Episodes
This will be the final episode of the Story Grid Podcast for the foreseeable future. Tim gives some background on why this decision was made along with an update on his current writing project and other happenings around Story Grid.
Published 05/25/23
Published 05/25/23
Access the full Story Grid analysis of CRAZY RICH ASIANS at https://storygrid.com/crazy. What can writers learn from studying this 2018 film? This is the final in a four part series analyzing CRAZY RICH ASIANS. The screenplay was written by Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim and the movie was based on a 2013 book of the same title written by Kevin Kwan. This episode is hosted by Story Grid Certified Editor Rachel Arsenault (https://www.rachel-arsenault.com) and Tim Grahl, writer and CEO of...
Published 05/11/23
Access the full Story Grid analysis of CRAZY RICH ASIANS at https://storygrid.com/crazy. What can writers learn from studying this 2018 film? This is the second in a four part series analyzing CRAZY RICH ASIANS. The screenplay was written by Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim and the movie was based on a 2013 book of the same title written by Kevin Kwan. This episode is hosted by Story Grid Certified Editor Rachel Arsenault (https://www.rachel-arsenault.com) and Tim Grahl, writer and CEO of...
Published 05/04/23
Access the full Story Grid analysis of CRAZY RICH ASIANS at https://storygrid.com/crazy. What can writers learn from studying this 2018 film? This is the first in a four part series analyzing CRAZY RICH ASIANS. The screenplay was written by Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim and the movie was based on a 2013 book of the same title written by Kevin Kwan. This episode is hosted by Story Grid Certified Editor Rachel Arsenault (https://www.rachel-arsenault.com) and Tim Grahl, writer and CEO of...
Published 04/20/23
Access the full Story Grid analysis of CRAZY RICH ASIANS at https://storygrid.com/crazy. What can writers learn from studying this 2018 film? This is the first in a four part series analyzing CRAZY RICH ASIANS. The screenplay was written by Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim and the movie was based on a 2013 book of the same title written by Kevin Kwan. This episode is hosted by Story Grid Certified Editor Rachel Arsenault (https://www.rachel-arsenault.com) and Tim Grahl, writer and CEO of...
Published 04/13/23
Access the full Story Grid analysis of John Wick at https://storygrid.com/wick. This is the final in a four part series analyzing the movie John Wick using the Story Grid methodology. This 2014 movie, written by Derek Kolstad, is a genre leading action movie. Story Grid Certified Editor Rachel Arsenault (https://www.rachel-arsenault.com) and Tim Grahl start by looking at the Story Grid Five Leaf Genre Clover before diving into the quadrants and controlling idea.
Published 04/06/23
Access the full Story Grid analysis of John Wick at https://storygrid.com/wick. This is the third in a four part series analyzing the movie John Wick using the Story Grid methodology. This 2014 movie, written by Derek Kolstad, is a genre leading action movie. Story Grid Certified Editor Rachel Arsenault (https://www.rachel-arsenault.com) and Tim Grahl start by looking at the Story Grid Five Leaf Genre Clover before diving into the quadrants and controlling idea.
Published 03/30/23
Access the full Story Grid analysis of John Wick at https://storygrid.com/wick. This is the second in a four part series analyzing the movie John Wick using the Story Grid methodology. This 2014 movie, written by Derek Kolstad, is a genre leading action movie. Story Grid Certified Editor Rachel Arsenault (https://www.rachel-arsenault.com) and Tim Grahl start by looking at the Story Grid Five Leaf Genre Clover before diving into the quadrants and controlling idea.
Published 03/23/23
Access the full Story Grid analysis of John Wick at https://storygrid.com/wick. This is the first in a four part series analyzing the movie John Wick using the Story Grid methodology. This 2014 movie, written by Derek Kolstad, is a genre leading action movie. Story Grid Certified Editor Rachel Arsenault (https://www.rachel-arsenault.com) and Tim Grahl start by looking at the Story Grid Five Leaf Genre Clover before diving into the quadrants and controlling idea.
Published 03/16/23
TITLE: Line Edits: Putting the Final Touches on Eye Witness We're down to line edits on Tim's iteration of the masterwork Eye Witness by Ed McBain. Shawn, Danielle, and Leslie provide final feedback on how to clean up the last few error messages still coming through. Click here to read Tim's scene: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Yma-xAE77UnQMNAjTyOUPxF21P_DaFxuNXyQin-0gHo/edit?usp=sharing To see the transcript of this episode, visit: https://storygrid.com/episode-283 — Get a free...
Published 11/03/22
Now that Tim has had a breakthrough on his iteration of EYE WITNESS by Ed McBain, we're getting down to fixing individual Beats and checking to make sure he's adhered to the Story Grid 624 Analysis. You really see the Story Grid Tools shine in this episode as Leslie and Danielle apply them to Tim's writing to find places still left to fix. Click here to read Tim's scene: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1b-RzszE7YzLEn5fSlWAqVQ_OkXhuJg3cxfZImXzIkYI/edit?usp=sharing To see the transcript...
Published 10/27/22
Does Tim Actually Get It Right? How to Nail the Narrative Device On Tim's 10th draft, he finally makes a breakthrough on his iteration of EYE WITNESS by Ed McBain! And it ended up being a simple practice that got him over the hump. Listen in as Shawn, Danielle, Leslie, and Tim discuss how to nail the narrative device. Click here to read Tim's scene: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RRmqjv90vYpi20B7kbxgdHQwdhFRvB3pESZD6Y52XEg/edit?usp=sharing To see the transcript of this episode,...
Published 10/20/22
In this impromptu episode, Tim and Danielle discuss the ongoing problems with the work on the Ed McBain EYE WITNESS scene and why Tim can't connect with his characters. To see the transcript of this episode, visit: https://storygrid.com/episode-280 — Get a free copy of our book Story Grid 101: The First Five Principles of the Story Grid Methodology: https://storygrid101.com This is Episode 280 of the Story Grid Podcast: https://storygrid.com/podcast
Published 10/06/22
Shawn takes a crack at rewriting Tim's scene to help him understand what he's missing on the Narrative Device. Then we hear Leslie and Danielle's edits and feedback on what he got right and wrong. When they ask Tim what he thinks of all this, lots of emotions start coming out including his feeling that he's not writing anymore... he's pretending to write. Click here to read Tim's scene: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QZGyUNetvNGfKAjwyfF3m4r9RPoMQN4g3Q18oWXoLOw/edit?usp=sharing To...
Published 09/29/22
There are lots of insights in this week's episode of the podcast. We look at the emotional connection between the hero and victim, ensuring there is conflict at every level of the story, and how better to lock in to the narrative device. Click here to read Tim's scene: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1V6ja3HN4uKuS0J4x6pvWBUwkZUiE5uJov5jM3Gj-Yvw/edit?usp=sharing To see the transcript of this episode, visit: https://storygrid.com/episode-278 — Get a free copy of our book Story Grid 101:...
Published 09/24/22
Nobody is innocent in your story. Everyone is hiding something. You must adjust these levels correctly in order for your reader to connect with the right characters. This is the focus Danielle, Leslie, and Shawn take on Tim's scene this week. Click here to read Tim's scene: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1M_rP2ARaDQbSlGBmNRESszzYuNN-nrxa0pdJjt0qQRU/edit?usp=sharing To see the transcript of this episode, visit: https://storygrid.com/episode-277 — Get a free copy of our book Story...
Published 09/15/22
Who is the Hero, Victim, and Perpetrator in your story? What are the relationships between each of them? The more vague or ungrounded each of these relationships are, the more the story will not read as believable. This is the focus Danielle, Leslie, and Shawn take on Tim's scene this week. Click here to read Tim's scene: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OQd5NxTcn2JLwrphueCX91A4wXN9BEQFBYwbyN7NJ1M/edit?usp=sharing To see the transcript of this episode, visit:...
Published 09/08/22
Figuring out your Story Theme is the key to unlocking the entire roadmap of your story. Scott Mann is the author of the new book → Operation Pineapple Express: The Incredible Story of a Group of Americans Who Undertook One Last Mission and Honored a Promise in Afghanistan → https://www.amazon.com/dp/1668003538/ Randall Surles is a Story Grid Certified Editor and worked with Scott to develop and produce the book under an extremely tight deadline. In this interview, they discuss what went...
Published 09/06/22
How do you ground your characters in a reality that your reader will believe even though you are making the whole thing up? This week Tim makes the mistake of sterilizing his protagonist to the point where he is no longer interesting or believable. Shawn, Danielle, and Leslie walk him through the steps of using character development and a strong narrative device to fix these problems. Click here to read Tim's scene:...
Published 09/01/22
Who is telling your story? Who are they telling it to? Why are they telling it? This is the Narrative Device! The Narrative Device consists of three main components: - Author: The Author is someone who is capable of telling the POP premise as a story to shed light on the problem another person has. - SAM: The Single Audience Member is a person with a problem related to the one the protagonist faces in the POP premise. - Problem: A specific problem that the POP premise can shed light...
Published 08/25/22
Shawn, Leslie, Danielle and Tim face a hard question... Is the Story Grid Podcast still worth doing? You might be surprised by what they have to say.
Published 08/18/22
What happens when you can't connect to your protagonist? This week Tim makes some progress on his scene, but it's still missing something. The soul in the writing isn't there. Shawn, Leslie, and Danielle talk through how to use emotional pain to connect into the story.
Published 08/11/22
There are times in your story when you need to switch out the protagonist. This can even happen in the middle of a scene or short story. But how do you do it the right way? This week Shawn, Danielle, and Leslie look at Tim's draft to see how you can hand off the protagonist to a different character without confusion. Click here to read Tim's scene: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1T9K3Reuspp3oXJdBm_Aj8QLuUXv0Lcj7wPTG9SZKKGI/edit?usp=sharing To see the transcript of this episode, visit:...
Published 08/04/22
Great stories always answer two-factor problems. In this episode we see how Tim's mistake of choosing the wrong protagonist messes up the two factor problem. Shawn, Danielle, and Leslie help him sort out how to fix this problem. Click here to read Tim's scene: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yNGyDX5dkbchjT6UcrixUNv_2PI_WT7GrZn04H0nIh0/edit To see the transcript of this episode, visit: https://storygrid.com/episode-269 — Get a free copy of our book Story Grid 101: The First Five...
Published 07/21/22