Wired for Story: The Writer's Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence

WIRED FOR STORY By Lisa Cron Reviewed by C J Singh (Berkeley, California) Excellent Primer on Novel-Writing In Berkeley, California, we happily have access to four independent bookstores that display literary novels and creative-writing craft books. Browsing, I picked up two books by Lisa Cron on using "Brain Science" for writing fiction. The jacket quote by Caroline Leavitt rivetted my attention: "I'd never consider writing a novel without Lisa's input, and neither should you." As a longtime fan of Leavitt's novels "Is This Tomorrow," " Pictures of You, " "Girls in Trouble," I looked up Stanford Continuing Education where Leavitt regularly teaches online courses. As a Stanford Alumnus (Psychology PhD), I've taken several on-campus and online workshops on fiction-writing. While still at the bookstore, I promptly signed up for Leavitt's soon-to-begin course that uses two coaching books: Cron's Wired For Story and John Truby's The Anatomy of Story. I'm familiar with Truby's book and its nine excellent exercises. See my detailed review on amazon: https://www.amazon.com/review/R29NU7U6LAHGBV/ Here's my review of Lisa Cron's "Wired For Story" "WIRED FOR STORY' presents a unique, distinguishing feature among fiction-writing primers: throughout its text, the author includes excerpts from the published works of leading contemporary brain-scientists that validate the principles of narrative craft. Cron explains the principles of narrative craft in twelve well-organized chapters that focus on theme, the protagonist's issue, characters' bios, points of view, rising conflicts, subplots, suspense, reveals, and the arc from setup to payoff. At the beginning of each chapter, she presents sentences in italics that illuminate the cognitive-science underpinnings of narrative craft. Examples follow. "Cognitive Secret: When the brain focuses its full attention on something, it filters out all unnecessary information. Story Secret: To hold the brain's attention, everything in a story must be there on a need-to-know basis" (page 23). . "Cognitive Secret: Everything we do is goal directed and our biggest goal is figuring out everyone else's agenda, the better to figure out our own. Story Secret: A protagonist without a clear goal has nothing to figure out and nowhere to go" (p 65) . "Cognitive Secret: It takes long-term, conscious effort to hone a skill before the brain assigns it to the cognitive unconscious. "Story Secret: There's no writing; there's only rewriting" (p 219). Also remarkable are sentences in bold that challenge advice offered in some writing-craft workshops and books. Examples follow. "Myth: Write What You Know. "Reality: Write What You Know EMOTIONALLY" (p 62). . "Myth: Sensory Details Bring a Story to Life." "Reality: Unless They Convey Necessary Information, Sensory Details Clog a Story's Arteries" (p 118). . "Myth: `Show, Don't Tell' Is Literal - Don't Tell Me John Is Sad, Show Him Crying. "Reality: `Show, Don't Tell Is Figurative - Don't Tell Me John Is Sad, Show Me WHY He's Sad" (p 152). Has the author introduced a Myth of her own? I am afraid so. On page 57, "No matter whose point of view you're writing in, you may be in only one head per scene." In my opinion, the Reality is: No matter whose point of view you're writing in, you may be in only one head per PARAGRAPH. This is the new reality -- virtually every fiction-readers' perception has been reshaped by watching films and TV dramas that imply the camera engaged in frequent head-hopping in a scene. At the end of each chapter, Cron presents a concise series of checkpoints to remind the readers while they develop their work-in-progress. Throughout, she includes many examples from literary works and films. Literary works like Gabriel Marquez's "Love in the Time of Cholera," Margaret Mitchell's "Gone with the Wind," and Caroline Leavitt's "Girls in Trouble." Films like "It's a Wonderful Life," "Vertigo," and "American Graffiti." An inspiring citation for writers: " `Recent breakthroughs in neuroscience reveal that our brain is hardwired to respond to story.... It turns that a powerful story can have a hand in rewiring the reader's brain -- helping empathy, for instance - `which is why writers are, and always have been among the most powerful people in the world'. " (On p 239 of Endnotes is the specific citation of three scientists' 2009 article "On Being Moved by Art: How Reading Fiction Transforms the Self" in the Creativity Research Journal vol. 21, no.1 ) WIRED FOR STORY fully earns its title with its numerous citations of recent contributions of neuroscience that validate narrative craft. Examples of cited works included are: V. S. Ramachandran's "The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist's Quest for What Makes Us Human"; Michael Gazzaniga's "Human: The Science Behind What Makes Your Brain Unique; and Steven Pinker's "How the Mind Works." These stellar books illuminate the nexus between art and science; their shining light reflects on Lisa Cron's book as a five-star primer for novel-writing.

I have been an author for decades and published 4 books. I've been an editor for over a decade and this book is perfect for seasoned and new writers. It certainly made me take a new, long look at the latest book I'm busy with. I think it's great for getting one focused on the important points. I loved it. There wasn't too much about how the brain works to bore one or make it feel like a technical book on neuroscience. I found her writing style amusing and entertaining. I will definitely recommend it to all my clients and writing friends. There was nothing in the book I didn't know, but this book forces one to focus on the bigger picture. It doesn't matter how accomplished one is as a writer, one can always learn more. And I certainly did with this book. So, thank you, Ms. Cron. I saw the negative three or fewer star comments and can only think the commentators didn't see what the author was actually trying to convey. It's a classic lesson in the KISS method (keep it simple stupid) and I loved it. This isn't a full-on, in-depth analysis of every part of the craft of writing, as many seemed to expect, that would take 12 full books or more. This is also not only for beginners as some suggest. To them I would say, don't let hubris cloud your ability to write better--think beyond that--read the book again. I think the book serves as an excellent reference to keep us on track when we lose the plot, so to speak. Seasoned writers can get quite jaded and write almost on auto-pilot at times--not good. Thank you, Ms. Cron, for putting me back on track and making me excited to re-write and re-edit my latest book, my first YA fantasy, for the zillionth time. I was out of my comfort zone with this book and feeling a bit overwhelmed and unsure. Wired for Story has me fired up to go forth and do this. I highly recommend this book, especially for seasoned writers.

I was drawn to buy this book because I'm a writer and I want to learn how to write better. And because of its promise to show me what draws me to read stories, why I love the books I do, and how I can use my knowledge of myth and legend to better understand stories and why they're important to us. This book fulfilled all those desires and more. I've read a lot of books about writing this year, in my quest to improve my writing skills, and I can honestly say that this has been the most fascinating of them all. Even if you don't write and have no desire to write, this book is still worth reading. If you want to know why you love stories and what keeps you turning the pages, and coming back for more, read this book. If you want to understand the magic of story, read this book. If you want to improve your own writing skills, read this book. If you're into psychology or myth and legend or anything that's even vaguely related to stories, writing or what makes people tick, this book will fascinate you. Very definitely in my Top 5 of the many books I've read this year - fiction and non-fiction. I loved it. You will too.

I was hooked on this book as soon as I read in the Introduction that the writer believes that story was more vital to our evolution than opposable thumbs.She goes on to state that story originated as a means for bringing us together to share important, even life-preserving information. This is not really a how-to book, but it is a book that helps us understand the purpose of a story and how we, as writers, can better achieve that purpose. Sometimes her statements seem obvious. In the very first chapter she tells us that from the very start the reader must want to know what happens next. Before you say "Of course," read on to get a much deeper understanding of that concept. That is the point of the book - the writer takes these well-known issues and delves deeper into them, showing how they affect the brain and the emotions. Each chapter has many sub-sections to maintain visual interest and each chapter also has a "cognitive secret" and a "story secret". Personally I'm not a fan of this kind of 'secret', but here it is a way of combining concepts usefully and putting a new perspective on old ideas. This is one of the most useful writing books on my bookshelf. It's one I return to often to refresh myself when I'm bogged down. If you'd like to get a little deeper into your writing, understand the why's as well as the how's this would be the book to buy.

L'ambiente dell'industria editoriale occidentale non ci piace. È corrotto, ladro e mafiosetto. L'idea di spendere tempo e denaro per studiarsi di farsi accettare personalmente e professionalmente da esso, ancor meno. Oltretutto, se c'è un sotto-settore dell'industria editoriale che da novanta anni sfrutta la ambizione tutta piccolo-borghese cantata dai Beatles ne "Paperback Writer" e la volontà di migliorare se stessi dei fessi, è proprio l'industria del consiglio editoriale di massa. La prima pagina della Signora LISA CRON che ho aperto mi ha visto addormentato prima che finissi il paragrafo sul quale avevo puntato gli pcchi.

A perfect combination of the science and heart behind storytelling, with practical application throughout. Recommended not just for those budding writers, but anyone who wants to communicate more effectively.

Really good insight as to how the mind of the writer works. Great read and a useful book for anyone attempting to write a novel.