Story Grid Podcast

In this wide ranging episode, Shawn and Tim discuss the best ways to help your fellow writers become better at their craft.

What does it mean to apply specificity to a non-fiction story? It's a tough thing, especially if you're of the literal persuasion. Click here to download Shawn's notes on Tim's Introduction.

Shawn uses the second draft of Tim's introduction to focus in on the craft of writing great non-fiction. Tim's second draft of the Introduction. Tim's additional notes on the theme and structure.

Non-fiction has specific genres, conventions, and obligatory scenes just like fiction, but they are, of course, a little different. Shawn and Tim delve into what it takes to write a great non-fiction book. Make sure you pick up a copy of Perennial Seller by Ryan Holiday.

Now that Tim has finished the first draft of his non-fiction book, Shawn starts working with him through editing.

After a couple months working through the Story Grid tools on Tim's first draft, he's ready to start writing the 2nd draft.

Tim and Shawn continuing building out the Story Grid Graph to evaluate the first draft. See Tim's Story Grid Spreadsheet here.

The next step in editing Tim's first draft is to create a Story Grid Graph. See Tim's Story Grid Spreadsheet here.

Shawn and Tim continue discussing the Hero's Journey as a tool to evaluate the first draft. The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler Short version of Vogler's book.

Shawn and Tim dive into the Hero's Journey as a tool to evaluate the first draft. The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler Short version of Vogler's book.

Move from the micro to the macro with your first draft. The Foolscap Story Grid will help you put your entire novel onto a single page. Click here to see Tim's Foolscap Story Grid.

After you've gone scene-by-scene through your first draft, it's good to step back and take the macro view of your novel.

Once you have filled out the Story Grid spreadsheet for your first draft, what do you next? Click here to see the spreadsheet and foolscap as Tim works on it.

After the first draft is done, it's easy to get stuck on what to do next. Shawn continues walking Tim through the process of using the Story Grid spreadsheet. Click here to see Tim's spreadsheet of his first draft.

Tim has officially finished his first draft... now what? This is where Story Grid really shines... taking your first draft and making it the best it can be. Click here to see Tim's Story Grid Spreadsheet of his first draft.

Is this really the end? Tim submits the final 8 scenes of his first draft to Shawn for his feedback. Click here to download Tim's full first draft of The Threshing.

Have you ever put off writing a particular scene or sequence in your story? Tim faces that this week and Shawn walks him through it. Download Tim's scenes from this week.

Tim and Shawn talk through the Ending Payoff, steadily working to the end of the book. Click here to download Tim's scenes.

Tim hits some major road blocks on his story. So what's the solution? Also, an important announcement. Click here to download Tim's scenes.

As Shawn and Tim continue discussing the beginning of the Ending Payoff, they venture into a discussion on how to make sure the end of your book pays off everything that came before.