The Martian and A Christmas Carol

FromStory Grid Writing Podcast

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The Martian and A Christmas Carol

FromStory Grid Writing Podcast

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Length:

85 minutes

Released:

Dec 23, 2015

Format:

Podcast episode

Description

Learn how the Story Grid works with Andy Weir's The Martian and Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol.
Click here to download Shawn's Foolscap Story Grid for The Martian.
Click here to download Shawn's Foolscap Story Grid for A Christmas Carol.
Click here to download Tim's Foolscap Story Grid for The Martian.

Released:

Dec 23, 2015

Format:

Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

Click here to Subscribe in iTunes. Helping you become a better writer. Join Shawn Coyne, author of Story Grid and a top editor for 25+ years, and Tim Grahl, struggling writer, as they discuss the ins and outs of what makes a story great. More at www.StoryGrid.com.

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And that's what life is all about: How can you become a better writer? Join Shawn Coyne, a bestselling editor with 25+ years experience, and Tim Grahl as they dive into the craft of story telling. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
62 min listen
Diving deep into genre: Shawn and Tim dive deeper into genre and how to find the best internal and external conflicts. Along the way they discuss the hero's journey, love stories, and a woman from the sea. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
65 min listen
How to plot and outline your story: As Tim begins to plot and outline his story, he gets Shawn's input on exactly how to do it. This process is filled with potential time wasters and distractions, and Shawn helps Tim avoid them. See Tim's initial outline and other downloads at storygrid.com/podcast. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
52 min listen
Finding a Marketable Genre: This is an epic episode. Shawn and Tim talk through finding a marketable genre and how to build a book that fits. Then, once the episode was over, they keep talking with the mics on for another half hour. This is a great behind-the-scenes episode. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
89 min listen
The 8 stages of grief/writing: How does the Kübler-Ross model from psychiatry apply to your writing? Also, how to develop your characters and applying the Story Grid to non-fiction. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
67 min listen
Special Guest: Steven Pressfield - Part 1: Learn how to fight Resistance and launch your writing career with the amazing Steven Pressfield. Check out his new book NO ONE WANTS TO READ YOUR SHIT. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
51 min listen
Units of Story (beats, scenes, acts, etc): Learn the units of story telling -- beats, scenes, sequences, acts, etc -- and how they make you a better writer and editor. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
57 min listen
How not to waste 100k words: How does The Martian work with The Story Grid? Plus, we discuss how to make sure your story is good before writing 100k words and the difference between Internal and External genre. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
70 min listen
What is literary vs commercial fiction?: Shawn and Tim discuss literary vs commercial fiction and start diving into the giant subject that is genre. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
75 min listen
6 questions (good) editors ask: The 6 questions (good) editors ask and the 5 parts of every story. See the full show notes to download Shawn's critiques of Tim's first scene. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
64 min listen
Better Non-fiction with Story Grid: Shawn explains how Story Grid can help you be a better non-fiction writer. Also, the editing process and how to know when your book is "done". by Story Grid Writing Podcast
50 min listen
How does Stephen King write?: How does Stephen King do it? Plus, Shawn and Tim talk about flailing as a writer and how good character development is really done. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
69 min listen
The 5 Commandments of Storytelling: Learn the 5 commandments of storytelling and how it will make your story better. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
60 min listen
The Mathematics of Storytelling: Story Grid Math. How many scenes, words, turns does your book need? Also discussed is the 5 commandments of storytelling and Tim's attempt at a rewrite. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
65 min listen
How to Story Grid a Book: Talking about Story Grid is one thing, putting it into practice is quite another. Tim struggles with applying Story Grid to Harry Potter. In addition, specificity, ins and outs of publishing, and more. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
52 min listen
Shawn rips apart Tim's scene (again): Tim writes another scene for Shawn to critique. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
57 min listen
Can I just rip off Harry Potter?: The Hero's Journey and how it works with Story Grid. The characters and scenarios. Also, how to learn from one book to write your own. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
51 min listen
How to write a great beginning hook: How do you write an opener for your book that grabs people's attention and doesn't let go? Shawn shares great insights on this along with how to develop believable characters. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
63 min listen
What is narrative device?: How can narrative device make your storytelling easier? We also discuss the two types of inciting incidents and how the Story Grid applies to he movie Dead Calm. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
62 min listen
Shawn rips apart Tim's scene: Shawns critiques (rips apart) Tim's first scene. Along the way, they discuss Agatha Christie, Wes Craven, Hemingway, and Freddy Krueger. See full show notes at storygrid.com/podcast to download and read Tim's first scene. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
73 min listen
The 2 big questions to ask your first draft: This was a haps episode for Tim. Shawn has now read the manuscript and gives his feedback and next steps. They also discuss the two questions you should ask your first draft. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
59 min listen
The Martian and A Christmas Carol: Learn how the Story Grid works with Andy Weir's THE MARTIAN and Charles Dickens's A CHRISTMAS CAROL. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
85 min listen
Pub 101: How to Work With Your Publisher: In this three part series, Shawn and Tim discuss the ins and outs of the publishing industry. Learn how to work with your publisher and market your book. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
52 min listen
Creating great writing habits: How do great writers actually get their writing done? Shawn and Tim delve into this along with combating fear and reaching your goals. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
52 min listen
How to Write Faster: How can you get more writing done? Is the "wall" even real or just in your head? by Story Grid Writing Podcast
57 min listen
Scenes and Sequences for your Middle Build: The Middle Build is the longest and most complex section of your novel. Figuring out how to plan it and pace it is really tough. Shawn and Tim dive in on how to do this. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
57 min listen
Where do great story ideas come from?: The question every author gets... "Where do you come up with story ideas?" Also, how to write characters that are truthful, even when you can't relate with them. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
57 min listen
Can you learn to write better (without trying)?: Shawn and Tim discuss unconventional ways to become a better writer. Topics include chicken sexing, Deliberate Practice, and many other things. Also, Tim's now trying to track down a cadaver he can use. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
56 min listen
When to get feedback from other writers: A wide ranging episode where Shawn and Tim discuss a new way to think about beginning hooks, the high concept "What if?" pitch, when to open the door and get other writer's feedback, and how the "Power of 10" will help your editing process. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
54 min listen
Special Guest: Steven Pressfield - Part 2: Learn how to fight Resistance and launch your writing career with the amazing Steven Pressfield. Check out his new book NO ONE WANTS TO READ YOUR SHIT. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
47 min listen

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The Final Episode: This will be the final episode of the Story Grid Podcast for the foreseeable future. Tim gives some background on why this decision was made along with an update on his current writing project and other happenings around Story Grid. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
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Crazy Rich Asians: Part 4 - What Writers Can Learn: Access the full Story Grid analysis of CRAZY RICH ASIANS at https://storygrid.com/crazy. What can writers learn from studying this 2018 film? This is the final in a four part series analyzing CRAZY RICH ASIANS. The screenplay was written by Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim and the movie was based on a 2013 book of the same title written by Kevin Kwan. This episode is hosted by Story Grid Certified Editor Rachel Arsenault (https://www.rachel-arsenault.com) and Tim Grahl, writer and CEO of Story Grid. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
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Crazy Rich Asians: Part 3 - Genre Conventions and Story Theme: Access the full Story Grid analysis of CRAZY RICH ASIANS at https://storygrid.com/crazy. What can writers learn from studying this 2018 film? This is the second in a four part series analyzing CRAZY RICH ASIANS. The screenplay was written by Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim and the movie was based on a 2013 book of the same title written by Kevin Kwan. This episode is hosted by Story Grid Certified Editor Rachel Arsenault (https://www.rachel-arsenault.com) and Tim Grahl, writer and CEO of Story Grid. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
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Line Edits: Putting the Final Touches on Eye Witness by Story Grid Writing Podcast
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Final Edits of a Short Story: Beat Construction and 624 Analysis: Now that Tim has had a breakthrough on his iteration of EYE WITNESS by Ed McBain, we're getting down to fixing individual Beats and checking to make sure he's adhered to the Story Grid 624 Analysis. You really see the Story Grid Tools shine in this episode as Leslie and Danielle apply them to Tim's writing to find places still left to fix. Click here to read Tim's scene: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1b-RzszE7YzLEn5fSlWAqVQ_OkXhuJg3cxfZImXzIkYI/edit?usp=sharing To see the transcript of this episode, visit: https://storygrid.com/episode-282 — Get a free copy of our book Story Grid 101: The First Five Principles of the Story Grid Methodology: https://storygrid101.com This is Episode 282 of the Story Grid Podcast: https://storygrid.com/podcast by Story Grid Writing Podcast
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How to Connect with Characters: Finding the Motivation and Shadow in Yourself: In this impromptu episode, Tim and Danielle discuss the ongoing problems with the work on the Ed McBain EYE WITNESS scene and why Tim can't connect with his characters. To see the transcript of this episode, visit: https://storygrid.com/episode-280 — Get a free copy of our book Story Grid 101: The First Five Principles of the Story Grid Methodology: https://storygrid101.com This is Episode 280 of the Story Grid Podcast: https://storygrid.com/podcast by Story Grid Writing Podcast
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Conflict and Emotional Connection: Every Beat, Trope, and Scene Must Have These: There are lots of insights in this week's episode of the podcast. We look at the emotional connection between the hero and victim, ensuring there is conflict at every level of the story, and how better to lock in to the narrative device. Click here to read Tim's scene: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1V6ja3HN4uKuS0J4x6pvWBUwkZUiE5uJov5jM3Gj-Yvw/edit?usp=sharing To see the transcript of this episode, visit: https://storygrid.com/episode-278 — Get a free copy of our book Story Grid 101: The First Five Principles of the Story Grid Methodology: https://storygrid101.com This is Episode 278 of the Story Grid Podcast: https://storygrid.com/podcast by Story Grid Writing Podcast
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Who's the Most Guilty Person in Your Story? Hero, Victim, and Villain - Part 2: Nobody is innocent in your story. Everyone is hiding something. You must adjust these levels correctly in order for your reader to connect with the right characters. This is the focus Danielle, Leslie, and Shawn take on Tim's scene this week. Click here to read Tim's scene: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1M_rP2ARaDQbSlGBmNRESszzYuNN-nrxa0pdJjt0qQRU/edit?usp=sharing To see the transcript of this episode, visit: https://storygrid.com/episode-277 — Get a free copy of our book Story Grid 101: The First Five Principles of the Story Grid Methodology: https://storygrid101.com This is Episode 277 of the Story Grid Podcast: https://storygrid.com/podcast by Story Grid Writing Podcast
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Narrative Device: This Affects Every Single Word You Write: Who is telling your story? Who are they telling it to? Why are they telling it? This is the Narrative Device! The Narrative Device consists of three main components: - Author: The Author is someone who is capable of telling the POP premise as a story to shed light on the problem another person has. - SAM: The Single Audience Member is a person with a problem related to the one the protagonist faces in the POP premise. - Problem: A specific problem that the POP premise can shed light on. What Shawn, Danielle, and Leslie are trying to teach Tim this week is how this affects every single word of his writing. Click here to read Tim's scene: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ugNstol1I3DGyIcOQ13pdkkgyKKGddFvAE7LH_-OLng/edit?usp=sharing To see the transcript of this episode, visit: https://storygrid.com/episode-273 — Get a free copy of our book Story Grid 101: The First Five Principles of the Story Grid Methodology: https by Story Grid Writing Podcast
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Getting the Protagonist Right: When and How to Switch the Main Character: There are times in your story when you need to switch out the protagonist. This can even happen in the middle of a scene or short story. But how do you do it the right way? This week Shawn, Danielle, and Leslie look at Tim's draft to see how you can hand off the protagonist to a different character without confusion. Click here to read Tim's scene: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1T9K3Reuspp3oXJdBm_Aj8QLuUXv0Lcj7wPTG9SZKKGI/edit?usp=sharing To see the transcript of this episode, visit: https://storygrid.com/episode-270 — Get a free copy of our book Story Grid 101: The First Five Principles of the Story Grid Methodology: https://storygrid101.com This is Episode 270 of the Story Grid Podcast: https://storygrid.com/podcast by Story Grid Writing Podcast
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Two Factor Problems: The Must-Have for Writing Captivating Stories: Great stories always answer two-factor problems. In this episode we see how Tim's mistake of choosing the wrong protagonist messes up the two factor problem. Shawn, Danielle, and Leslie help him sort out how to fix this problem. Click here to read Tim's scene: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yNGyDX5dkbchjT6UcrixUNv_2PI_WT7GrZn04H0nIh0/edit To see the transcript of this episode, visit: https://storygrid.com/episode-269 — Get a free copy of our book Story Grid 101: The First Five Principles of the Story Grid Methodology: https://storygrid101.com This is Episode 269 of the Story Grid Podcast: https://storygrid.com/podcast by Story Grid Writing Podcast
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624 Break Down: The Surprising Mistake in Tim's First Draft: In this episode we start comparing the Story Grid 624 Analysis of the first draft of Tim's scene to EYE WITNESS by Ed McBain. Pretty quickly we see that Tim made one small mistake that ends up having a huge impact on the rest of the scene. In EYE WITNESS, the author switches the protagonist near the beginning of the scene. Tim doesn't do this and, as you'll see, this causes a lot of problems! Click here to read Tim's scene: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tbbo6LuApXL9Y6YGCcXC44dcRYrTcR_8snOV9UCShwo/edit#heading=h.ukpkmg7nyrlr To see the transcript of this episode, visit: https://storygrid.com/episode-268 — Get a free copy of our book Story Grid 101: The First Five Principles of the Story Grid Methodology: https://storygrid101.com This is Episode 268 of the Story Grid Podcast: https://storygrid.com/podcast by Story Grid Writing Podcast
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First Draft Feedback: 3 Editors Give Honest Writing Analysis - Part 2: Tim has written a first draft of his scene based on the in-depth analysis of Ed McBain's EYE WITNESS. Listen in as Shawn, Danielle and Leslie give their feedback and start diving into the analysis of the first draft. For the transcript and downloads for this episode, visit https://storygrid.com/267 — Get a free copy of our book Story Grid 101: The First Five Principles of the Story Grid Methodology: https://storygrid101.com This is Episode 266 of the Story Grid Podcast: https://storygrid.com/podcast by Story Grid Writing Podcast
60 min listen
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How to Plan a Short Story Based on a Masterwork: How do we use all of this masterwork analysis to actually iterate our own short story? In this week's episode, we look at the 624, Beat, and Trope analysis for the short story EYE WITNESS by Ed McBain (https://amzn.to/3Q2UpqV) and start discussing what kind of short story I might write based on all of the analysis. This is where things start to go off the rails. As you'll see, Shawn and Tim aren't always on the same page and struggle to communicate with each other. We decided to leave this episode in so you can see what it looks like when an editor and author don's see eye-to-eye. For the transcript and downloads for this episode, visit https://storygrid.com/265 — Get a free copy of our book Story Grid 101: The First Five Principles of the Story Grid Methodology: https://storygrid101.com This is Episode 265 of the Story Grid Podcast: https://storygrid.com/podcast by Story Grid Writing Podcast
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Story Tropes: Building Blocks of Scenes: What are Tropes and how can they actually help your writing? Tropes are a toolbox of common components to build a certain kind of story. You can put these building blocks together to create a story that meets the reader expectations for your particular GENRE. Most lists of tropes are a grab bag of story types and/or their components and aspects. They don’t fit together, so they don’t provide a process for consistently crafting scenes and stories that satisfy readers. In the Story Grid Universe, we provide this process by limiting the definition of a trope to a particular level of Story. Story Grid tropes are small story units that are the building blocks writers need to create the arc of change within scenes. In this episode, we start working through the Tropes for the short story EYE WITNESS by Ed McBain (https://amzn.to/3Q2UpqV). To download the Trope Breakdown, visit: https://storygrid.com/episode-264 — Get a free copy of our book Sto by Story Grid Writing Podcast
56 min listen
Beat Breakdown: Analyzing Writing Line-by-Line - Part 3: Learn how your line-by-line writing can be improved by the Story Grid Beat methodology. In this episode, we show you the final line graph generated by our beat-by-beat analysis and how this can help you write better scenes. — Get a free copy of our book Story Grid 101: The First Five Principles of the Story Grid Methodology: https://storygrid101.com For episode transcript and downloads: https://storygrid.com/episode-263 This is Episode 263 of the Story Grid Podcast: https://storygrid.com/podcast This is our in-depth analysis of the short story EYE WITNESS by Ed McBain: https://amzn.to/3Q2UpqV by Story Grid Writing Podcast
62 min listen

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Story Grid Trinity for Nonfiction: How does the Story Grid Trinity apply to Big Idea, How-to, Narrative nonfiction, and Memoir? Shawn dives into this question on this week's episode. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
22 min listen
The 2 big questions to ask your first draft: This was a haps episode for Tim. Shawn has now read the manuscript and gives his feedback and next steps. They also discuss the two questions you should ask your first draft. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
59 min listen
How does the Story Grid Trinity apply to Global Internal Genres?: Shawn Coyne and Kimberly Kessler discuss the Story Grid Trinity and how this works with internal genres. Also checkout the Story Grid Masterwork Guide to Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda at storygrid.com/books and get 20% off with the coupon "podcast". by Story Grid Writing Podcast
25 min listen
6 questions (good) editors ask: The 6 questions (good) editors ask and the 5 parts of every story. See the full show notes to download Shawn's critiques of Tim's first scene. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
64 min listen
Launching the Masterwork Experiment: Welcome to the Story Grid Masterwork Experiment! In this ten-episode summer series, Shawn Coyne and author Anne Hawley are breaking a great masterwork down to the beat level to find out whether an experienced writer can create a new and original story from exactly the same building blocks. Episode 1 of the Masterwork Experiment introduces the masterwork and lays out the experimental protocol. Will Anne write something new and fresh? Or will she wind up with a hackneyed copy of a beloved novella? Join us to find out. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
41 min listen
First Two Steps in the Hero's Journey 2.0: Shawn starts walking through the Heroic Journey 2.0 infographic looking at how it can help you understand the story you are trying to tell. Click here to view the infographic referenced in this episode. https://www.dropbox.com/s/axjngf5r8w6ivcx/Heroic%20Journey%20Macro%20Infographic-01-1.png?dl=0 by Story Grid Writing Podcast
62 min listen
Getting Your Big Scenes Right: Is Shawn killing Tim's creativity? This episode starts with that question then moves into deep genre questions and how to use Internal and External genres to tell great stories. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
54 min listen
What is literary vs commercial fiction?: Shawn and Tim discuss literary vs commercial fiction and start diving into the giant subject that is genre. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
75 min listen
What do your characters want? (plus, Tim gets frustrated): This is the first episode that Tim gets noticeably frustrated. Shawn is trying to teach him how to avoid cliches, hit the right conventions for his genre, and make sure his character's motivations are clear. Unfortunately, Tim is having a hard time catching on. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
71 min listen
Shawn rips apart Tim's scene: Shawns critiques (rips apart) Tim's first scene. Along the way, they discuss Agatha Christie, Wes Craven, Hemingway, and Freddy Krueger. See full show notes at storygrid.com/podcast to download and read Tim's first scene. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
73 min listen
Introducing: Story Grid Showrunners Podcast: This is big! Three of our Story Grid Certified Editors have teamed up to start the Story Grid Showrunners podcast. If you've ever been interested in how Story Grid can be used with television and episodic series, you'll want to have a listen. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
52 min listen
How to Story Grid a Book: Talking about Story Grid is one thing, putting it into practice is quite another. Tim struggles with applying Story Grid to Harry Potter. In addition, specificity, ins and outs of publishing, and more. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
52 min listen
How to write a great beginning hook: How do you write an opener for your book that grabs people's attention and doesn't let go? Shawn shares great insights on this along with how to develop believable characters. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
63 min listen
First draft is done. Now what?: Tim has finished his first draft and Shawn gives advice on what happens next and what questions Tim should be asking himself. If you'd like to read Tim's first draft, you can do that at storygrid.com/podcast. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
55 min listen
How to Rewrite Scenes: How do you take scenes that don't work and rewrite them? Shawn and Tim walk through best practices and common pitfalls. by Story Grid Writing Podcast
54 min listen

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The Martian and A Christmas Carol

The Martian and A Christmas Carol

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