storyteller
To write a story that captivates readers and stands the test of time, you need a daily practice and professional tools. In this guide, fantasy author and editor Danielle Kiowski rolls out an elegant blueprint for building your practice using Story Grid tools. Like all writers, you struggle to defeat Resistance and devote proper time… Read more »
The Writers’ Common Language: A Shared Vocabulary to Tell Better Stories
Like many beginning writers, Tim Grahl struggled to learn his craft—and even to find the right words to describe his questions and challenges. After reading a library of how-to books, Tim found what he needed in the unique Story Grid approach. With the help of editor, friend, and Story Grid creator Shawn Coyne, Tim discovered… Read more »
What’s the Big Idea? Nonfiction Condensed.
Do you have an idea that’s keeping you up at night or getting you up way too early in the morning? Your idea won’t let go, and you’re starting to think it might help people understand the world better or solve a problem, so you want to share it. Somehow, it’s not enough to tell… Read more »