What we’re reading
All summer long, we’re going to be reading and engaging with the book Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write A Riveting Novel by Lisa Cron. We will be reading and discussing 50-ish page chunks of this book every 2 weeks. Check out the full schedule below!
We think this will be a good cadence for those of us who are busy with work or enjoying summer or trying to write and juggle life and health. We think this will also be a good cadence to engage in a meaningful way with the text and to participate in the exercises found in the book and any additional ones that we come up with ourselves! When we’ve read through the whole book, we will be holding a virtual meet-up to discuss the book and write together! More details on that part forthcoming, but first… let’s get to know the author a little bit.
Lisa Cron is a teacher and writing coach who has held previous roles as a literary agent, television producer and story consultant. She has spent her career “focused on decoding what is actually captivating us when we read” and shares her philosophies in her writing craft books Wired for Story, Story Genius, and most recently Story or Die. Her mission is to help authors master the power of story.
Why we’re reading it
Story Genius is a writing craft book that has been sitting on my (Valerie’s) to-read shelf for several years. A writing friend of mine read it a long time ago and said it changed her perspective and how she interacted with story telling and her characters. Since then I’ve seen many other writers chatting about this book—in both positive and critical ways.
Now the time has come to finally read through it myself and see what all the fuss is about. I’m looking forward to reading along with all of you and hearing your thoughts about what we discover inside the pages!
This book claims to be a revolutionary guide to help writers crack the “story code” and create novels, screenplays, or memoirs that will keep readers riveted. We all want to keep readers riveted, don’t we? Story Genius claims it can take your raw idea and turn it into a fully-realized novel with strong internal logic and a driving sense of urgency.
Here at A Million Ways to Be A Writer, we don’t believe that creating and storytelling and writing is as simple as cracking a code or finding a secret formula. But we are always curious and up for learning new ways to connect with ourselves, our art, and our readers. So, we think this book is going to generate some good conversation and spark some debate and maybe, hopefully, teach us a few new tricks to connect with our stories. But maybe it won’t, and that’s okay too. Either way, we will still be learning something about ourselves and how we like to make art.
Discussion Schedule
You will receive a bi-weekly email where I will be sharing my thoughts about the book as well as providing actionable opportunities for us to explore and test new and established creative habits. This will come in the form of writing exercises, thinking exercises, play exercises, and more. The actionable steps will be inspired by the book we’re reading at the time.
All subscribers, free and paid, will be able to participate in the book club discussions and our end of the season virtual chat and write-in.
Here is how we’ll be breaking up the reading over the 3 months. The dates are when an email will be sent to your inbox, discussing the chapters associated with that week. You will want to read the chapters prior to the date those chapters will be discussed, but also feel free to read at your own pace and come back to comment on a section later!
July 2, 2024: Kick off Party!
July 9, 2024: Introduction, Chapters 1-2
July 23, 2024: Chapters 3-5
August 6, 2024: Chapters 6-8
August 20, 2024: Chapters 9-12
September 3, 2024: Chapters 13-15
Virtual Discussion and Write-in to be held in September shortly after our last discussion. Date and details to come!
Rules
We only have one rule for this club:
Be kind and respectful to one another.
We will disagree on things. I am certain of this. Our philosophy here at A Million Ways to Be A Writer is just that: we believe there are many paths to building a successful and sustainable creative writing life. What may work for one writer, may not work for another. There will be times when I may talk about my own process or suggest a practice that doesn’t resonate with you. This is okay. This is normal.
I don’t just want to share about my writing life, I want to hear about your process, too, and what has worked for you. We’re here to learn from each other.
Discussion is good. Questions are good. Curiosity is good. Cruelty, hate speech, and otherwise rude behavior will not be tolerated.
Suggestions
I don’t know about you, but I don’t just want to read another writing or productivity book just for the sake of reading another writing or productivity book. I want to dig in and claw meat from the bone and scratch away at my preexisting habits and test my beliefs about what a creative life should be and see if the things I learned ten years ago still hold true for the artist I am today.
To that end, I will be committing at at least 15 minutes a day to reading this book, thinking deeply about what it’s trying to teach me, and experimenting with the philosophies found inside. I recommend you also set aside a specific amount of time during the week to put yourself and your creative practice first.
Learning and building your craft are just as important as selling and making money.
Ready for your first week?
Discussion Questions
Have you heard about this book before? What do you know about it? What do you hope to learn? Is there anything you’re feeling hesitant about?
What other exciting plans do you have for the summer that may or may not be writing related?
Put it into practice
Get yourself a copy of the book. Buy it if you can, get it from the library, borrow it from a friend. Audiobook or e-book or a physical copy, whatever you like best. Then share with us how you plan to prioritize your creative practice.
Read through the Introduction, Chapters 1 and 2 (pages 1-32) and jot down any thoughts and feelings to share in the comments section of our first discussion posting on July 9.
Some final housekeeping notes:
This year’s Summer Season Book Club posts will be available to free and paid subscribers for 3 months. All subscribers will be able to participate in the discussions and leave comments during those 3 months.
Kick Off posts like this one will remain free for all subscribers to read after this book club season ends for as long as this content is available online, but the rest of the discussion posts will be moved behind a paywall after Sept 21, 2024, available only to paid members of A Million Ways to Be A Writer.
We think that you will get the most out of this book club if you read along in real time and participate in the discussions and challenges as they happen, but if you found this post much later and we’ve already moved on to the next book, don’t fret! Every Read It Your Way discussion post will remain in our paid archives for as long as we keep this community going.
1. I have heard about this. I actually read it a long, long time ago during a time when I was popping these books like snack foods. I just look forward to looking at it with fresh eyes and a more seasoned mindset on story and writing.
2. I'm planning on going to a few museums and gardens (obviously). Also looking at some old stories and seeing if I can either make them fresh or hit delete.
3. I have earmarked Tuesdays and Wednesdays to be creative days. For a spoonie working on a few projects and managing a household, that just means I will make sure I safeguard time for my writing and art. I'll set time aside or meet friends and do that with them.
4. Honestly, from the first chapters, I was most interested by the definition of story. I think of story as the telling a plot. Simple as that. But there seems to be way more nuance according to the author, which I look forward to hearing more about. I don't remember that from the first read. I will say that I don't care for her bringing up of a writer in a negative way within Chapter 1. Not saying that it can't be done in a book, but it's a little off-putting to me. This one seems like it might be a bit of a journey.