Get a bird’s-eye view of A Wizard of Earthsea while Leslie and Valerie offer a macro analysis of this fantasy origin story using Story Grid’s Editor’s Six Core Question. The 1968 story was written by Ursula K. Le Guin.Click here for the full show notes.

Story Grid Editors Roundtable

A Wizard of Earthsea - Global Story

This season on the Story Grid Writers’ Room podcast, Leslie and Valerie are doing a full Story Grid macro analysis of A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin. We'll review the Editor’s Six Core Questions and look at each of the acts in detail.The Story Grid Writer’s Room is a show dedicated to offering a practical approach to the Story Grid method so you can put it to work. Valerie and Leslie analyze stories and scenes to help you understand how to apply Story Grid tools to masterworks and your own story.Click here for the full show notes.

Season Three Preview

Stay tuned to discover the final takeaways from Valerie and Leslie’s  deep study of Gillian Flynn’s 2012 novel, Gone Girl. Find out what they’ve learned from applying Story Grid’s Editor’s Six Core Questions and breaking down each quadrant of this compelling Psychological Thriller. The Story Grid Writer’s Room is a show dedicated to offering a practical approach to the Story Grid method so you can put it to work. This season Valerie and Leslie will spend six episodes analyzing Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn to help you understand how to apply Story Grid’s macro tools to masterworks and your own story.Click here for the full show notes.

Gone Girl - Key Takeaways

Wonder how to deliver a powerful and satisfying finish to your story? On the Story Grid Writer’s Room podcast this week, Valerie and Leslie analyze the ending payoff of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl to unpack what makes this story work so well. The Story Grid Writer’s Room is a show dedicated to offering a practical approach to the Story Grid method so you can put it to work. This season Valerie and Leslie take six episodes to analyze Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn to help you understand how to apply Story Grid’s macro tools to masterworks and your own story.Click here for the full show notes.

Gone Girl - Ending Payoff

Feeling stuck in the middle of your story? On the Story Grid Writer’s Room podcast this week, Valerie and Leslie analyze the middle build 2 quadrant of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl to unpack what makes this story work so well.The Story Grid Writer’s Room is a show dedicated to offering a practical approach to the Story Grid method so you can put it to work. This season Valerie and Leslie take six episodes to analyze Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn to help you understand how to apply Story Grid’s macro tools to masterworks and your own story.Click here for the full show notes.

Gone Girl - Middle Build Two

How can you keep readers turning pages through the middle build of your story? On the Story Grid Writer’s Room podcast this week, Valerie and Leslie find out by analyzing the middle build 1 quadrant of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl. The Story Grid Writer’s Room is a show dedicated to offering a practical approach to the Story Grid method so you can put it to work. This season Valerie and Leslie will spend six episodes analyzing Gone Girl to help you understand how to apply Story Grid’s macro tools to masterworks and your own story.Click here for the full show notes.

Gone Girl - Middle Build 1

What makes the opening of Gillian Flynn’s 2012 Psychological Thriller, Gone Girl, so compelling? On the Story Grid Writer’s Room podcast this week, Valerie and Leslie analyze the beginning hook to find out.The Story Grid Writer’s Room is a show dedicated to offering a practical approach to the Story Grid method so you can put it to work. This season Valerie and Leslie will spend six episodes analyzing Gone Girl to help you understand how to apply Story Grid’s macro tools to masterworks and your own story.Click here for the full show notes.

Gone Girl - The Beginning Hook

Follow the clues this week to uncover the genius behind Gillian Flynn’s 2012 Psychological Thriller, Gone Girl. Valerie and Leslie analyze the macro story by applying Story Grid's Editor’s Six Core Questions. They identify the global genre, the conventions and obligatory moments of the genre, point of view and narrative device, objects of desire, the controlling idea, and the beginning hook, middle, build, and ending payoff.The Story Grid Writer’s Room is a show dedicated to offering a practical approach to the Story Grid method so you can put it to work. This season Valerie and Leslie will spend six episodes analyzing Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn to help you understand how to apply Story Grid’s macro tools to masterworks and your own story.Click here for the full show notes. 

Gone Girl - Editor's Six Core Questions Analysis

Ever since the Story Grid Editor Roundtable started three years ago, we've been asked to apply the Story Grid method to a novel. Well, this is it! This season we're doing a full Story Grid macro analysis of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. We'll review the Editor’s Six Core Questions in the first episode. Haven't read it yet? Grab a copy of the novel now and follow along with us on December 9, 2020, when we'll post the first episode of the new season.To whet your appetite, we’re sharing our Story Grid Editor Roundtable analysis of the 2014 film adaptation.Click here for the full show notes of this "Roundtable Reissue" episode. 

Roundtable Reissue - Gone Girl E6CQA

Ever since the Story Grid Editor Roundtable podcast started three years ago, we've been asked to apply the Story Grid method to a novel. Well, this is it! This season we're doing a full Story Grid macro analysis of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. We'll review the Editor’s Six Core Questions and look at each of the acts in detail.Click here for the full show notes.

Season Two Preview

It’s a wrap! In this episode, Valerie and Leslie close out the first season of the Story Grid Writer’s Room Podcast with a review of takeaways and lessons learned.This season we're analyzing scenes from novels, short stories and films because scenes are the basic building blocks of story. To be able to write a story that works, you must be able to write a scene that works.Click here for the full show notes.

Season One Wrap-Up

In the Writers’ Room this week, Valerie and Leslie find out whodunit and how in the Core Event of The Body in the Library  by Agatha Christie. The 1942 Cozy Mystery features a classic "summation gathering" scene when Miss Jane Marple reveals how she discovered the killer’s identity. We're focusing on scenes this season because scenes are the basic building blocks of story. To be able to write a story that works, you must be able to write a scene that works.Click here for the full show notes. 

Exposing the Criminal Scene - The Body in the Library

In the Writers’ Room this week, Valerie and Leslie look at internal conflict and character revelation in a Turning Point scene of Sue Monk Kidd’s 2002 Worldview Story, The Secret Life of Bees. See how quiet moments can lead to scenes with big impact.We're focusing on scenes this season because scenes are the basic building blocks of story. To be able to write a story that works, you must be able to write a scene that works. Click here for the full show notes.

Lightbulb Moment Scene - The Secret Life of Bees

In the Writers’ Room this week, Valerie and Leslie unpack the many points of conflict from different perspectives in the Core Event of The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. The 2015 Psychological Thriller culminates in an extended Hero at the Mercy of the Villain scene that features a “Tug of War” where life hangs in the balance. Learn about unreliable narrators and shifting points of view, and don’t forget to check out the the list of progressive complications in the show notes.This season we're analyzing scenes from novels, short stories and films because scenes are the basic building blocks of story. To be able to write a story that works, you must be able to write a scene that works.Click here for the full show notes.

Hero at the Mercy of the Villain - The Girl on the Train

In the Writers’ Room this week, we listen closely to the “I Have a Voice” scene in the 2010 film The King’s Speech. The Oscar-winning story was directed by Tom Hooper from a screenplay by David Seidler. The scene in the spotlight today delivers the middle build climax of this Performance Story by “poking the bear.” But that’s not all it does. Don’t miss how the dialogue reveals character and word choice sets up conflict and conveys the theme.This season we're analyzing scenes from novels, short stories and films because scenes are the basic building blocks of story. To be able to write a story that works, you must be able to write a scene that works.Click here for the full show notes. 

"I Have a Voice" Scene - Performance Story

This is a show dedicated to helping you become a better writer using the Story Grid method, developed by Shawn Coyne. Each week we use a movie, a novel, or a short story to study different storytelling principles so that we can deepen our understanding of story and level up our craft.