Writer Unleashed

#99: How to Nail Down Your Story In 3 Simple Sentences


Listen Later

If I asked you what your story was about, could you sum it up in a few sentences and tell me all I need to know to want more?

Maybe you have too many ideas swimming around your head, and your story is running away from you.

Either way, you have a hazy, rambling idea about what your story is all about.

That's every story in its early stages.

So, in this episode, I want to invite you to do a little exercise in nailing down your story idea in 3 sentences.

You'll zero in on:

  • Who your story's about, and what happens to set this person down a path she/he never saw coming;
  • The trouble and complications that follow; and
  • The payoff or promise the reader can expect by the end

Bottom line?

If you can drill your story down to a few clear, focused sentences, you can write a clear, focused story.

This 3-sentence framework  will help you avoid bogging your story down with unnecessary digressions and clutter. You'll know what to keep in. And what to keep out.

This will make your first drafts easier to write. Your works in progress easier to revise.  So you can build a story that's a great read.

Episode Website

Link mentioned in this episode:
Free 3-Act Worksheet

Write. Revise. Finish. The Emerging Writers Academy is where fiction and memoir writers get the support to do all three - with a community that's doing it alongside you. Spots close January 15. Learn more at nancipanuccio.com/writer.


Want to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.



...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Writer UnleashedBy Nanci Panuccio

  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5

5

26 ratings


More shows like Writer Unleashed

View all
Helping Writers Become Authors by K.M. Weiland

Helping Writers Become Authors

1,004 Listeners

More or Less by BBC Radio 4

More or Less

892 Listeners

Pivot by New York Magazine

Pivot

9,517 Listeners

The Creative Penn Podcast For Writers by Joanna Penn

The Creative Penn Podcast For Writers

628 Listeners

The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience by Kelton Reid

The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience

229 Listeners

Pod Save America by Crooked Media

Pod Save America

87,126 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

111,863 Listeners

Writer's Routine by Dan Simpson

Writer's Routine

312 Listeners

The Bulwark Podcast by The Bulwark

The Bulwark Podcast

12,513 Listeners

Fiction Writing Made Easy | Top Creative Writing Podcast for Fiction Writers & Writing Tips by Savannah Gilbo

Fiction Writing Made Easy | Top Creative Writing Podcast for Fiction Writers & Writing Tips

1,466 Listeners

The Shit No One Tells You About Writing by Bianca Marais, Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra

The Shit No One Tells You About Writing

775 Listeners

The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

The Ezra Klein Show

15,815 Listeners

Offline with Jon Favreau by Crooked Media

Offline with Jon Favreau

2,306 Listeners

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel by James Thayer

Essential Guide to Writing a Novel

413 Listeners

Writers on Writing by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett and Marrie Stone

Writers on Writing

93 Listeners