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Two very different girls.Two very different lives.After a tragety hits one girl, the other will be changed forever.High school is not an easy time for teenagers. Especially the ones that keep to themselves. Mitzy has always lived a quiet life but not by her own choosing. She was left out of many activities that others her age would otherwise enjoy but all that changed with a call in the middle of the night. Now she is

To write a story that captivates readers and stands the test of time, you need a daily practice and professional tools. In this guide, fantasy author and editor Danielle Kiowski rolls out an elegant blueprint for building your practice using Story Grid tools. Like all writers, you struggle to defeat Resistance and devote proper time and attention to craft. You want to get words on the page, and above all, you want your stories to work. Kiowski demonstrates how the Story Grid Rule of 530 can help you establish simple, transformative habits to reach those goals. What's the Rule of 530? Write 500 words a day and study masterworks of story craft for 30 minutes per day. A daily writing and story analysis practice will level up your skills by blending four types of knowledge to help you understand what makes a story great and how to infuse that knowledge into your own stories. You'll learn concepts based on Story Grid's methodology, put those concepts into practice, test your understanding, and finally-through group study-you'll develop new, shared insights. Beautiful stories don't happen overnight. Focus on the process. Use the Rule of 530. And find joy in becoming a lifelong storyteller.

Like many beginning writers, Tim Grahl struggled to learn his craft-and even to find the right words to describe his questions and challenges. After reading a library of how-to books, Tim found what he needed in the unique Story Grid approach. With the help of editor, friend, and Story Grid creator Shawn Coyne, Tim discovered a new vocabulary-what he now calls The Writers' Common Language. Learning this language can help us all think and talk about our stories with more clarity and specificity. In this book, Tim shares moments from his own journey as a storyteller and how the strategies and tools of Story Grid transformed the way he reads, writes, and edits his own work. "Once you can apply these tools to your own story," he says, "you will be amazed at the progress you can make." With a shared understanding of terms such as "genre," "point of view," "value shift," and "theme," writers and editors can talk more productively and meaningfully to level up every project. When we speak in this writers' common language, we can create community, learn from each other, and-most important-bring more great stories into the world.

You're a writer with 1,001 questions about how to fix your manuscript and you want answers. It's hard to see your whole story in enough detail to find all the problems, much less craft the best solutions. After months of effort, you're deep inside the characters and plot so you need a tool that's objective-something to magnify and explain each scene and show you how they all connect. The best way to answer the questions that are plaguing you is one you've probably never considered-a spreadsheet. In this beginner's guide, Story Grid Certified Editor Kimberly Kessler shows you how to turn a spreadsheet into a precision editing tool. Using the Story Grid approach, the spreadsheet becomes a microscope through which you can see scenes, sequences, and your entire story in high resolution. The Story Grid spreadsheet will save you time by quickly identifying the sources and locations of key problems. What you meant to say won't cloud your ability to see what's really on the page. With Kessler's expert guidance, you'll add the Story Grid spreadsheet to your writer's toolkit, you'll save your current manuscript, and improve all the stories that follow. "You have nothing to fear," says Kessler, "simply new connections to make."

Your story is important. It's your opportunity to captivate readers and deliver a message that will change their lives forever. But somehow, it's just not working. You've written multiple drafts and tried lots of "tips and tricks." But time and again, readers aren't connecting with your characters and the ideas you want to share. You want readers to care deeply about your story. You want to capture their hearts and change their minds. Whether you're writing a mystery, romance, epic fantasy, or coming-of-age memoir, Story Grid Certified Editor Danielle Kiowski has what you need: a proven approach to construct a story arc that connects readers with your characters to deliver the message at the heart of your story. This approach is called The Five Commandments of Storytelling. And just what are the Five Commandments? • Inciting Incident • Turning Point Progressive Complication • Crisis • Climax • Resolution Each commandment works with the others to create an arc that reveals character and elicits empathy. Through that connection, readers will find themselves transformed by the power of your story long after they've turned the final page. Kiowski doesn't simply define the Five Commandments, she shows you precisely how they work in classic novels-including Pride and Prejudice, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and The Silence of the Lambs-and in the beloved film, It's a Wonderful Life. "To tell your story well, you need to know what makes a story work," says Kiowski. The Five Commandments of Storytelling is your guide to what makes a great story work. Isn't it time to take your story to the next level and change some lives?