Beats

As writers, we all struggle to transform the messy raw materials in our minds into stories that will reach readers' hearts. When it works, it feels like magic. But what really makes that magic happen? A few essential components, which Story Grid calls conventions and obligatory moments, can span the distance between writers and readers. It's those conventions and moments that fulfill readers' expectations in every story-from gripping action tales to tender romances. In Conventions and Obligatory Moments, veteran Story Grid editors Kimberly Kessler and Leslie Watts provide the first comprehensive Story Grid guide to these essential elements of the writer's craft. Kessler and Watts illustrate each concept with examples from classic masterworks, including Treasure Island, Murder on the Orient Express, and Pride and Prejudice. And they situate conventions and obligatory moments within the larger world of the Story Grid methodology, including the Four Core Framework and the Five Commandments of Storytelling. They teach writers precisely how each genre's conventions set up critical changes, and how obligatory moments pay off those changes to meet readers' expectations. Ready to make your own magic?

Finding the right point of view is one of the most important-and least understood, challenges writers face. Point of view extends far beyond the choice of first, second, or third person. POV determines all that a reader knows about the world inside a story. Is the murder, told from the criminal's, the detective's, or the victim's vantage point? An awful lot rides on that decision. In short, a story's point of view guides the characters, message, and events that matter. In Point of View: Why Narrative Perspective Can Make or Break Your Story, Story Grid Publishing Editor-in-Chief Leslie Watts provides examples from dozens of masterworks to help writers understand telling and showing points of view and narrative devices. Does a telling narrator live inside or outside the story? Is the focus of a showing POV external or internal? Every choice has an impact. Watts offers a revolutionary approach to point of view, demonstrating how deep study of narrative perspective can empower and uplift storytellers themselves. When writers truly master point of view they can share the messages they want to share and bring their stories to life.