Story Grid Writing Podcast

The Final Episode

May 25, 2023 08:00 - 35 minutes - 32.5 MB

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.

Crazy Rich Asians: Part 4 - What Writers Can Learn

May 11, 2023 08:00 - 1 hour - 65.5 MB

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 Sto...

Crazy Rich Asians: Part 3 - Genre Conventions and Story Theme

May 04, 2023 14:47 - 1 hour - 55 MB

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 St...

Crazy Rich Asians: Part 2 - 5 Commandments of Storytelling

April 20, 2023 19:01 - 37 minutes - 34.6 MB

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 first 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 Sto...

Crazy Rich Asians: Part 1 - Is this a RomCom?

April 13, 2023 08:00 - 45 minutes - 41.9 MB

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 first 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 Sto...

John Wick Analysis: Part 4 - What Writers Can Learn and Obligatory Moments

April 06, 2023 08:00 - 56 minutes - 51.3 MB

Access the full Story Grid analysis of John Wick at https://storygrid.com/wick. This is the final in a four part series analyzing the movie John Wick using the Story Grid methodology. This 2014 movie, written by Derek Kolstad, is a genre leading action movie. Story Grid Certified Editor Rachel Arsenault (https://www.rachel-arsenault.com) and Tim Grahl start by looking at the Story Grid Five Leaf Genre Clover before diving into the quadrants and controlling idea.

John Wick Analysis: Part 3 - Genre Conventions and Five Commandments

March 30, 2023 08:00 - 39 minutes - 35.8 MB

Access the full Story Grid analysis of John Wick at https://storygrid.com/wick. This is the third in a four part series analyzing the movie John Wick using the Story Grid methodology. This 2014 movie, written by Derek Kolstad, is a genre leading action movie. Story Grid Certified Editor Rachel Arsenault (https://www.rachel-arsenault.com) and Tim Grahl start by looking at the Story Grid Five Leaf Genre Clover before diving into the quadrants and controlling idea.

John Wick Analysis: Part 2 - Acts and Structure

March 23, 2023 08:00 - 41 minutes - 37.9 MB

Access the full Story Grid analysis of John Wick at https://storygrid.com/wick. This is the second in a four part series analyzing the movie John Wick using the Story Grid methodology. This 2014 movie, written by Derek Kolstad, is a genre leading action movie. Story Grid Certified Editor Rachel Arsenault (https://www.rachel-arsenault.com) and Tim Grahl start by looking at the Story Grid Five Leaf Genre Clover before diving into the quadrants and controlling idea.

John Wick Analysis: Part 1 - Genre and Controlling Idea

March 16, 2023 08:00 - 38 minutes - 34.8 MB

Access the full Story Grid analysis of John Wick at https://storygrid.com/wick. This is the first in a four part series analyzing the movie John Wick using the Story Grid methodology. This 2014 movie, written by Derek Kolstad, is a genre leading action movie. Story Grid Certified Editor Rachel Arsenault (https://www.rachel-arsenault.com) and Tim Grahl start by looking at the Story Grid Five Leaf Genre Clover before diving into the quadrants and controlling idea.

Line Edits: Putting the Final Touches on Eye Witness

November 03, 2022 08:00 - 1 hour - 56.5 MB

We're down to line edits on Tim's iteration of the masterwork Eye Witness by Ed McBain. Shawn, Danielle, and Leslie provide final feedback on how to clean up the last few error messages still coming through. Click here to read Tim's scene: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Yma-xAE77UnQMNAjTyOUPxF21P_DaFxuNXyQin-0gHo/edit?usp=sharing To see the transcript of this episode, visit: https://storygrid.com/episode-283 — Get a free copy of our book Story Grid 101: The First Five Principles...

Final Edits of a Short Story: Beat Construction and 624 Analysis

October 27, 2022 08:00 - 1 hour - 59.5 MB

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 transcri...

Does Tim Actually Get It Right? How to Nail the Narrative Device

October 20, 2022 08:00 - 54 minutes - 49.9 MB

Does Tim Actually Get It Right? How to Nail the Narrative Device On Tim's 10th draft, he finally makes a breakthrough on his iteration of EYE WITNESS by Ed McBain! And it ended up being a simple practice that got him over the hump. Listen in as Shawn, Danielle, Leslie, and Tim discuss how to nail the narrative device. Click here to read Tim's scene: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RRmqjv90vYpi20B7kbxgdHQwdhFRvB3pESZD6Y52XEg/edit?usp=sharing To see the transcript of this episode, ...

How to Connect with Characters: Finding the Motivation and Shadow in Yourself

October 06, 2022 08:00 - 37 minutes - 34.5 MB

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.

Writing or Just Pretending? When there is Zero Flow and Everything is $h*t

September 29, 2022 08:00 - 1 hour - 59.7 MB

Shawn takes a crack at rewriting Tim's scene to help him understand what he's missing on the Narrative Device. Then we hear Leslie and Danielle's edits and feedback on what he got right and wrong. When they ask Tim what he thinks of all this, lots of emotions start coming out including his feeling that he's not writing anymore... he's pretending to write. Click here to read Tim's scene: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QZGyUNetvNGfKAjwyfF3m4r9RPoMQN4g3Q18oWXoLOw/edit?usp=sharing To...

Conflict and Emotional Connection: Every Beat, Trope, and Scene Must Have These

September 24, 2022 14:20 - 1 hour - 57.2 MB

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...

Who's the Most Guilty Person in Your Story? Hero, Victim, and Villain - Part 2

September 15, 2022 08:00 - 1 hour - 63.5 MB

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 Gr...

Hero, Victim and Perpetrator: The Must-Have Relationships in Your Story

September 08, 2022 08:00 - 56 minutes - 52.1 MB

Who is the Hero, Victim, and Perpetrator in your story? What are the relationships between each of them? The more vague or ungrounded each of these relationships are, the more the story will not read as believable. 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/1OQd5NxTcn2JLwrphueCX91A4wXN9BEQFBYwbyN7NJ1M/edit?usp=sharing To see the transcript of this episode, visit: https://storygrid.com/ep...

The Impact of a Story Theme: An Interview with Scott Mann and Randle Surles about the book Operation Pineapple Express

September 06, 2022 20:10 - 1 hour - 57.7 MB

Figuring out your Story Theme is the key to unlocking the entire roadmap of your story. Scott Mann is the author of the new book → Operation Pineapple Express: The Incredible Story of a Group of Americans Who Undertook One Last Mission and Honored a Promise in Afghanistan. Randall Surles is a Story Grid Certified Editor and worked with Scott to develop and produce the book under an extremely tight deadline. In this interview, they discuss what went into writing the book, how they worked t...

Truth in Fiction: How to Write and Develop Believable Characters

September 01, 2022 11:36 - 1 hour - 66.8 MB

How do you ground your characters in a reality that your reader will believe even though you are making the whole thing up? This week Tim makes the mistake of sterilizing his protagonist to the point where he is no longer interesting or believable. Shawn, Danielle, and Leslie walk him through the steps of using character development and a strong narrative device to fix these problems. Click here to read Tim's scene: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10bdr_tF4ASohz0cHoNjlbNmsLOVXiDpFw54ugH...

Narrative Device: This Affects Every Single Word You Write

August 25, 2022 08:00 - 59 minutes - 54.3 MB

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...

Telling the Truth About Writing: Is this Podcast Worth Doing?

August 18, 2022 08:00 - 1 hour - 71.7 MB

Shawn, Leslie, Danielle and Tim face a hard question... Is the Story Grid Podcast still worth doing? You might be surprised by what they have to say.

Writing Emotional Pain: How to Care About Your Protagonist

August 11, 2022 08:00 - 1 hour - 62.2 MB

What happens when you can't connect to your protagonist? This week Tim makes some progress on his scene, but it's still missing something. The soul in the writing isn't there. Shawn, Leslie, and Danielle talk through how to use emotional pain to connect into the story.

Getting the Protagonist Right: When and How to Switch the Main Character

August 04, 2022 08:00 - 1 hour - 77 MB

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...

Two Factor Problems: The Must-Have for Writing Captivating Stories

July 21, 2022 08:00 - 1 hour - 64.5 MB

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 Prin...

624 Break Down: The Surprising Mistake in Tim's First Draft

July 14, 2022 08:00 - 1 hour - 59.5 MB

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/1yNGyDX5dkbchjT6UcrixUNv_2PI_WT...

First Draft Feedback: 3 Editors Give Honest Writing Analysis - Part 2

July 07, 2022 08:00 - 1 hour - 55.3 MB

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://storyg...

First Draft Feedback: 3 Editors Give Honest Writing Analysis - Part 1

June 30, 2022 08:00 - 1 hour - 56.7 MB

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 initial feedback and start diving into the analysis of the first draft. For the transcript and downloads for this episode, visit https://storygrid.com/266 — 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 ...

How to Plan a Short Story Based on a Masterwork

June 23, 2022 08:00 - 1 hour - 66.4 MB

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 th...

Story Tropes: Building Blocks of Scenes

June 16, 2022 08:00 - 56 minutes - 51.4 MB

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 Uni...

Beat Breakdown: Analyzing Writing Line-by-Line - Part 3

June 09, 2022 08:00 - 1 hour - 56.8 MB

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.co...

Beat Breakdown: Analyzing Writing Line-by-Line - Part 2

June 02, 2022 08:00 - 1 hour - 111 MB

In this episode, Danielle continues walking Tim through every single line of Ed McBain's EYE WITNESS to help him identify the beats and what they are doing. This is a perfect episode for the story nerds!

Beat Breakdown: Analyzing Writing Line-by-Line - Part 1

May 26, 2022 08:00 - 1 hour - 116 MB

Now that we have finished up the Story Grid 624 Analysis of Ed McBain's EYE WITNESS (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WLiCyxIsCk), it's time to dive all the way down to the line-by-line writing. In this episode, Danielle begins walking Tim through every single line of the short story to help him identify the beats and what they are doing. This is a perfect episode for the story nerds!

624 Review + Trope and Beat Introduction

May 19, 2022 08:00 - 1 hour - 64.4 MB

We have wrapped up our 624 analysis of Ed McBain's short story EYE WITNESS. In this episode, Leslie does a review of the 624 then Danielle does an introduction for Tropes and Shawn follows up with introducing Beats.

Five Commandments of Storytelling - Part 3

May 12, 2022 08:00 - 1 hour - 113 MB

Continuing our 624 analysis of Ed McBain's short story EYE WITNESS, we are talking through the Five Commandments of Storytelling. This is the third in a three part episode as we deep dive through each commandment. In this episode, we go through the Climax and Resolution.

Five Commandments of Storytelling - Part 2

May 05, 2022 08:00 - 44 minutes - 82.3 MB

Continuing our 624 analysis of Ed McBain's short story EYE WITNESS, we are talking through the Five Commandments of Storytelling. This is the second in a three part episode as we deep dive through each commandment. In this episode, we go through the Crisis and Crisis Matrix.

Five Commandments of Storytelling - Part 1

April 28, 2022 15:22 - 45 minutes - 83.4 MB

Continuing our 624 analysis of Ed McBain's short story EYE WITNESS, we are talking through the Five Commandments of Storytelling. This is a three part episode as we deep dive through each commandment. In this episode, we go through the Inciting Incident and the Turning Point Progressive Complication.

What is happening in your story? (Part 2)

April 21, 2022 08:00 - 48 minutes - 44.4 MB

There are four story analysis questions you must answer for every scene in your story: 1. What are the Avatars literally doing? 2. What are the essential tactics of the Avatars? 3. What universal human value has changed for one or more Avatars in the scene? 4. What Story Event sums up the scene’s global value change? In this episode we make it to the final one! Last week we covered the first three.

What is happening in your story? (Part 1)

April 14, 2022 08:00 - 57 minutes - 53 MB

There are four story analysis questions you must answer for every scene in your story: 1. What are the Avatars literally doing? 2. What are the essential tactics of the Avatars? 3. What universal human value has changed for one or more Avatars in the scene? 4. What Story Event sums up the scene’s global value change? In this episode we make it through the first three! Next week is a whole episode on the fourth question.

Point of View: It's WAY more than 1st, 2nd, and 3rd

April 07, 2022 08:00 - 1 hour - 60.1 MB

Is it first or third person? Past or present tense? As you'll see in this week's podcast episode, Point of View is about way more than this. See more here: https://storygrid.com/point-of-view/ A story’s global Point of View includes the technical choices writers make to deliver the story to the reader. The POP premise and Narrative Device suggest Point of View combinations that create the effect of the story told by the Author to the single Audience member. Person refers to the vantage p...

Narrative Device: 3 Questions to Nail the Point of View for Your Story

March 31, 2022 08:00 - 1 hour - 69.5 MB

Figuring out the Narrative Device for your story will unlock your writing in ways you never thought possible. There are three questions you must answer: - Who is the Author of the story? (Hint... it's not you, the writer) - Who is the Single Audience Member? - What is the Problem? See more here: https://storygrid.com/point-of-view/

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