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The Story Grid: What Good Editors Know
WHAT IS THE STORY GRID? The Story Grid is a tool developed by editor Shawn Coyne to analyze stories and provide helpful editorial comments. It's like a CT Scan that takes a photo of the global story and tells the editor or writer what is working, what is not, and what must be done to make what works better and fix what's not. The Story Grid breaks down the component parts of stories to identify the problems. And finding the problems in a story is almost as difficult as the writing of the story itself (maybe even more difficult.) The Story Grid is a tool with many 1. It will tell a writer if a Story "works" or "doesn't work." 2. It pinpoints story problems but does not emotionally abuse the writer, revealing exactly where a Story (not the person creating the Story...the Story) has failed. 3. It will tell the writer the specific work necessary to fix that Story's problems. 4. It is a tool to re-envision and resuscitate a seemingly irredeemable pile of paper stuck in an attic drawer. 5. It is a tool that can inspire an original creation. Shawn Coyne is a twenty-five year book-publishing veteran. He's acquired, edited, published or represented works from James Bamford, John Brenkus, James Lee Burke, Barbara Bush, Dick Butkus, Harlan Coben, Nellie Connally, Michael Connelly, Robert Crais, Ben Crenshaw, Catherine Crier, Brett Favre, David Feherty, John Feinstein, Tyler Florence, Jim Gant, Col. David H. Hackworth, Jamie Harrison, Mo Hayder, William Hjortsberg, Stephen Graham Jones, Jon Krakauer, David Leadbetter, Alan Lomax, David Mamet, Troon McAllister, Robert McKee, Matthew Modine, Bill Murray, Joe Namath, John J. Nance, Jack Olsen, Scott Patterson, Steven Pressfield, Matthew Quirk, Anita Raghavan, Ian Rankin, Ruth Rendell, Jerry Rice, Giora Romm, Tim Rosaforte, William Safire, Dava Sobel, Michael Thomas, Nick Tosches, Ann Scott Tyson, Minette Walters, Betty White, Randy Wayne White, Steven White, and Don Winslow among many others. During his years as an editor at the Big Five publishing houses, as an independent publisher, as a literary agent both at a major Hollywood talent agency and as head of Genre Management Inc., and as a bestselling co-writer and ghostwriter, Coyne created a methodology called The Story Grid to teach the editing craft.
346 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 27, 2015
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December 23, 2022
My good friend Al Patel has been trying to get me to read The Story Grid: What Good Editors Know by Shawn Coyne for donkey's years. Coyne is an editor who with over twenty-five years experience in publishing, recently launched Black Irish Books with author Steven Pressfield. For lack of resources when they got into the business, Coyne and Pressfield have spent a great deal of time writing about how to edit or how to write a book. After reading a novella I wrote, Al read me the riot act, telling me that my story deserved an editor to help me direct it, or that I needed to learn how to edit myself. He recommended this book, published in 2015.
What's The Story Grid and how does this book differ from other "how-to" writing guides? Coyne gives his methodology an overview in five fantastic five-minute videos, the first of which you can view here, illustrating his methods and principles without getting into the weeds. But since those of you still reading paid for a book review, I'll let Coyne explain:
-- The Story Grid is a tool I've developed as an editor to analyze and provide helpful editorial comments. It's like a CT scan that takes a photo of the global Story and tells me what is working, what's not, and what must be done to fix it. When I show The Story Grid to writers, they love it because it allows them to break down the component parts of their novels (or narrative nonfiction) to see where their Storytelling went off track. Identifying the problems in a Story is almost as difficult as the writing of the Story itself (maybe even more difficult).
The Story Grid is a tool with many applications:
1. It will tell the writer if a Story "works" or "doesn't work."
2. It pinpoints problems but does not emotionally abuse the writer, revealing exactly where a Story (not the person creating the Story ... the Story) has failed.
3. It will tell the writer the specific work necessary to fix that Story's problems.
4. It is a tool to re-envision and resuscitate a seemingly irredeemable pile of paper stuck in an attic drawer.
5. It is a tool that can inspire an original creation.
-- To know the rules of the Story Business and of the Story Craft gives you the freedom to break them. Not knowing the rules is a recipe for disaster. Trust me, Nabokov knew the rules of Story and the rules of publishing. That is why he was able to break them so skillfully.
Lolita is a classic "quest/ hero's journey" Story, the one that is so deeply ingrained within our cells that we can't help but root for even the most despicable protagonist like Humbert Humbert to get what he wants. Nabokov knew that the structure of the Quest Story is irresistible to readers. He knew that with a lot of hard work, he could use it to get people to not just sympathize with a monster like Humbert, he'd get them to even empathize with him. Talk about powerful. The book was so good it was banned.
The right way to hook me into your how-to guide is to reference books or films or music that I love. Lolita is my favorite novel, so Coyne's sensibility felt instantly compatible with mine. Someone using Life of Pi as a model for storytelling efficiency has lost me. But the novel that Coyne breaks down and references every step of the way in The Story Grid is The Silence of the Lambs.
-- Deconstructing the big movements of how Thomas Harris created that rarest of novels--the outrageously successful commercial thriller that stands as one of the pre-eminent novels of the twentieth century will be a lot of fun. Seriously. Somehow Harris wrote a book that was impossible to put down but deeply resonates with the reader long after he's finished reading. I've gone through the book at least fifty times line by line and I always discover something new. While I do not profess to have any insight into the working mind of Thomas Harris or how he crafts his stories, what I can do is analyze the structure of his work within the traditions and conventions of his chosen Genres.
Coyne has two tools he’s developed. "The Foolscap Global Story Grid" enables the author to outline an entire novel on one page of a legal sized yellow pad, known in paper trade as foolscap. "The Story Grid" is more complicated and necessitates a page of graph paper. Coyne is a believer in identifying the genre you're writing in, noting the conventions that genre demands (some of which I was unconscious of, like the "Hero at the Mercy of the Villain" scene) and determining a lot of other factors his book walks the reader through. These involve tough questions and some sweat to answer. What genre are you writing in? What's your controlling theme? Inciting Incidents?
As a writer trying to get my manuscript into the end zone, I found The Story Grid indispensable. Coyne capitalizes words like Story and Genre that I thought was a bit cute, but that's a cosmetic complaint. His book is like a physical therapy regimen for an author and like many who've worked with a PT, this book bent me into some uncomfortable positions. It is not a fun process but it is a fun result. Surrendering to the process he details (with brevity, wit and more terrific examples, Misery by Stephen King being another) has made me look at my work-in-progress from different angles, open windows I didn't know were there and start pushing fresh air through the house.
What's The Story Grid and how does this book differ from other "how-to" writing guides? Coyne gives his methodology an overview in five fantastic five-minute videos, the first of which you can view here, illustrating his methods and principles without getting into the weeds. But since those of you still reading paid for a book review, I'll let Coyne explain:
-- The Story Grid is a tool I've developed as an editor to analyze and provide helpful editorial comments. It's like a CT scan that takes a photo of the global Story and tells me what is working, what's not, and what must be done to fix it. When I show The Story Grid to writers, they love it because it allows them to break down the component parts of their novels (or narrative nonfiction) to see where their Storytelling went off track. Identifying the problems in a Story is almost as difficult as the writing of the Story itself (maybe even more difficult).
The Story Grid is a tool with many applications:
1. It will tell the writer if a Story "works" or "doesn't work."
2. It pinpoints problems but does not emotionally abuse the writer, revealing exactly where a Story (not the person creating the Story ... the Story) has failed.
3. It will tell the writer the specific work necessary to fix that Story's problems.
4. It is a tool to re-envision and resuscitate a seemingly irredeemable pile of paper stuck in an attic drawer.
5. It is a tool that can inspire an original creation.
-- To know the rules of the Story Business and of the Story Craft gives you the freedom to break them. Not knowing the rules is a recipe for disaster. Trust me, Nabokov knew the rules of Story and the rules of publishing. That is why he was able to break them so skillfully.
Lolita is a classic "quest/ hero's journey" Story, the one that is so deeply ingrained within our cells that we can't help but root for even the most despicable protagonist like Humbert Humbert to get what he wants. Nabokov knew that the structure of the Quest Story is irresistible to readers. He knew that with a lot of hard work, he could use it to get people to not just sympathize with a monster like Humbert, he'd get them to even empathize with him. Talk about powerful. The book was so good it was banned.
The right way to hook me into your how-to guide is to reference books or films or music that I love. Lolita is my favorite novel, so Coyne's sensibility felt instantly compatible with mine. Someone using Life of Pi as a model for storytelling efficiency has lost me. But the novel that Coyne breaks down and references every step of the way in The Story Grid is The Silence of the Lambs.
-- Deconstructing the big movements of how Thomas Harris created that rarest of novels--the outrageously successful commercial thriller that stands as one of the pre-eminent novels of the twentieth century will be a lot of fun. Seriously. Somehow Harris wrote a book that was impossible to put down but deeply resonates with the reader long after he's finished reading. I've gone through the book at least fifty times line by line and I always discover something new. While I do not profess to have any insight into the working mind of Thomas Harris or how he crafts his stories, what I can do is analyze the structure of his work within the traditions and conventions of his chosen Genres.
Coyne has two tools he’s developed. "The Foolscap Global Story Grid" enables the author to outline an entire novel on one page of a legal sized yellow pad, known in paper trade as foolscap. "The Story Grid" is more complicated and necessitates a page of graph paper. Coyne is a believer in identifying the genre you're writing in, noting the conventions that genre demands (some of which I was unconscious of, like the "Hero at the Mercy of the Villain" scene) and determining a lot of other factors his book walks the reader through. These involve tough questions and some sweat to answer. What genre are you writing in? What's your controlling theme? Inciting Incidents?
As a writer trying to get my manuscript into the end zone, I found The Story Grid indispensable. Coyne capitalizes words like Story and Genre that I thought was a bit cute, but that's a cosmetic complaint. His book is like a physical therapy regimen for an author and like many who've worked with a PT, this book bent me into some uncomfortable positions. It is not a fun process but it is a fun result. Surrendering to the process he details (with brevity, wit and more terrific examples, Misery by Stephen King being another) has made me look at my work-in-progress from different angles, open windows I didn't know were there and start pushing fresh air through the house.
November 4, 2015
Have you ever had a conversation with someone that kept interrupting themselves to give you more and more back story? You know the type, when a person says, "OMG I've got to tell you the most amazing thing, but first I want to tell you what made me think of telling you, and... no wait, let me tell you what led me to thinking of telling you that thing. Oh don't worry I'll get to the amazing thing eventually..."
Yeah.
That was this book.
The author tells you he will tell you about the Silence of the Lambs (which is apparently the ultimate in story telling) thirty-nine times before he actually reveals it. I counted. THIRTY NINE!
I kept thinking, damn, the payoff better be fantastic after all the build up. But by the time Coyne meanders his way to the meat of it... well it's like bad sex. All the build up and none of the--you know.
As for the actual, practical writing advice, I've read many books that do a better job describing story structure. Coyne tells us throughout the book, quite emphatically, that he has the key to a good story, but his knowledge is hardly anything unique:
Know your premise.
Know your theme.
Have a compelling hook, an interesting middle and a satisfying end.
I've read that somewhere before.
The most interesting (and redeeming) part of this book was learning the process behind why big publishers chose the authors they do and understanding a little more of the numbers game they find themselves in. Coyne's unique genre classifications are quite different from what most people think of, which is interesting, if a bit confusing. His blog has videos which explain it better than this book does.
This is another "I turned my blog into a book" book. It is the blog assembled almost verbatim, with what appears to be very little editing. The book is full of typos and grammatical errors. Coyne admits he's a structural editor rather than a proofreader and reveals his methodology for choosing books when he worked in the publishing industry.
There were promises that the author would map out his process for other genres on his blog. But I found nothing to indicate he had done more than one other book in a related genre.
All in all, if you write thrillers you might find this book useful. But I wouldn't read it otherwise. There was very little to indicate how this book might be useful to other genres.
Yeah.
That was this book.
The author tells you he will tell you about the Silence of the Lambs (which is apparently the ultimate in story telling) thirty-nine times before he actually reveals it. I counted. THIRTY NINE!
I kept thinking, damn, the payoff better be fantastic after all the build up. But by the time Coyne meanders his way to the meat of it... well it's like bad sex. All the build up and none of the--you know.
As for the actual, practical writing advice, I've read many books that do a better job describing story structure. Coyne tells us throughout the book, quite emphatically, that he has the key to a good story, but his knowledge is hardly anything unique:
Know your premise.
Know your theme.
Have a compelling hook, an interesting middle and a satisfying end.
I've read that somewhere before.
The most interesting (and redeeming) part of this book was learning the process behind why big publishers chose the authors they do and understanding a little more of the numbers game they find themselves in. Coyne's unique genre classifications are quite different from what most people think of, which is interesting, if a bit confusing. His blog has videos which explain it better than this book does.
This is another "I turned my blog into a book" book. It is the blog assembled almost verbatim, with what appears to be very little editing. The book is full of typos and grammatical errors. Coyne admits he's a structural editor rather than a proofreader and reveals his methodology for choosing books when he worked in the publishing industry.
There were promises that the author would map out his process for other genres on his blog. But I found nothing to indicate he had done more than one other book in a related genre.
All in all, if you write thrillers you might find this book useful. But I wouldn't read it otherwise. There was very little to indicate how this book might be useful to other genres.
May 2, 2015
Highly recommended for writers of fiction and screenplays. Always good to read another take on story structure. I'll be using the foolscap sheet on my next novel. It's also good to read an honest appraisal of literature vs storytelling.
May 2, 2017
Sometimes, when I'm in a masochistic mood, I listen to the Story Grid podcast. In it, Shawn Coyne coaches Some Guy through the process of writing his first novel.
It's jargon-y and self-congratulatory and so, so, so annoying.
But it's also probably the closest thing to a graduate-level, nitty-gritty look at the novel-writing process that I've found available for free.
In amongst the jargon and the chippy, anti-literary-fiction stance, there are parts that are genuinely revelatory. The Story Grid book is much the same: circuitous and irritating in places, but also perhaps one of the most useful books on writing that I've read.
Mostly because it's not really a book on writing. It's a book on editing. And, whoa, those are tough to find. Everyone wants to coax and cheerlead you through writing your first draft. No one wants to tell you how to fix the steaming pile of shit you end up with. Maybe they don't know how?
Shawn Coyne's editing technique is not earth-shattering. He draws extensively from screenwriting (too extensively, I'd say -- a great many of his examples in this book are movies not novels, which is baffling to say the least) and mixes in a lot of common sense, tried-and-true methods. But seeing it all set out in a methodical way really is illuminating. It might not shatter the earth, but I felt a few tremors as I was reading.
There were times when I felt The Story Grid was a five-star read, but as I slogged through the final section, I could feel the stars falling away.
The irony, oh irony, of this book is that it needed a good editor.
It's longer than it needs to be. It's not well structured. The good stuff is trapped within acres of unnecessary wordage.
It's also very focused on the thriller genre. One of the book's most frustrating moments is when Coyne writes that he could have broken down the structure of other genres for the reader, but he didn't have the time. Well. Okay... *Kermit face*
Fortunately for me, I mostly want to write thrillers. And I happen to agree with Coyne that The Silence of the Lambs is one of the greatest novels ever written. (Coyne uses Silence as his major example.)
If you're writing a romance novel and you're not a big fan of serial killer stories? Ehhh. You'll get something out of The Story Grid, but your frustration factor may be high.
It's jargon-y and self-congratulatory and so, so, so annoying.
But it's also probably the closest thing to a graduate-level, nitty-gritty look at the novel-writing process that I've found available for free.
In amongst the jargon and the chippy, anti-literary-fiction stance, there are parts that are genuinely revelatory. The Story Grid book is much the same: circuitous and irritating in places, but also perhaps one of the most useful books on writing that I've read.
Mostly because it's not really a book on writing. It's a book on editing. And, whoa, those are tough to find. Everyone wants to coax and cheerlead you through writing your first draft. No one wants to tell you how to fix the steaming pile of shit you end up with. Maybe they don't know how?
Shawn Coyne's editing technique is not earth-shattering. He draws extensively from screenwriting (too extensively, I'd say -- a great many of his examples in this book are movies not novels, which is baffling to say the least) and mixes in a lot of common sense, tried-and-true methods. But seeing it all set out in a methodical way really is illuminating. It might not shatter the earth, but I felt a few tremors as I was reading.
There were times when I felt The Story Grid was a five-star read, but as I slogged through the final section, I could feel the stars falling away.
The irony, oh irony, of this book is that it needed a good editor.
It's longer than it needs to be. It's not well structured. The good stuff is trapped within acres of unnecessary wordage.
It's also very focused on the thriller genre. One of the book's most frustrating moments is when Coyne writes that he could have broken down the structure of other genres for the reader, but he didn't have the time. Well. Okay... *Kermit face*
Fortunately for me, I mostly want to write thrillers. And I happen to agree with Coyne that The Silence of the Lambs is one of the greatest novels ever written. (Coyne uses Silence as his major example.)
If you're writing a romance novel and you're not a big fan of serial killer stories? Ehhh. You'll get something out of The Story Grid, but your frustration factor may be high.
July 3, 2015
This book is BRILLIANT!
If you are an editor, you MUST read this book. If you are a writer, you MUST read this book. If you WANT to be a writer, you MUST read this book. If you are a beta reader, you MUST read this book. If you are a BookWorm, you MUST read "The Story Grid". Yes, that sums it up.
The book is beyond insightful and packed with so much knowledge, you won't mind how many pages you are about to read.
It's not a light read, but it is an interesting journey.
Thanks to Author Cassia Leo for sending me this jewel!
If you are an editor, you MUST read this book. If you are a writer, you MUST read this book. If you WANT to be a writer, you MUST read this book. If you are a beta reader, you MUST read this book. If you are a BookWorm, you MUST read "The Story Grid". Yes, that sums it up.
The book is beyond insightful and packed with so much knowledge, you won't mind how many pages you are about to read.
It's not a light read, but it is an interesting journey.
Thanks to Author Cassia Leo for sending me this jewel!
“Stories change people.”
May 1, 2019
I am annoyed that I have to give this book two stars instead of one. ANNOYED. For a book written by an editor, good lord did this book need edited. For clarity. For organization. To not sound like a bunch of blog posts cobbled together. To not repeat itself over and over and over and over and over. To tone down the Silence of the Lambs fanboying just a tick. To, perhaps, suggest that if you're going to say that genre-obligatory things are SUPER IMPORTANT that perhaps you might want to define what those are for all genres, not just the one that YOU like. And so you don't repeat yourself over and over. Did I say that already? It's catching.
Also, if you want to write anything other than thriller/action plots, he has very little to say but the most basic advice. He went on about how genre conventions and obligatory scenes are a must, and he covers what those are very comprehensively for action thrillers, gives passing flybys to it for other broad categories like romance or westerns, but says zero on it for scifi/fantasy. It's super obvious that he really didn't know about those other genres and wasn't going to bother to research them so he could speak about them.
So yeah, reading this book was terribly annoying, and I am CERTAIN that other books more clearly give the same advice he does on scenes, story structure, themes, etc. In fact, if you look at who he namedrops, you could just go read their books. But, I gave it two stars because I think for a certain kind of person that actually graphing out the theme progressions the way he describes would be useful. And because the scattered advice on story structure and progressing plots (despite the author's best efforts) gave me things to think about and got me plotting about my own work. So, yeah - grudging two stars.
Also, if you want to write anything other than thriller/action plots, he has very little to say but the most basic advice. He went on about how genre conventions and obligatory scenes are a must, and he covers what those are very comprehensively for action thrillers, gives passing flybys to it for other broad categories like romance or westerns, but says zero on it for scifi/fantasy. It's super obvious that he really didn't know about those other genres and wasn't going to bother to research them so he could speak about them.
So yeah, reading this book was terribly annoying, and I am CERTAIN that other books more clearly give the same advice he does on scenes, story structure, themes, etc. In fact, if you look at who he namedrops, you could just go read their books. But, I gave it two stars because I think for a certain kind of person that actually graphing out the theme progressions the way he describes would be useful. And because the scattered advice on story structure and progressing plots (despite the author's best efforts) gave me things to think about and got me plotting about my own work. So, yeah - grudging two stars.
April 15, 2019
Good stuff. Solid approach to structured storytelling, with some slants that made think of certain things from new and useful angles.
August 23, 2016
This book quite possibly has changed my life. It will quite possibly change yours. If you're a writer, I suggest you buy it. If you yourself already know what's in it, give it as a gift to a novice writer. They will love you for it. I know I love my fellow writer who suggested it. It has taught me how to be my own editor. It has given me the structure I craved, when I was tearing out my hair, trying to fix my novel. I nearly gave up on it. This book helped me save it. More. This book fired me up to make it the best book I ever wrote. Period. And I know it will be true.
May 14, 2015
Shawn posted the content of this book free on his website-www.storygrid.com. I read along as he posted immediately enamored of the process he was working us through. I'd struggled with revising and editing my WIP and found The Story Grid's intense focus on structure liberating. I finally had a detailed method for uncovering what is working, what isn't and, even more important-how to fix it.
This is destined to be a must-read for serious novelists.
This is destined to be a must-read for serious novelists.
September 13, 2018
I am finding this very useful.
November 11, 2017
Interesting book, and one of the most useful I've found for novelists. It's also a strange book, which meanders all over the place. I wonder if the irony was lost on Shawn Coyne that this book could've used some more editing. On the one hand, it's one pearl after another from a guy who clearly knows his shit. On the other, it's like he had my 11-yr-old daughter tell everyone about it. "So, here's how The Story Grid Works, but first I want to tell you this story about this guy, and, well before that you also need to know about how publishing houses work. So, here it is. Oh but also we better talk about genre...right after we discuss story...." What in the actual hell happened to this book? It's like the Pulp Fiction version of a writing guide. The content is really good. It's the most in-depth explanation of genre you'll find. I learned a lot about editing. It was funny trying to figure out how the technique called the Story Grid works, because he starts teaching it and then goes on tangents for like 200 pages and by the time he gets back to it, I forgot all the earlier stuff. It is seriously in depth, technical. As much as I admired Shawn's vast knowledge, he also comes across as the amalgamation of every arrogant, douchey publishing industry guy you've ever encountered as a writer. It's all quite haughty and I don't recall having a book talk down to me quite like this before. A big focus is on including "obligatory" scenes, required by your genre, but he only touches on thrillers, and mostly talks about The Silence of the Lambs. He does mention once that you need to figure out the obligatory scenes yourself for whichever genre you write. Sweet, thanks. Because, you know, that's something every beginning writer who would be reading this book knows how to do. DESPITE all that, it's still easily four stars because I did legitimately learn a lot from this book, and not just about writing/editing. He offers a lot of wisdom about publishing, from the business of it, to what goes on inside publishing houses, etc. Makes my "top-5 writing books" in fact.
December 20, 2019
I've read three books in the past two weeks that all said the same thing (in essence if not in actual words) and that is: writing is an act of humility. Andrew Peterson said it in Adorning the Dark when he talks about finishing a novel as a form of submitting yourself to the idea, to the process. Harrison Scott Key says it in essence when he shows just how much it costs you to finish a book, how much work it is, not only to write but also to sell and promote a book. And now Shawn Coyne says it in essence as he instructs would-be-authors in the fundamental form of a successful story. Don't try to subvert the formula or resist it or prove you don't need it; embrace the formula and submit your story to its guidance, then watch your story come to life.
This book is extremely practical and imitable, unlike many of the books about writing that I've read and really enjoyed. It's not about finding your muse or accessing the recesses of your subconscious to be a better truth-teller. It's about Coyne sharing his years of publishing experience in story-mapping process that just plain makes sense. I couldn't stop thinking of how useful this book would have been/will be for me as a teacher. It really breaks down the mechanics of how stories draw us forward and includes the best description of story climax I've ever seen. Whether my next moving is writing novels or teaching students how to appreciate them, I'm really, really glad I read this book. I'll be sad to take it back to the library, maybe even sad enough to buy my own copy. It's that good.
This book is extremely practical and imitable, unlike many of the books about writing that I've read and really enjoyed. It's not about finding your muse or accessing the recesses of your subconscious to be a better truth-teller. It's about Coyne sharing his years of publishing experience in story-mapping process that just plain makes sense. I couldn't stop thinking of how useful this book would have been/will be for me as a teacher. It really breaks down the mechanics of how stories draw us forward and includes the best description of story climax I've ever seen. Whether my next moving is writing novels or teaching students how to appreciate them, I'm really, really glad I read this book. I'll be sad to take it back to the library, maybe even sad enough to buy my own copy. It's that good.
June 12, 2016
Have you ever read a book and for some reason, that you cannot articulate, it doesn’t work for you? There’s something wrong.
Now imagine you are writing or editing a book and you have the same reaction. Do you throw it away? Do you give up and start writing a new story? What if you make the same mistakes again? What if you just keep writing unfinished things that started off as good ideas and have got mired somewhere?
Or, do you try to work out where the story went wrong, and then work out how to fix it?
This is what Shawn Coyne does. He’s been an editor for twenty five years and he really knows his stuff.
Shawn partners with Stephen Pressfield at Black Irish Publishing.
http://www.storygrid.com/
http://www.stevenpressfield.com/
http://shop.blackirishbooks.com/
If you are trying to be an author, all three sites are worth checking out.
This book is super dense - in the sense that it is chock full of information and advice. So much so that reading it took me some time.
Thank goodness for the generosity of Shawn who made a series of videos and sent them to people who purchased the book through his website. Honestly, he could charge for this stuff.
If you haven’t read Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris or seen the movie, do it before you read this. He uses it as the example book to show you how he edits, and how he breaks a story down using the method he prefers. He’s old school - I’m talking graph paper, index cards and foolscap sheets. But there are a lot of reasons why being old school works; especially when it comes to stories. We, as readers, expect stories to follow the rules and when they don’t we get annoyed with them. There must be a happy ending in a romance novel - even if it is just a happy for now. There must be a death in a murder mystery and the murderer must be identified. I gave up on a mystery recently where I was more than halfway through it and there still hadn’t been a murder.
There must be a ticking clock of some sort in a thriller.
I heard one author complain today that he got one star reviews because people could not work out what genre his story fitted in.
The rules matter.
Shawn is very intent that the grid is only a tool. You still have to write the story yourself, but maybe it will help you fix something that was broken, or make a decent story into an unforgettable one.
Now imagine you are writing or editing a book and you have the same reaction. Do you throw it away? Do you give up and start writing a new story? What if you make the same mistakes again? What if you just keep writing unfinished things that started off as good ideas and have got mired somewhere?
Or, do you try to work out where the story went wrong, and then work out how to fix it?
This is what Shawn Coyne does. He’s been an editor for twenty five years and he really knows his stuff.
Shawn partners with Stephen Pressfield at Black Irish Publishing.
http://www.storygrid.com/
http://www.stevenpressfield.com/
http://shop.blackirishbooks.com/
If you are trying to be an author, all three sites are worth checking out.
This book is super dense - in the sense that it is chock full of information and advice. So much so that reading it took me some time.
Thank goodness for the generosity of Shawn who made a series of videos and sent them to people who purchased the book through his website. Honestly, he could charge for this stuff.
If you haven’t read Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris or seen the movie, do it before you read this. He uses it as the example book to show you how he edits, and how he breaks a story down using the method he prefers. He’s old school - I’m talking graph paper, index cards and foolscap sheets. But there are a lot of reasons why being old school works; especially when it comes to stories. We, as readers, expect stories to follow the rules and when they don’t we get annoyed with them. There must be a happy ending in a romance novel - even if it is just a happy for now. There must be a death in a murder mystery and the murderer must be identified. I gave up on a mystery recently where I was more than halfway through it and there still hadn’t been a murder.
There must be a ticking clock of some sort in a thriller.
I heard one author complain today that he got one star reviews because people could not work out what genre his story fitted in.
The rules matter.
Shawn is very intent that the grid is only a tool. You still have to write the story yourself, but maybe it will help you fix something that was broken, or make a decent story into an unforgettable one.
May 8, 2017
I've taken my time reading this, going back over specific chapters, and with a side-step into Silence of the Lambs along the way (as suggested), and I have to say I'm hooked on the whole story grid thing. There are videos to watch and other resources on the storygrid website, and I'm still soaking it all up. This is a brilliant book for anyone who's ever finished a first draft and then thought: okay, time to edit – what do I do apart from read it all again, and again, and again. Now there's a process.
April 11, 2019
I had high hopes for this how-to book, and I took a lot of notes. It was good for its organizational content but the grid is way too complex. If I were to do this I’d never get any actual writing done, and I’d end up doing a lot of re-writing. It’s good as a map to keep in mind when decision-making for whatever planning is done prior to writing, and the shorter form is worth keeping in mind. But I could never use the long form to good advantage. Glad I went through it for the understanding of the method, but I won’t be using the grid.
January 28, 2022
Imagine your an author and you could send your manuscript to an editor, who checks it out and tells you what works and what not. It's every author's dream to look at his works through the glasses of an editor. Shawn has more than twenty-five years experiences and created a methodology that you can now put to work on your manuscripts.
June 30, 2019
This is a weird one. I think I'm going to go with three stars. What this book basically does is take everything from "Story" by Robert Mckee and tell you how to make it into a spreadsheet. Now, I don't know about you, but I can figure out how to make a spreadsheet on my own. In fact, I have. Many things in this book I found very familiar because they're ideas taken directly from story of things I extrapolated myself from that (putting it into a spreadsheet, mapping the change in values on a graph). So I'm not sure he gets any credit for most of this book as it's something anyone who read "Story" and was moderately intelligent could do on their own. To be fair, he does credit all the actual theory he's using.
But, let's give him the benefit of the doubt and say most people can't generate a spreadsheet for themselves and need someone else to guide them through the process. Okay. Coyne claims putting possibly upwards of three weeks into this spreadsheet can make you a better author and help you identify problems with your story's plot. The thing is, he doesn't demonstrate this. He demonstrates the method on a very successful book. This is fine for showing you how to physically plot of the graphs and I found a lot of his analysis of "The Silence of the Lambs" and how it was constructed compelling (if not always tightly tied to the ideas he laid out in his spreadsheet). The problem is, he didn't then show how putting three weeks into this spreadsheet helps me see the problems with my plot. I honestly thing that taking a less successful novel and plotting it would have allowed him to point and say, look, this is a problem, you could identify that too. Perhaps it would be obvious when I generated my spreadsheet where the problems are so I wouldn't need the example but the fact is he doesn't show us how it works so I can't know that. Essentially, he proves that we can make a spreadsheet but not how doing so will add value to our work.
Spreadsheet aside, there were two other things I noted in this book. The first is the idea of a genre having obligatory scenes. I'd more or less agree with this. An important part of writing in a genre is meeting audience expectation and having read widely in a genre to be aware of them and of the core value of a genre. A key failure in someone who comes in and writers in a genre they're not familiar with is that they'll not respect these scenes. There are two problems I had with this. The first is that no scene is truly essential. True, not putting a given scene in might make a novel more literary that genre but as long as you're aware of reader expectation and how you establish that expectation, subvert and fulfil it, that's important. For example, a happy ending is a key feature of a romance. You will get absolutely slammed if you write a romance without a happy ending. But people do. Brokeback mountain has a terrible ending. Now, some would argue that it's a literary story and not a romance but I think that's just messing about. It's a romance because it gives us that satisfaction we need not by giving us the scene of the happy ending but by showing us that the love both men have for each other is true and enduring and by signalling to us throughout the novel that this may well not end well. At the end of the day, I think that if you want to be clever and push the boundaries of a genre then nothing is off limits, you've just got to be a very good writer to do it and, ultimately, those books that push our understanding of what the genre is are the greats.
The other problem is, if we put my ramble aside and I accept that I'm not going to revolutionise the romance but I just want to write a solid romance so what are these scenes, he doesn't tell me. Now, there is a reason for this, but he doesn't give it. The reason is that what we think of as a genre and the conventions of that genre are constantly in flux. I can't write a romance novel using a template from twenty years ago, or even ten, it would be considered out of date. But Coyne doesn't explain this, he just tells the reader to read around in their genre and see what most people do. For me, he could have expanded this to give more direction on how, exactly, to get to know your genre and to understand where in it you can innovate and where you can't.
The only thing I really got out of this that I'm not going to argue with even a little and actually thought was quite clever was the expansion of the value from "Story". So, Mckee says a story should have a value shift from, say, happiness to sadness, to be trite. Coyne suggests expanding that, putting a state in the middle and a worse one at the end. So we might expand this to happiness - uncertainty - sadness- despair. You then plot them onto a three act structure so the first act moves from happiness to uncertainty, the second from uncertainty to sadness and the last from sadness to despair. Thinking about it that way helps to pace the emotional growth of your story and also grounds that idea that, with everything, things must become more extreme as the plot progresses. I actually found that idea helpful.
I think, on balance, I'm going to have to give the book a three. It didn't do enough for me that made me think or that I feel I can take away and apply to my own work for me to be willing to rate it any higher than that. I'd not recommend it to a friend, I'd recommend them story and teach them how to make a spreadsheet my own damn self.
But, let's give him the benefit of the doubt and say most people can't generate a spreadsheet for themselves and need someone else to guide them through the process. Okay. Coyne claims putting possibly upwards of three weeks into this spreadsheet can make you a better author and help you identify problems with your story's plot. The thing is, he doesn't demonstrate this. He demonstrates the method on a very successful book. This is fine for showing you how to physically plot of the graphs and I found a lot of his analysis of "The Silence of the Lambs" and how it was constructed compelling (if not always tightly tied to the ideas he laid out in his spreadsheet). The problem is, he didn't then show how putting three weeks into this spreadsheet helps me see the problems with my plot. I honestly thing that taking a less successful novel and plotting it would have allowed him to point and say, look, this is a problem, you could identify that too. Perhaps it would be obvious when I generated my spreadsheet where the problems are so I wouldn't need the example but the fact is he doesn't show us how it works so I can't know that. Essentially, he proves that we can make a spreadsheet but not how doing so will add value to our work.
Spreadsheet aside, there were two other things I noted in this book. The first is the idea of a genre having obligatory scenes. I'd more or less agree with this. An important part of writing in a genre is meeting audience expectation and having read widely in a genre to be aware of them and of the core value of a genre. A key failure in someone who comes in and writers in a genre they're not familiar with is that they'll not respect these scenes. There are two problems I had with this. The first is that no scene is truly essential. True, not putting a given scene in might make a novel more literary that genre but as long as you're aware of reader expectation and how you establish that expectation, subvert and fulfil it, that's important. For example, a happy ending is a key feature of a romance. You will get absolutely slammed if you write a romance without a happy ending. But people do. Brokeback mountain has a terrible ending. Now, some would argue that it's a literary story and not a romance but I think that's just messing about. It's a romance because it gives us that satisfaction we need not by giving us the scene of the happy ending but by showing us that the love both men have for each other is true and enduring and by signalling to us throughout the novel that this may well not end well. At the end of the day, I think that if you want to be clever and push the boundaries of a genre then nothing is off limits, you've just got to be a very good writer to do it and, ultimately, those books that push our understanding of what the genre is are the greats.
The other problem is, if we put my ramble aside and I accept that I'm not going to revolutionise the romance but I just want to write a solid romance so what are these scenes, he doesn't tell me. Now, there is a reason for this, but he doesn't give it. The reason is that what we think of as a genre and the conventions of that genre are constantly in flux. I can't write a romance novel using a template from twenty years ago, or even ten, it would be considered out of date. But Coyne doesn't explain this, he just tells the reader to read around in their genre and see what most people do. For me, he could have expanded this to give more direction on how, exactly, to get to know your genre and to understand where in it you can innovate and where you can't.
The only thing I really got out of this that I'm not going to argue with even a little and actually thought was quite clever was the expansion of the value from "Story". So, Mckee says a story should have a value shift from, say, happiness to sadness, to be trite. Coyne suggests expanding that, putting a state in the middle and a worse one at the end. So we might expand this to happiness - uncertainty - sadness- despair. You then plot them onto a three act structure so the first act moves from happiness to uncertainty, the second from uncertainty to sadness and the last from sadness to despair. Thinking about it that way helps to pace the emotional growth of your story and also grounds that idea that, with everything, things must become more extreme as the plot progresses. I actually found that idea helpful.
I think, on balance, I'm going to have to give the book a three. It didn't do enough for me that made me think or that I feel I can take away and apply to my own work for me to be willing to rate it any higher than that. I'd not recommend it to a friend, I'd recommend them story and teach them how to make a spreadsheet my own damn self.
October 8, 2018
Nuts and bolts. The book here is a tool. It gives writers a blueprint for self editing ones work before submission.
Some people resist the idea of structure and critical assessment. They are so caught up in the romance of writing and the idea of art that they don't to admit the mundane blue collar aspects of craft.
STORY GRID is a great way of overcoming that perspective. It is a way to make your writing better and to help overcome some obstacles that may occur from page one to the ending.
It is perhaps the best book on writing I've read. Although, I might also suggest James Woods' HOW FICTION WORKS and ATTACK OF THE CUPOLA SPIDERS by Douglas Glover. And there are many others, but STORY GRID is the closest to creating an owners manual for your model of fiction.
Some people resist the idea of structure and critical assessment. They are so caught up in the romance of writing and the idea of art that they don't to admit the mundane blue collar aspects of craft.
STORY GRID is a great way of overcoming that perspective. It is a way to make your writing better and to help overcome some obstacles that may occur from page one to the ending.
It is perhaps the best book on writing I've read. Although, I might also suggest James Woods' HOW FICTION WORKS and ATTACK OF THE CUPOLA SPIDERS by Douglas Glover. And there are many others, but STORY GRID is the closest to creating an owners manual for your model of fiction.
January 9, 2019
Excellent advice
I love this book and how by example it showed what it was speaking about. I'll never look at the Silence of the Lambs the same way again. And hope I can bring the same thing to my work.
I love this book and how by example it showed what it was speaking about. I'll never look at the Silence of the Lambs the same way again. And hope I can bring the same thing to my work.
June 29, 2022
Absolutely loved it. Quite the analytical approach I love. One drawback is that it leaves a lot on the practical front which he understandably addresses in his workshops.
October 6, 2015
It's taken me a while to read this, mostly because I'd get side-tracked trying to use its principles before I was actually ready. However, today I finished it, and though I still find some of its almost-technical jargon a bit off-putting, and while I can't say that Silence of the Lambs is a book I'd have chosen as my model for everything Coyne writes about, this is still a valuable book. (He does give examples from other books and movies, by the way, and I found some of those more helpful, especially if I knew them.)
My big problem in writing a story is the structural aspect, and if this book does nothing else it focuses on getting the structure right. Initially it seems like Coyne is a 'work out your story's structure' first kind of character; in fact, late in the book he helpfully notes that while it might be useful to have some guidelines when you set out to write your first draft, getting the story down on paper is the first big essential. After you've got that in place you really have something to work on, no matter how bad it is. And with that draft available to you, you can set your editor free to work out the principles of the Story Grid and begin making your book something everyone will want to read.
Having now actually finished the book I can sit down with my current draft (which is already listed as 'draft 6' though that's probably an understatement) and make some real progress. Thanks, Shawn.
PS My only quibble with the book is that the diagrams are impossible to read on the Kindle. So it's helpful to have your computer handy at certain points in the book in order to be able to access the diagrams. There are even better versions of them on the original Story Grid website/blog.
My big problem in writing a story is the structural aspect, and if this book does nothing else it focuses on getting the structure right. Initially it seems like Coyne is a 'work out your story's structure' first kind of character; in fact, late in the book he helpfully notes that while it might be useful to have some guidelines when you set out to write your first draft, getting the story down on paper is the first big essential. After you've got that in place you really have something to work on, no matter how bad it is. And with that draft available to you, you can set your editor free to work out the principles of the Story Grid and begin making your book something everyone will want to read.
Having now actually finished the book I can sit down with my current draft (which is already listed as 'draft 6' though that's probably an understatement) and make some real progress. Thanks, Shawn.
PS My only quibble with the book is that the diagrams are impossible to read on the Kindle. So it's helpful to have your computer handy at certain points in the book in order to be able to access the diagrams. There are even better versions of them on the original Story Grid website/blog.
May 11, 2017
I read everything Shawn Coyne posted on his website about the story grid. I'm told the contents are essentially the same as what's in the book. And while I'll admit that what he says in the lead-up to the story grid is generally very erudite in getting you to break down your story into little bits, and consider genre, and so forth, the story grid itself is absolutely worthless.
Why? Because he doesn't explain what to do with it. I can take a graph paper, put a bunch of random zig-zaggy lines on it, and call it a work of art, but without any context, it doesn't mean a thing. Some of the terms he uses and some of the constructs for creating the story grid are completely just left out there like they're 100% self-evident, when they're anything but. Even with respect to the parts that aren't Greek, I still don't know how they relate to anything.
I posted on the articles on Coyne's website, asking for clarity. My posts were deleted, because how dare I spread dissension into his cult of people sucking at his teats and telling him how wonderful his story grid is? TBH, either I'm dumber than rocks (which I don't *think* I am) or there are a lot of people who are giving false praise of this BS.
Why? Because he doesn't explain what to do with it. I can take a graph paper, put a bunch of random zig-zaggy lines on it, and call it a work of art, but without any context, it doesn't mean a thing. Some of the terms he uses and some of the constructs for creating the story grid are completely just left out there like they're 100% self-evident, when they're anything but. Even with respect to the parts that aren't Greek, I still don't know how they relate to anything.
I posted on the articles on Coyne's website, asking for clarity. My posts were deleted, because how dare I spread dissension into his cult of people sucking at his teats and telling him how wonderful his story grid is? TBH, either I'm dumber than rocks (which I don't *think* I am) or there are a lot of people who are giving false praise of this BS.
May 15, 2015
This book has changed my entire outlook and approach to writing, editing, and storytelling. Shawn Coyne's Story Grid framework is THE best approach I've seen to story craft and editing. His approach might seem very analytical to us creative types, but it provides a needed foundation to crafting a compelling story. Coyne possesses a wealth of knowledge on the publishing industry and he shares it in spades. You'll be learn the inner workings of the industry as well as what sets apart a bestselling novel from a dud collecting dust on a bookshelf.
Any writer intuitively knows structure is important to a story, but you might not necessarily understand why. Coyne explains why so profoundly and simply that you'll be inpsired to write and reflect after every chapter! I read the ebook version of the book, but I will definitely be purchasing the hardcover edition because I see myself using it as a resource when I go through my edits. You might think about doing the same. This is a definite buy if you're a writer and if not, it's the perfect gift for every writer you know!
Any writer intuitively knows structure is important to a story, but you might not necessarily understand why. Coyne explains why so profoundly and simply that you'll be inpsired to write and reflect after every chapter! I read the ebook version of the book, but I will definitely be purchasing the hardcover edition because I see myself using it as a resource when I go through my edits. You might think about doing the same. This is a definite buy if you're a writer and if not, it's the perfect gift for every writer you know!
May 26, 2015
Bought this on kindle after it was recommended by writing friend. Having read through it, I am now using it to do revisions and finding it very helpful. Maybe it's because I have an old kindle, but the diagrams were illegible on it. They are available on the web, but having bought the book on kindle, Yes, I do find it irksome to have to look up diagrams on the web.
There are some extremely interesting and insightful observations about genre conventions and obligatory scenes and while these are covered for crime/thriller genres, I found it frustrating that so many other genres were not covered, particularly as the concept of genre convention and obligatory scenes is a significant chunk of the book.
Still, despite these quibbles, the story grid is proving a very useful revision/editing tool even for a non crime/thriller...
There are some extremely interesting and insightful observations about genre conventions and obligatory scenes and while these are covered for crime/thriller genres, I found it frustrating that so many other genres were not covered, particularly as the concept of genre convention and obligatory scenes is a significant chunk of the book.
Still, despite these quibbles, the story grid is proving a very useful revision/editing tool even for a non crime/thriller...
May 20, 2017
Las cosas claras, Story Grid es un libro muy bueno, que ofrece un mecanismo claro y replicable para poder construir una historia decente o detectar los fallos en una historia ya escrita. Tomado como un curso de edición, es una inversión segura pero Story Grid no es una lectura muy adecuada para escritores noveles, porque puede hacer que se pierdan en los detalles (los elementos de la historia) en lugar de ocuparse del conjunto (terminar su maldito libro). Creo que este título está indicado a aquellos escritores que ya han dejado de preocuparse tanto por las palabras y comienzan a interesarse por la historia y cómo atrapar al lector. Y si eres capaz de entender esa distinción, es señal que de que puedes sacar provecho de este libro.
January 14, 2019
I gave this three stars at first, then when I pulled it off the shelf two days later to refer to it, gave it four, then when it gave me all kinds of ideas the next day, changed it to five. It’s now going into my favorites because I just referred to it heavily in a developmental editing session with a client. Super useful for analyzing fiction for revision.
May 10, 2015
Worth every stinking penny!
If I ever have a book make it to the New York Times bestseller list, it will be a direct result of what I learned by reading this book.
If I ever have a book make it to the New York Times bestseller list, it will be a direct result of what I learned by reading this book.
December 5, 2015
Written to help writers craft a better story, this is actually a rewarding read for anyone who wants a better understanding of how stories work. Which should be everyone!
December 31, 2015
An absolute must read for anybody interested in story craft.
November 12, 2023
Wow this book is amazing. I can’t recommend it enough
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