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    Wired for Story: The Writer's Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence
    Unavailable
    Wired for Story: The Writer's Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence
    Unavailable
    Wired for Story: The Writer's Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence
    Ebook308 pages4 hours

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

    By Lisa Cron

    4.5/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    This guide reveals how writers can utilize cognitive storytelling strategies to craft stories that ignite readers’ brains and captivate them through each plot element.

    Imagine knowing what the brain craves from every tale it encounters, what fuels the success of any great story, and what keeps readers transfixed. Wired for Story reveals these cognitive secrets—and it’s a game-changer for anyone who has ever set pen to paper.

    The vast majority of writing advice focuses on “writing well” as if it were the same as telling a great story. This is exactly where many aspiring writers fail—they strive for beautiful metaphors, authentic dialogue, and interesting characters, losing sight of the one thing that every engaging story must do: ignite the brain’s hardwired desire to learn what happens next. When writers tap into the evolutionary purpose of story and electrify our curiosity, it triggers a delicious dopamine rush that tells us to pay attention. Without it, even the most perfect prose won’t hold anyone’s interest.

    Backed by recent breakthroughs in neuroscience as well as examples from novels, screenplays, and short stories, Wired for Story offers a revolutionary look at story as the brain experiences it. Each chapter zeroes in on an aspect of the brain, its corresponding revelation about story, and the way to apply it to your storytelling right now.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRandom House Publishing Group
    Release dateJul 10, 2012
    ISBN9781607742463
    Unavailable
    Wired for Story: The Writer's Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence

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    Reviews for Wired for Story

    4.5/5

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    • 5/5
      Lisa Cron wrote Wired for Story to assist authors on how people think as they read a story. It's the science behind what makes the reader continue to read.

      I've always heard show not tell---but Cron goes deeper to show not just the facial expressions and posture of the person, but the 'why's, the reason why they are sad,... This showing takes storytelling to a deeper level and brings the reader along with the author.

      A very well presented and helpful guide to the reasons behind how authors should write.
    • 5/5
      Another great book to hone your writing skills. It was recommended by an agent.
    • 4/5
      This book is mainly writing instruction, and it covers the same ground as many other books out there. The author's unique approach was to add some basics of brain science that are relevant to reading and writing fiction. That part is certainly interesting and worth a read if it intrigues you. But if it doesn't, and you're familiar with basic writing advice, you may not get much from this book.
    • 5/5
      5 stars, with a reservation. You can't say that science tells us what a good story is. Instead examples are cherry picked from neuroscience, psychology and Jonah Lehrer to make points. But they are good points. They're sometimes points that are very similar to Ben Bova's guide on writing scifi, but they're points well made. I'll need to re-read it, but I think it could help immensely with storytelling.
    • 5/5
      Wow! This is the book I have spent years searching for. This is the first book I have read that explains the process of storytelling. Lisa Cron has cracked the storytelling code and reveals its secrets.Our brains actually are wired for story. Stories help us identify and remember what is most important, connect events, experiment safely, anticipate consequences, teach, play, and learn. A good story draws us in so completely that we become lost in the story and unable to know why it works. As a result we quickly dismiss a boring or disorganized story, yet the explicit understanding of how to go about crafting a good story remains elusive.So many disappointing books on storytelling describe stories without providing the instructional insight needed to understand what makes them tick. It’s like trying to learn algebra by pouring over an endless collection of calculations, without even knowing which ones are correct and which ones are not. This book closes that gap—it actually clearly identifies and teaches the mechanisms of great storytelling. In each of a dozen enlightening and well-written chapters the author presents a finding from cognitive science, translates it into practical advice for storytelling, expands on those ideas, helps us understand what works and why, provides clear examples, corrects some myths, and ends with a practical check list.This book was a joy to read, and light bulbs were lighting up on every page. This book may just unveil the secret to crossing the chasm that separates tedious writing from good storytelling.