Story Engineering
By Larry Brooks
About the book:
From story concept to character development to scene construction and beyond, this blueprint for dynamic storytelling makes putting together a strong novel, memoir, or screenplay easier than ever. Beginning writers in all genres?from fiction writers to nonfiction writers to screenplay writers will learn how to wrap their heads around the big picture of storytelling at a professional level through a new approach that shows how to combine six core competencies: the four elemental competencies of concept, character, theme, and story structure (plot); and the two executional competencies of scene construction and writing voice. You'll discover how to achieve the greatest potential in your story through mastering the way these six factors combine and empower each other on the page.
My Thoughts:
Story Engineering sets out to show that there is a basic model that any story can be built upon. This is not a how to book but a book on writing that shows six core concepts to writing a great story.
This book was hard to read, most of it was analogy after analogy. It tooks three chapters of basically repeating himself before you ever find out what his supposed “six core competencies” are and nearly 150 page before he gets to explaining how to execute them.
If the author cut down on all his babble this book would probably be half the size it is and much more effective. That being said, once he finally got to the point he had a lot of valuable advice for anyone interested in writing a great story.
*I received this book free for review from Tyndale House Publishers*
Favorite Quote:
“We can work hard or we can work smart. Hopefully both. A killer story development model doesn’t take the hard work out of writing, but in any case it infuses the process with a heavy dose of smart.”
Rating: 4 carats
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