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rbogue's review
5.0
If you had a burning passion to write a novel, how would you do it? Starting from scratch and never having done it before, what steps would you take? The answer may lie inside of Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel. This is the second of Lisa Cron’s books that I’ve read. The first was Wired for Story, which connected research from neurology and psychology to create a vision for the things that make a story powerful. However, in that book, there wasn’t much in the way of the specific activities to take. Story Genius is different; it’s a roadmap designed to help you write your novel.
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spauffwrites's review
4.0
I’m generally wary of writing advice that cries “you must do this!” But I liked the book’s character-driven method of writing, especially in the drafting stage. The two main questions you ask — “Why?” and “And so?” — are useful in keeping your novel on track and about character, rather than just plot.
benthewriter's review
2.0
This book makes good arguments for prioritizing story over plot, and provides actionable tips for organizing thoughts and ideas, which some writers will be able to use to more easily create a coherent narrative. That said, the "brain science" arguments are short on actual neuroscience and long on evolutionary psychology. A handful of studies are cited, but they are decontextualized from their specific circumstances and leveraged in more generalized arguments where there they may not apply.
sohare1981's review
2.0
I don't know how helpful this book was, about 99% of was information I already knew from other sources. Even the scene card I heard about from a YouTube video, but I do want to try it out. It might just be me, though. I've read a lot of how-to-write books, blogs, and YouTube video blogs the past few years trying to teach myself how to write a novel. So, I might be a bit more advanced than a lot of people reading this one.
niajacobsen's review
3.0
I think the usefulness of this book was obscured for me by the story example. Because it wasn't an example I would have written myself, I found it hard to connect to the advice around the example with the ideas of the books I want to write. I found the theory of this book somewhat useful but got a bit lost in the example story and often felt muddled by this method. I got more out of YouTube videos about this book than the book itself.
kareader's review
4.0
I heard Lisa Cron speak at a writing conference and the way she talked about writing made something click in my brain, which led me to buy this book. Like all books on writing, this one claims to be "the way" but is really only one way of approaching writing. (People don't all think the same way, so why would there be one way to write??) For me, it made sense with how I approach writing and how I tend to come into ideas for new stories. I often struggle with plot but know exactly (or close to exactly) what emotional journey I want my characters to go on. Lisa's methods helped me connect the dots and come up with plot points that pull in that emotional journey. Other reviews have mentioned that the "brain science" is sparse, and I do agree that the title is a bit misleading in that regard. However, her methods do offer a way to connect with the emotional component that will hopefully connect readers to your characters. I'll be pulling what works for me from this book, leaving what doesn't work, and overall I think what I've learned is going to help with my craft.