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.

In my 36th year as a would-be and penniless writer, I found myself exiled to a dark rough and tumble city in the Far West, guns blazing as a steely-eyed wordslinger for hire. But then one day I stumbled upon Lisa Cron's book Wired for Story. The book's title had my curiosity. A few sample pages later grabbed my attention and has held it ever since. But the price wasn't right for a poor, humble English teacher living in China upon a Chinese salary. I had bills to pay, a mistress to please, and habits to feed. It seemed to me that Amazon.com was colluding with other dark powers to suck humanity dry; why else would they charge more for a digital book than its paper copy? But then I heard ghostly voices, the cinematic intonations of Morpheus telling me to choose between the red and blue pill; Obiwan Kenobi, "Use the Force"; Nike commercials, "Just Do It!"; and other such shadows flickering upon the wall of my TV room. Even this very particular retail website seemed to whisper across all the vastness of cyberspace, reminding me of my destiny via a personalized showcase of products, that I was not just born to buy... So I added it to my cart. About a download and two chapters later I found that I was still happy after the post-purchase buzz ran its course. This book should be required reading for all writers - and anybody else seeking an inoculation against the raging pandemic of competing narratives spewed out from marketers, pundits, prophets, and others posing as guardians of the truth - most of whom seem to be more enraptured than enlightened. For writers though, Wired for Story is quite different from other "how to" books, as Lisa Cron approaches the craft of storytelling from a neuroscientific point of view. She makes the case that writers aren't just entertainers: they are some of most powerful shakers and shapers of human perception. So if storytellers are like snake oil salesmen, then what is the difference? Both seem to be highly skilled in crafting story, using imagery, and evoking emotions, memories, desires. The difference is all about marketing. Salesmen claim to have knowledge, skills, and expertise, that they, and they alone have whatever it takes to get the facts right and fix things. They market their brands cloaked in story, as if they have a monopoly on truth, or at least the can-do spirit and problem-solving experience needed to improve the economy, save the world, whatever. It doesn't matter that time and time again reality proves them wrong; they will always have another story to spin. The difference between those who would use the power of story to express themselves versus those who would use it for personal gain is, perhaps, a fine red line marking the shadowy borders of between ethics and morality. Storytellers differ because they use words to hook audiences and manipulate a willing reader's central nervous system. They make no claims to knowledge or expertise. Indeed, fiction writers will be first to emphasize their work is fictional, and not based on any real life events or people. Their best writing leaves readers thinking, questioning, minds opening, empathizing, expanding their worldviews, the list goes on almost ad infinitum. Storytellers speak for themselves and let audiences think for themselves; pundits speak for others and tell audiences what to think. What's more, the art and craft of story, as well as the talent and hard time in solitary confinement required for their honing, is estimated to take an average storyteller at least 1,000,000 words or 10,000 hours - not including all the reading, language arts development, and life experience necessary to get to a point one needs to seriously embark on such a ludicrous and un-economical vocation. This means that fiction writers who risk everything for dubious prospects of financial reward must have something else driving them - and a good day job. A presidential candidate though, who has genuinely done the time, and crafts speeches with the skill of a poet or bard, should hypothetically have the critical thinking background, moral authority, and empathy to be a great leader. But in the final analysis, actions contradict words; their ability to spin tales proves the old universal theme that the pen is mightier than the sword. Now when I finish Wired for Story sometime this week, I will be one step further on this endless quest to actually sell stories for a living (i.e. stories fit for the fiction aisle of an actual bookstore, not a review for an online retailer). Until then, I'm probably just a hypocrite acting as if a single book alone makes a smarter man, when in fact I know little of anything (which is why I became a writer in the first place) -- or maintaining such a humble pretense. But I don't know myself well enough to be certain. That kind of exploration would be a whole other story - but it would be unsafe to say that I lived happily ever after reading this book. The End

Wired for Story is a book full of solid, albeit basic, advice for story tellers, and in particular writers trying to develop their craft. It succeeds in some areas while falls down in others, however I found it solid and well written overall. Where it succeeds is in its brevity and clarity. The author gets right to the point and even provides short lists at times of what to do and how to do it. Her writing is also peppered with cheeky humor which is humorous in a thats-almost-funny kind of way that is refreshing compared to the textbook style adopted by many how-to-write books. Where the book fell down, for me, was in its limited examples and scope. It really felt like the author was addressing romance writers, for the most part. I could think of a few counter examples to some of her rules, although one would have to leave the romance genre for those to work. But for a 230 page book, that is minor discrepancy. The second thing I noticed, which has already been pointed out by others, is that the brain science was limited. In fact, it was mostly only refereed to in footnote. Personally, that was fine with me, but I could see why it made others feel misled (it is in the title, after all).

I say 'unfortunately another good book on writing' since I have been reading many books on the topic and each time I think I have read it all by now, pfff, but then another one like this comes along. But hey, it is fun to read about writing and especially if you get something useful and new out of it. Always worth the money. Why the accolades for this book? All the information on characters, plot, details etc, how they work and why they are important, is not new. You find them in many reading books, especially from Reader's and Writer's Digest series. I would especially recommend the books on plot and structure by James Scott Bell. Yet this book Wired For Story is not redundant, since it is unique in both the focus on the familiar subjects like what story is, the importance of details, details versus generics, how events affect a character etc. The approach of using brain science shows in a compelling way why all the stuff in the book (and for that matter, the classic theory on writing) is there for a reason, since it has evolved out of how we humans seem to perceive a story. Interesting though, a lot of rules like 'write about what you know' are shown to be myths. Of course, in the end it is you as a reader that has to decide what works for you, but you will find new things here and that is always good. If you are thinking about writing a story, this book can give you a very sharp focus on what to think about before you start. Or, like me, when you have a draft, and you want to get to the 'real story' behind it to come forward, this work gives you a very transparent way to get better clues as to what stays and what has to go. It is also entertaining and easy to read, so, all I can say is, yet again a book on writing you cannot afford to miss! I just added some extra information: I loved the humor and wisdom of the writer. She has worked for years reading manuscripts and she does know her stuff, and I liked her tone, which was both realistic but also fun! How many times have you read a reference work and actually had to laugh? But this book was also profound on many story issues. Many common writing rules are, as I said before, shown to be myths and more importantly, why this is so. I have read for instance so often that you should have some sensory info on every page, but, as I thought myself and I am not the only one: although this makes things more lively, it should only be there if the story would dictate it! The book has many more things like these. I have compiled a collection of notes I took from all the many many books on writing so I measure new books on writing in how much text I copied and pasted to look at again and this book has given me lots, so 5 stars and I hope we will see more of this author again! I also recommend the book by James Scott Bell on plot and structure which you can find here Plot & Structure: (Techniques And Exercises For Crafting A Plot That Grips Readers From Start To Finish) (Write Great Fiction)

A book that was fun to read and informative. I feel as though I have a better understanding of writing fiction now.

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’ve written many books over the years, and published 40 or so. Once I started writing my first novel, I found out that all the old techniques just didn’t work. Thanks to a great new book ”Wired for story. The writer’s guide to using brain science. By Lisa Cron” Lisa studied and cataloged the works of several Neuro scientists. She explained all of that, plus how it applied to writing a novel. Better yet, she then shows us how to apply these techniques to where it counts. In addition, This changes the hierarchy of your novel. Ensuring that it’s focusing on what’s important to the brain. Using this new brain science, she proposes a completely new hierarchy of needs for your book. Moreover, the fact that the brain is trying to solve the problem of the protagonist. • “What happens” is the plot • “Someone” is the protagonist • The “goal” is what’s known as the story question • “How are he or she changes” is what the story itself is actually about. As counterintuitive as it may sound, the story is not about the plot or even what happens in it. Stories are about how we, rather than the world around us, change. The more your reader discovers the missing pieces to solving the protagonist's problem the more interesting if it is. It seems as the mind creates a mental stimulation of events described in the story. But he goes much deeper than that Details about actions and sensations that are captured from the text and integrated with personal knowledge from past experiences these data are then run through mental stimulation using brain regions a closely mirror those involved when people perform, imagine, or observe similar real-world activities. Haven’t you ever come home from a movie, reenacting that movie in your own mind? When the events of the story of filtering through the protagonist's point of view, allowing us to watch as she makes sense of everything. Seeing it in her eyes. This is not just like we see things. It’s that we grasp what they mean to her. Other words the reader must be aware of the protagonist personal effect on everything that happens. This is exactly where I fell apart on my novel is should be a first person third person. Lisa explains all these points of view, their advantages, and their disadvantages… My personal choices third person, omniscient. It also fixes another problem about tags. This technique is so powerful the third person doesn’t have to be bothered with he said;​ she said it’s so intuitive, it needs no explanation. It also settles a big dispute that I’ve always had the use of italic, quotes, and indented text. None are necessary. Some of the best examples that I’ve ever seen for show rather than tell. All the points that the author makes are demonstrated and explained with real examples from published articles. It’s like a five-year writing course that you can complete in three or four days. I bookmarked it extensively so that I can get back to those important points. Neuroscience also explains why social proof works so well. And a few hints on how to customize it, for your particular problem or opportunity. As a copywriter, one who writes advertising copy? I have long been aware of how to write directly to the subconscious mind. These techniques have been known for almost 100 years. We just didn’t know why they worked. Only that they did work. Thanks to Lisa for this fantastic book, I now know why they work.

I purchased this book a few weeks ago expecting it to be pretty much like most of the other writing guides. I was not expecting to fall in love with it. I don't know if it appeals to me because of my ADD or the fact that many of the scientific studies Ms. Cron cites in her book confirms much of what I suspected was true in my dealings with people for over a half-century in sales and marketing. It helped fill in the gaps of how we as social creatures love to immerse ourselves in story on an ongoing basis... that we are hard-wired to socially share our thoughts and emotions through more than statistical data streams and cold hard facts. Her breakdown of the classic movie, "It's A Wonderful Life" literally changed my life by allowing me to see that George Bailey and I shared much in the way of misguided external goals blinding me to my true inner goals and motivations. I know this might sound like crap to some of you... but, I swear it is all true. In delving into what the protagonist of this movie wanted I discovered what I truly wanted and already had... I wanted to be unconditionally loved and accepted and I have all of that and more in my lovely wife. A black cloud of loathing at feeling like a failure lifted and I realize that if I died right now, I would do so a happy and fulfilled man. I know she did not write this book so I could pull my head out of a dark place, but, Lisa Cron, I thank you anyway. Other than my life altering epiphany, I would recommend this book because it is more than just another how to write better book... the information here will help anyone who wants to understand themselves better and the people around them either living or fictional. I can see where it will be a great help to writers who want to better write the stories that matter to them. I know it is helping me. I cannot recommend this book more highly than saying... buy it. It is worth every penny you'll spend on it. (For the record, I bought the paperback version.)

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.