Posts by Lisa Cron
Therese here. Today’s guest isn’t a guest at all; she’s the newest addition to Writer Unboxed! Please join me in welcoming author and UCLA Extension Writers’ Program instructor Lisa Cron to the fold. We’re sincerely thrilled to have her.
Lisa’s craft book, Wired for Story: The Writer’s Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence, released just this month. As I mentioned in a previous post, I’ve had the chance to read Lisa’s book, and can tell you it’s truly valuable and already has a permanent spot on my shelf.
Lisa brings a background in brain science to WU, and being a former science major, I love the angle. Why do we do the things we do? Why do we write what we write? Why do we crave a certain type of story? Why, why, why? That’s a scientist’s favorite word, and Lisa is here today to give it a proper introduction. Welcome back, Lisa, and welcome aboard!
Why Are We Wired for Story?
What would you say if I told you that what the brain craves, hunts for and responds to in every story it hears has nothing to do with what most writers are taught to strive for? What’s more, that it’s the same thing whether you’re writing literary fiction or a down and dirty thriller?
You’d probably say, prove it. Fair enough.
First, the mistaken belief: From time immemorial we’ve have been taught that things like lyrical language, insightful metaphors, vivid description, memorable characters, palpable sensory details and a fresh voice are what hooks readers.
It’s a seductive belief, because all those things are indisputably good. But they’re not what hook the reader. The brain, it turns out, is far less picky when it comes pretty prose than we’ve been led to believe.
What does the brain crave? Beginning with the very first sentence, the brain craves a sense of urgency that instantly makes us want to know what happens next. It’s a visceral feeling that seduces us into leaving the real world behind and surrendering to the world of the story.
Which brings us to the real question: Why? What are we really looking for in every story we read? What is that sense of urgency all about?
Read MoreTherese here. Today’s guest is someone you’ll see here again. Lisa Cron has written a fantastic new craft book for writers called Wired for Story: The Writer’s Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence, available in July. I’ve had the chance to peruse an advance copy of Lisa’s book, and I can tell you that it’s gold. Truly. Lisa knows of what she speaks, having spent a decade in the publishing industry (W.W. Norton and John Muir Publications) before working as a story consultant and producer for TV (e.g. Showtime) and some prestigious literary agencies (e.g. William Morris Agency). Lisa has also been an instructor through the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program for the last five years. Said the UCLA Film School Screenwriting Chairman, Richard Walter, of Lisa, “Lisa Cron is every serious writer’s dream: a source of caring, candid, capable, creative support. Since she is herself also a writer she brings not merely an analytical and intellectual perspective–though she provides that too–but the essential hands-on, insider’s view that belongs to practitioners alone.”
I’m thrilled she’s with us today to talk about the most mercurial of all writerly imaginings: the muse itself. Enjoy!
Unmasking the Muse
Writers are often led to believe that the muse is responsible for unleashing, not to mention guiding, their creativity. They’re told to tap into the force, write down to the bone, court the muse for all they’re worth, and if they’re lucky, the notoriously capricious muse will speak through them and bring their prose to life. I call it The Myth of the Muse. Because it’s flat-out wrong, and undermines writers at every turn.
We’re all well aware of the myth of the muse. It holds that writing is the prevue of unbridled, unquestioned creativity, and that inspiration comes from some mysterious, external source over which we have no real control. It’s no surprise that inspiration literally means “breathed upon.” Thus the gift of the muse, often vaguely defined as “having a way with words,” is something one receives rather than what one strives for. It’s the muse who magically spins straw into gold, who by breathing on the writer’s prose, brings it to life, as a story. And if a writer loses touch with her muse? Too bad, so sad.
In other words, the myth of the muse encourages writers to fly blind. To write whatever is in their heart, and somehow the muse will transform it into a story. As someone who spent the latter part of her career reading the novels and screenplays that such advice has yielded, I can tell you that it’s not only bad advice, it’s heartbreaking. Because it not only produces monumentally unreadable narratives, it often instills in the writer one of two things:
Read MoreThere is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
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