WHAT IS THE STORY GRID? The Story Grid is a tool developed by editor Shawn Coyne to analyze stories and provide helpful editorial comments. It's like a CT Scan that takes a photo of the global story and tells the editor or writer what is working, what is not, and what must be done to make what works better and fix what's not. The Story Grid breaks down the component parts of stories to identify the problems. And finding the problems in a story is almost as difficult as the writing of the story itself (maybe even more difficult). The Story Grid is a tool with many applications: 1. It will tell a writer if a Story ?works? or ?doesn't work. 2. It pinpoints story problems but does not emotionally abuse the writer, revealing exactly where a Story (not the person creating the Story'the Story) has failed. 3. It will tell the writer the specific work necessary to fix that Story's problems. 4. It is a tool to re-envision and resuscitate a seemingly irredeemable pile of paper stuck in an attic drawer. 5. It is a tool that can inspire an original creation.

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?

WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM?Think about the story creation process (writing) as one big "problem."You want to travel from where you are right now (without a story that works) to a place where your story takes on a life of its own. Your desired destination is where stories entertain and enlighten.The practical way to unpack that explosively complex problem is by breaking it down into smaller, more easily solvable units.Just as performers make active micro-decisions they call beats, so do Story Grid Beats pare down your story problems into specific high-resolution mini-puzzles.They're like global positioning system reports for when you find yourself lost on your writer's journey. And once they define the problem, they offer procedural advice about how best to reframe your approach and solve it in your unique way.After all, you can't begin to solve a problem until you know what it is.YOU ARE NOT THE PROBLEM. THE PROBLEMS ARE THE PROBLEM.

A stirring portrait of the decade when the Steelers became the greatest team in NFL history, even as Pittsburgh was crumbling around them. In the 1970s, the city of Pittsburgh was in need of heroes. In that decade the steel industry, long the lifeblood of the city, went into massive decline, putting 150,000 steelworkers out of work. And then the unthinkable happened: The Pittsburgh Steelers, perennial also-rans in the NFL, rose up to become the most feared team in the league, dominating opponents with their famed "Steel Curtain" defense, winning four Super Bowls in six years, and lifting the spirits of a city on the brink. In The Ones Who Hit the Hardest, Chad Millman and Shawn Coyne trace the rise of the Steelers amidst the backdrop of the fading city they fought for, bringing to life characters such as: Art Rooney, the owner of the team so beloved by Pittsburgh that he was known simply as "The Chief"; Chuck Noll, the headstrong coach who used the ethos of steelworkers to motivate his players; Terry Bradshaw, the strong-armed and underestimated QB; Joe Green, the defensive tackle whose fighting nature lifted the franchise; and Jack Lambert, the linebacker whose snarling, toothless grin embodied the Pittsburgh defense. Every story needs a villain, and in this one it's played by the Dallas Cowboys. As Pittsburgh rusted, the new and glittering metropolis of Dallas, rich from the capital infusion of oil revenue, signaled the future of America. Indeed, the town brimmed with such confidence that the Cowboys felt comfortable nicknaming themselves "America's Team." Throughout the 1970s, the teams jostled for control of the NFL-the Cowboys doing it with finesse and the Steelers doing it with brawn-culminating in Super Bowl XIII in 1979, when the aging Steelers attempted to hold off the Cowboys one last time. Thoroughly researched and grippingly written, The Ones Who Hit the Hardest is a stirring tribute to a city, a team, and an era.

Dorothy Gale’s trip from Kansas to the Emerald City—in print, on screen, and on stage—has enchanted audiences around the world for more than a century. But what is her magical adventure really about? And can studying such classic tales help today’s writers improve their craft? In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum: A Story Grid Masterworks Analysis Guide, Shawn Coyne answers these questions and more. In Oz, Coyne finds a pitch-perfect illustration of the Heroic Journey 2.0, his revolutionary take on Joseph Campbell’s monomyth. Coyne exposes the essential ingredients that define the book’s life-or-death Action Story, coming-of-age Worldview Story, and transcendent Heroic Journey. Writers who take up the challenge and put the Heroic Journey 2.0 to work will craft stories that resonate across time and cultures and provide the emotional catharsis their readers crave. By the end of Baum’s book, Dorothy has survived a worldview-shattering moment and committed to go on, creating new meaning in her life. Your journey as a storyteller begins with the same commitment to make meaning in the world, and this Guide will set you on the right path.

Cub reporter Madison Jackson is young, scrappy, and hungry to prove that she deserves her coveted college internship at the premiere newspaper in town, The Boston Lede, so when her police scanner mentions a brutal murder tied to the prominent Boston Kennedys, Madison races to the crime scene, looking for the scoop of the century. What she finds instead is the woman who'll change her life forever: Dahlia Kennedy, celebrity socialite, now widow, covered in gore and the prime suspect in the murder of her husband and child. When Dahlia refuses to talk to anyone but Madison, they begin a dangerous game of cat and mouse that leads the young journalist down a twisted path. From Gaby Dunn (Bad with Money, I Hate Everyone But You) and Claire Roe (Batgirl and the Birds of Prey, Welcome Back) comes an all-new original graphic novel about the thrill of the chase and the dangers of going toe-to-toe with a potential killer.