The Story Genius Method

Using neuroscience to reframe stories as survival tools--so readers NEED to read 'til the end.

1. A quick hello 😎

2. The Story Genius Method 🧠

3. Updates & Fact Checks ☃️

1. A quick hello

Hello from Lyssa, who is writing on her son’s 11th birthday (impossible, time is a thief) and therefore attempting, heroically, to be brief.

This week on Turning to Story, we’re diving deep into a topic we can’t believe we haven’t covered yet: understanding Lisa Cron’s brilliant approach to craft in Story Genius. It’s one of those frameworks that, once you see it, you start to notice it everywhere: in your fav books, the movies that wreck you, and the stories that stick with you for years. Whether these methods are new to you or tried and true, this one’s worth a listen. Let’s dive in!

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2. The Story Genius Philosophy

Lisa Cron—whose craft talk Lyssa attended a few years back, thus cementing her place in Lyssa’s personal pantheon of craft titans—argues that stories aren’t just for entertainment. They evolved, over time, as a survival mechanism. Long before we had podcasts to teach us everything, stories passed along crucial information: what to fear, what to value, how people behave, and what happens when they make certain choices. This information meant life and death. In many ways, it still does.

In other words, stories helped people survive within their communities. Those who took them to heart lived, and those who didn’t died.

Thanks to our dear friend evolution, as modern readers, we’re wired to pay attention to stories like our lives depend on them. Every time we engage with one, we’re running a kind of emotional simulation. How do people behave? How to beliefs lead to decisions and decisions to consequences? How do we recover from tragedy? How do we succeed? HOW DO WE SURVIVE?!

Lisa Cron’s method harnesses this power as writers. Her method encourages us to focus on a few core principles. (Okay, MANY core principles, but here’s a taste. Listen for the rest).

• Start with character change. Your mc begins the story with a world view that no longer serves them, usually rooted in an emotional wound or long-held belief.

• Build a plot that pressures that worldview. The events of your story shouldn’t just happen because your plot says so; they should specifically challenge what the mc believes to be true.

• Construct scenes around this pressure, aka the third rail. Every scene should threaten the character’s core wound/misbelief. The lie they’re telling themselves should keep colliding with reality.

• Let the story force a reckoning. By the end, the mc must confront the fact that their old worldview no longer works for them.

When you revolve your plot around the collision between belief and reality, your story becomes un-put-downable. Scenes that felt stagnant suddenly feel charged. Stakes rise naturally. And readers keep turning the page because something meaningful is always at risk.

And that, Team Curiosity, is the Story Genius method in a very small nutshell. Want to understand it more/apply it to examples? Give this week’s episode a listen.

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3. Updates & Fact Check

First, here are some episodes that overlap with the Story Genius method:

Next, March Madness is still going strong! Thanks to all of those joining us in the Discord and on the spreadsheet. Oh, and if you’re on the spreadsheet but not in the Discord, you may be missing out on some updates, along with Anna’s crushing trash talk….

And as usual, if you’d like to hear from us more, be sure to check us out on Instagram:

• Anna’s IG

• Lyssa’s IG

• Turning to Story IG

And Anna’s book, All We Hunger For, is just a few months away! If you pick it up before the June release date, email proof of purchase to (TurningToStory [at] gmail [dot] com), and we’ll email you Anna’s master spreadsheet. That means you’ll see the exact outline: each plot, chapter, character arc, romantic arc, villain arc, everything. (It’s full of spoilers, so save it until after you read the book).

Thanks for making it to the bottom. Any questions? Ask away!