Story Physics: Harnessing the Underlying Forces of Storytelling

by Larry Brooks

Overview

Learn how to make your story soar!

In the physical world, gravity, force, and other elements of physics govern your abilities and can be utilized to enhance your every movement. In the world of writing, story physics can be harnessed in much the same way to make your novel or screenplay the best it can be. In Story Physics, best-selling author Larry Brooks introduces you to six key literary forces that, when leveraged in just the right way, enable you to craft a story that's primed for success--and publication.

Inside Story Physics, you'll learn how to:

Understand and harness the six storytelling forces that are constantly at work in your fiction.

Transform your story idea into a dramatically compelling concept.

Optimize the choices you make in terms of character, conflict, subplot, subtext, and more to render the best possible outcome.

These literary forces will elevate your story above the competition and help you avoid the rejection pile. With Story Physics, you won't just give your story wings--you'll teach it how to fly.

"Larry Brooks speaks my kind of language about story. Any writer, even those trucking in the world of nonfiction, will benefit from going deeper into the physics of storytelling as Brooks explains in these pages." - James Scott Bell, best-selling author of Plot & Structure

"Larry Brooks has done it again! If you liked Story Engineering, I suspect you're going to love Story Physics, which dives even deeper into the essence of story. Story Physics is an essential addition to every novelist's bookshelf." - Randy Ingermanson, author of Writing Fiction for Dummies

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781599636894
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	06/18/2013
Pages:	248
Sales rank:	764,711
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.44(h) x 0.62(d)

About the Author

Larry Brooks is a critically acclaimed best-selling author of six psychological thrillers (including Darkness Bound, Pressure Points, Serpents Dance and others), in addition to his work as a freelance writer and writing instructor. He is the creator and editor of Storyfix.com, one of the leading instructional writing sites on the internet.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part 1 May the Story Forces Be With You

1 The Search for Story 6

2 The Shift Toward Story Physics 13

3 The Three Phases of Story Development 21

4 Story Physics… Defined 29

5 Writing in Context to … Something 52

6 The Ways and Means of the Search for Story 59

Part 2 The Optimization of Story Physics

7 Idea vs. Concept 67

8 The Flip Side of Concept 73

9 Story Physics as Narrative Benchmarks 78

10 The Stories Within Your Story 89

11 The Seductive Whisper of Subtext 96

12 The Great and Silent Story Killer 100

13 The Relationship Between Structure and Physics 105

14 How to Challenge Your Hero 114

15 A Deeper Vicarious Experience 119

Part 3 The Power of Process

16 The Highest Goal of Your Writing Process 125

17 The Transformative Power of Mission-Driven Storytelling 127

18 Mission-Critical Scene Writing 134

19 Your Story in Nine Bad Sentences 139

20 The Beat Sheet 144

21 Your Story on Steroids 147

Part 4 Story Physics in the Real Writing World

22 The Six Core Competencies of Successful Storytelling: A 101 Review 152

23 Story Physics at Work in The Help 168

24 Story Physics at Work in The Hunger Games 201