Chuck Wendig
interviewed Lisa Cron this week for his blog Terribleminds and she gave us her
take on developing story. Another great
find for interviews by Mr. Wendig, he rarely disappoints. Lisa has a very fresh take on the importance
of STORY and how it relates to the human brain.
She has a new book out called Wired for Story, and I can’t wait
to read it. She is a big time producer
for Showtime and Court TV, a writer and also teaches a writing course at UCLA. She has spent the last ten years researching
the connection between neuroscience and how the brain relates to stories. It’s quite fascinating and illuminating, allowing
us to learn techniques that will make your story click with the reader. They can’t help themselves, the brain is hard
wired for receiving stories and if we can strike the right chord it will
resonate within the readers mind.
On
Lisa's blog she touched on why books that get panned by critiques can still sell
at amazing rates. It answers the
question as to why books like 50 Shades of Gray can sell millions of
books. I remember picking up The
Hunger Games, because my wife and daughter love it, and reading the first
couple of pages and saying to myself, the prose just aren’t all that, but next
thing I knew I was 100 pages in and couldn’t put it down. Stephanie Myers Twilight books have
been criticized for not having elaborate prose also, but the one thing all of
these books have in common is they tell a great story and in a way that touches
those chords in the mind.
