Wired for Story: The Writer's Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence
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- Create Date：2022-08-01 06:57:25
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Lisa Cron
- ISBN：1607742454
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Summary
Imagine knowing what the brain craves from every tale it encounters， what fuels the success of any great story， and what keeps readers transfixed。 Wired for Story reveals these cognitive secrets--and it's a game-changer for anyone who has ever set pen to paper。 The vast majority of writing advice focuses on writing well as if it were the same as telling a great story。 This is exactly where many aspiring writers fail--they strive for beautiful metaphors， authentic dialogue， and interesting characters， losing sight of the one thing that every engaging story must do: ignite the brain's hardwired desire to learn what happens next。 When writers tap into the evolutionary purpose of story and electrify our curiosity， it triggers a delicious dopamine rush that tells us to pay attention。 Without it， even the most perfect prose won't hold anyone's interest。 Backed by recent breakthroughs in neuroscience as well as examples from novels， screenplays， and short stories， Wired for Story offers a revolutionary look at story as the brain experiences it。 Each chapter zeroes in on an aspect of the brain， its corresponding revelation about story， and the way to apply it to your storytelling right now。
Reviews
Oscar Cecena
，
This is a good book that reinforces important concepts that sometimes， when writing， we forget。It doesn't go deep into neuroscience， so don't grab the book if that's your goal。 Do grab it if you want to get a quick reminder of the items that make a good story。 This is a good book that reinforces important concepts that sometimes， when writing， we forget。It doesn't go deep into neuroscience， so don't grab the book if that's your goal。 Do grab it if you want to get a quick reminder of the items that make a good story。 。。。more
Mackenzie Blackwood
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4。5 I’d give it 5 but I need to see if the tips work out first ;）
Ben Zimmerman
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Wired for Story is an excellent book about fiction writing with the wrong title。 First， the book is definitely geared towards fiction writing， even though the title makes it sound more general。 Some of the advice in this book translates very easily to all writing， but I struggled to convert some of the advice to the non-fiction writing that I was mostly interested in。 Secondly， the title makes it sound like the book is primarily about brain science， but in fact， there is almost no brain science Wired for Story is an excellent book about fiction writing with the wrong title。 First， the book is definitely geared towards fiction writing， even though the title makes it sound more general。 Some of the advice in this book translates very easily to all writing， but I struggled to convert some of the advice to the non-fiction writing that I was mostly interested in。 Secondly， the title makes it sound like the book is primarily about brain science， but in fact， there is almost no brain science at all in the book。 The neuroscience that is presented is general and vague and only loosely connected to the writing advice。 Most of the brain science is summarized as "cognitive secrets" that begin each of the chapters。 Some of these "cognitive secrets" are dubious given what we know about neuroscience or difficult to understand。 They help scaffold the writing tips well， but as a neuroscientist， I was getting really hung up on how the cognitive statements were presented - phrases like， "we think in story，" "if we're not feeling [emotion] we're not conscious，" "we don't think in the abstract，" and "the brain is wired to stubbornly resist change， even good change。" There is very little actual support for the neuroscientific or cognitive statements。 Mostly there will be a couple of anecdotes or quotes from popular science writers， who are sometimes also scientists。 Some of the concepts that are presented as neuroscience are distantly used to support a topic in writing。 Here is an example to give you an idea of the flavor， using the neuroscience topic of emergent properties to convince writers that their vision will be evident without them needing to explicitly present their specific ideas about the world: "As neuroscientist David Eagleman says， 'when you put together large numbers of pieces and parts， the whole can become something larger than the sum。 The concept of emergent properties means that something new can be introduced that is not inherent in any of the parts。' What emerges is your vision， seen through the eyes of your readers， experienced by your readers。"The only example I remember of an actual study being cited was a 2010 paper that found that different parts of the brain were activated by different elements of story vignettes。 These different activated brain areas overlapped with areas that had been shown in other papers to be involved in the actual experience of the activity。 So for example， a motor area in the brain may become active when reading about a character executing a motor action。 This paper was used to support the assertion that reading simulates real-world activities。 To me， this was an interesting fact about how the brain works that wasn't actually needed to support Cron's point， so I wasn't exactly sure why it was there。 I found myself wondering what the conclusion would even be if only one area of the brain。。。say a reading area。。。was active during the reading in the study。 I would have concluded that the apparent simulation of real-world activities that occurs in my mind is supported by this one area instead of the many different areas that it appears to be。 It doesn't seem necessary to claim that the brain is simulating real-world activities - especially when that simulation is pretty self-evident to everyone who uses their imagination。 To me， this poor use of neuroscience struck me as a missed opportunity for a really interesting book described by this title。 I kept thinking of lots of applications to writing that were probably supported by studies in cognitive neuroscience or cognitive psychology。 How many characters can an average person track over some defined period of time？ How many levels of intention can an average person track （i。e。 who knows what about who knows what about 。。。。etc。）？ How long can the average person remember a detail containing important information for predicting something later on？ What salient ways can you draw the reader's attention to extra important information？ How much suffering can a reader read about before they get emotionally drained themselves？ Once I got over the fact that there wasn't going to be any neuroscience， even though the book was chosen for a neuroscience book club， I found the advice quite helpful。 I dabble a bit in fiction writing， and the advice helped clarify a lot why some things work and some things don't in my own writing。 It also gave me lots of ideas about how to improve。 I see a lot of Goodreads reviews about how a lot of the tips in the book are sort of offensively obvious。 Most of the tips do seem obvious after you read them because they are so clearly presented and make so much sense。 It leaves you feeling a little bit stupid that you weren't already writing along such obvious principles。 But if I'm reflecting honestly， I definitely wasn't using these sorts of "obvious" principles to guide my writing before reading this book。Overall， I liked the book and thought it was an engaging guidebook for writing good fiction， but I do not think that it applies to all kinds of writing， and I do not agree that it is in any way a "guide to using brain science" to do anything。 。。。more
Graeme Newell
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I enjoyed this book but I must admit that it was not what I expected。 My expectation was that this was a book on the brain and how story fits into it。 Actually， there was very little brain discussion in this book at all。 The brain discussion that was in it was rather cursory。 The title was rather misleading。This was however， a very good book on how to write a novel。 The author goes deep into specific tactics for character development， plot， foreshadowing， and all the things a writer needs to kno I enjoyed this book but I must admit that it was not what I expected。 My expectation was that this was a book on the brain and how story fits into it。 Actually， there was very little brain discussion in this book at all。 The brain discussion that was in it was rather cursory。 The title was rather misleading。This was however， a very good book on how to write a novel。 The author goes deep into specific tactics for character development， plot， foreshadowing， and all the things a writer needs to know in order to effectively create a compelling story。For a book dedicated to stories， it actually had very few stories and it。 Most of it was narrative explaining techniques and best practices。I enjoyed the book， but definitely not what I expected。 。。。more
L。K。 Latham
，
Done！ It took long enough， but not because it was complicated or hard to read。 This is very well written for those of us without scientific expertise。 I took a year to read this because it made me think。 With each section I read， I rethought the stories I was working on。 Highly recommend this to writers who want to connect with their readers。
Andrea
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Awesome book for crafting good stories— helped me fix up my first few chapters。 Good advice， easy to read。
Jerrald Spencer jr
，
The most helpful craft book I've read。 The most helpful craft book I've read。 。。。more
Rich B
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Really enjoyed this book。 It covers the theory and practice behind storytelling， with relevant insights from neuroscience and psychology。 You learn why stories work so well as a way of communicating， as the author explains how the brain handles and processes stories。 There’s lots of clear examples of different parts of the story from the opening hook， to the pay / off resolution。 It does a great job of highlighting great storytelling techniques， as well as pointing out obvious pitfalls which man Really enjoyed this book。 It covers the theory and practice behind storytelling， with relevant insights from neuroscience and psychology。 You learn why stories work so well as a way of communicating， as the author explains how the brain handles and processes stories。 There’s lots of clear examples of different parts of the story from the opening hook， to the pay / off resolution。 It does a great job of highlighting great storytelling techniques， as well as pointing out obvious pitfalls which many writers fall into。 In fact， it’s probably the watch outs and don’t do’s which are most fun and interesting。 Recognised almost all of them in some of the less good stories I’ve read recently。 There’s short checklists at the end of each chapter which are very practical if you ever have work on a story。 Having read other books on both topics， not everything was new。 But combining the 2 topics together to give a different perspective worked really well。 The writer came across as very knowledgeable in both areas。Occasionally， the tone can be a little inconsistent。 One minute a chatty almost self-help style tone to encourage readers。 Then the next a more weighty， scientific tone as it pulls examples and facts out of the research。 This may not be to everyone’s style， but didn’t bother me。 Packed full of interesting ideas and insights， overall an excellent and enjoyable read。 。。。more
Stephanie
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I figured I would like this， but didn’t think it would go beyond that。The fact it was a lot better than I thought it would be was a pleasant surprise。 I definitely will be hanging onto my physical copy for future references and reminders when I need it。
René Roth
，
It’s not really （just） about how to write a book， it’s about crafting stories that are fun。 Nothing in this book is arcane knowledge or anything that won’t feel obvious to you after learning it， which is what makes it so great。
Andy
，
The language could have been clearer in some areas but the overall information was useful and helped me understand why I have disliked some of the stories I have disliked， especially those where I seem at odds with others。 I'll take these lessons into consideration， though it would have been nice to have a master checklist at the end of the book to review all the main ideas one final time。 The language could have been clearer in some areas but the overall information was useful and helped me understand why I have disliked some of the stories I have disliked， especially those where I seem at odds with others。 I'll take these lessons into consideration， though it would have been nice to have a master checklist at the end of the book to review all the main ideas one final time。 。。。more
Christopher
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A must-read for new writers。 Has a lot of overlap with Story Genius — which was also great — so if you're only going to read one， I'd pick this one （though it won't hurt to read both！）。 A must-read for new writers。 Has a lot of overlap with Story Genius — which was also great — so if you're only going to read one， I'd pick this one （though it won't hurt to read both！）。 。。。more
Jakob
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We are storytelling animals。 It's hardwired in our brains and determines how we make sense of the world。 While we might have a decent intuitive idea of whether a story is good or bad， we've a bad understanding of why， and are not very good at writing stories ouselves。 In this book， Cron breaks storytelling down with a brain science perspective， which is complemented by Cron's experience and examples of good and bad storytelling。 Overall， this is a book about storytelling rather than brain scienc We are storytelling animals。 It's hardwired in our brains and determines how we make sense of the world。 While we might have a decent intuitive idea of whether a story is good or bad， we've a bad understanding of why， and are not very good at writing stories ouselves。 In this book， Cron breaks storytelling down with a brain science perspective， which is complemented by Cron's experience and examples of good and bad storytelling。 Overall， this is a book about storytelling rather than brain science。 So the focus is more on the lessons for storytelling rather than the scientific explanations， which can be quite brief and shallow。People will read a great story with bad writing but not a bad story with great writing; how good your writing is won't matter if the reader is not interested in reading your next line。 If you have an importsnt idea you want to convey， or beautiful writing for that matter， you need to make sure that the storytelling is good enough to give it justice。 And to that end， this book is really helpful。As a final note， the book has some room for inprovement in terms of pure writing， but it's not too bad and the content and insights definitely make up for it。 。。。more
John
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Best book on writing that I have read。 A book that focuses on the reader and showing how to hook them and engage them to the very end。
The Bookmonger
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I’ve got stickies all over the place in this one。 Made fifty scene cards from the template in Story Genius while watching New Girl and thinking of all the ways I could bedazzle them like Jess would。 Loved the tools in this book and I can’t wait to start redrafting！
Peter A
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This excellent book provides concrete advice based on brain science。 As the subtitle suggests， neuroscientists have provided insights into the role of a novel （e。g。， help us experience situations without being in actual danger） and what keeps the reader engaged in the story （e。g。， laser focus on the details that support the story）。 The author translated the neuroscience insights into what writers must do to keep a reader engaged in the story。 By story， the author means “how what happens affects This excellent book provides concrete advice based on brain science。 As the subtitle suggests， neuroscientists have provided insights into the role of a novel （e。g。， help us experience situations without being in actual danger） and what keeps the reader engaged in the story （e。g。， laser focus on the details that support the story）。 The author translated the neuroscience insights into what writers must do to keep a reader engaged in the story。 By story， the author means “how what happens affects someone who is trying to achieve what turns out to be a difficult goal， and how he or she changes as a result。” （p11）。The relationship between neuroscience and the novel is interesting and exciting。 The actual strength， though， is how the author helps the aspiring author to learn about key concepts， which are illustrated with examples from many stories， the well told and the less well told。 While the author is engaging， and at time humorous in her approach， she also is firm about what needs to be done。 Examples include:•tInclude in the story only what is necessary。 A reader will want to guess the significance of a detail。 If that detail is not relevant， the reader will be distracted， and may give up。 So don’t add it。 For example， she talks about sensory detail。 If not relevant to the story， leave out。•tThe story must include not just all the challenges the protagonist faces， but WHY they are challenges， or why some solutions won’t work for the protagonist。 In particular， she explains the adage “show don’t tell” by “don’t tell me John is Sad， show my Why he’s sad。” （p152） [don’t show me his is crying。]•tCause and effect dynamic is very important to establish， within each scene， to move us to the next scene。 •tBe tough on your protagonist。 Keep adding challenges to force her to address the key underlying， internal challenge in her life。Each of the chapters begins with a cognitive secret with a corresponding story secret， e。g。， Cognitive Secret: We think in story， which allows us to envision the future。 Story Secret: From the very first sentence， the reader must want to know what happens next。 （p6） Also， each chapter begins with a quote from an author， and ends with a checklist for the author to consider， summarizing the key points of the chapter。 In each chapter are usually Myth / Reality statements to clarify points， such as one about show don’t tell， or one about sensory details: the myth is to add them， the reality is add only if they contribute to the story。 This is an extremely valuable book for authors， and likely interesting to the general reader。 It can help an author at the beginning， or middle， or towards the end of writing。This is one of the three best books I have read about writing and editing/revision。 The other two are Save the Cat Writes the Novel， by Jessica Brody， and the fabulous book on editing， Intuitive Editing: A creative and Practical Guide to Revising Your Writing， by Tiffany Yates Martin。FB。 An excellent book on writing stories， informed by research in neuroscience of how human brains have evolved。 A valuable asset for writers， with practical insights， observations， examples， and summaries of key points。 One of the three best books on writing or editing I’ve read。 。。。more
Taryn Moreau
，
Another real keeper in the world of writing craft instruction。 Wired for Story's secret sauce is revealing the "why" behind good storytelling by looking into the evolutionary advantage of stories， how that translates into a page-turning compelling work， and how the brain processes what it's taking in。I've personally always struggled with conveying emotion， so I found the section on how to "manipulate" readers especially helpful。Definitely a book I'll be returning to many times for reference。 Another real keeper in the world of writing craft instruction。 Wired for Story's secret sauce is revealing the "why" behind good storytelling by looking into the evolutionary advantage of stories， how that translates into a page-turning compelling work， and how the brain processes what it's taking in。I've personally always struggled with conveying emotion， so I found the section on how to "manipulate" readers especially helpful。Definitely a book I'll be returning to many times for reference。 。。。more
N。E。 Johnson
，
I read Cron's second book， Story Genius， first， I went back to read this hoping it would cover more of the neuro science of story telling。 Instead what I found felt more like the loose notes that would later be used to write Story Genius。 Which makes this hard to rate。 On the one hand much of it was redundant and less well organized that the second book， on the other hand there were several bits that were increadibly valuable that did not make the cut into the second book that kinda made reading I read Cron's second book， Story Genius， first， I went back to read this hoping it would cover more of the neuro science of story telling。 Instead what I found felt more like the loose notes that would later be used to write Story Genius。 Which makes this hard to rate。 On the one hand much of it was redundant and less well organized that the second book， on the other hand there were several bits that were increadibly valuable that did not make the cut into the second book that kinda made reading this worth it。 。。。more
Tara Cignarella
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This is one of the better writing books。 Some parts were slightly dull and repetitive， but it’s truly got great insight。Recommended For: Writers of all levels。
Dale S Westervelt
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Excellent guide about how understanding story structure is more important than plot structure when writing a novel。
Kori
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The most engaging book about writing I've read。 This author truly understands story。 The most engaging book about writing I've read。 This author truly understands story。 。。。more
Jung
，
If you’ve enjoyed the reading brain， you might just be wondering about the other side of the coin – writing。 After all， we all know that some stories suck us in from the get-go while others leave us feeling bored and disengaged。 Does that mean there’s a science to creating content just as there is to consuming it？ In a word， yes。 So if you’re ready to take your writing to the next level and start creating compelling copy that’ll draw in your readership， why not check out Wired for Story， by Lisa If you’ve enjoyed the reading brain， you might just be wondering about the other side of the coin – writing。 After all， we all know that some stories suck us in from the get-go while others leave us feeling bored and disengaged。 Does that mean there’s a science to creating content just as there is to consuming it？ In a word， yes。 So if you’re ready to take your writing to the next level and start creating compelling copy that’ll draw in your readership， why not check out Wired for Story， by Lisa Cron。 。。。more
Bates Whitaker
，
This is the best book on writing that I have ever read。 Not only does it give practical steps towards improving writing technique， it also provides insight into WHY the implementation of those steps are so important when you are presenting stories to others - the things that really hook a reader on a psychological level。 I’d recommend this book to anyone interested in writing stories of any kind… or anyone who wants to further understand the human brain and how to create stories that influence i This is the best book on writing that I have ever read。 Not only does it give practical steps towards improving writing technique， it also provides insight into WHY the implementation of those steps are so important when you are presenting stories to others - the things that really hook a reader on a psychological level。 I’d recommend this book to anyone interested in writing stories of any kind… or anyone who wants to further understand the human brain and how to create stories that influence it （and avoid the ones that don’t）。 。。。more
Hillary Cox-Vanoy
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I’m a middle school writing teacher， but I read this book for myself。 I loved it！ I also found that I brought up a lot of concepts to my 6th-8th graders in class。 Highly recommend。 Very interesting。
Lance McNeill
，
loads of practical guidance I’ve read many books in this category and this is one of the more helpful， practical writing guides。 I recommend to anyone writing a book。
Michael Herschman
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Contained some of what I need。 Reinforced psychology with a lot of material。
Jessica
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This was originally a book assigned for a college writing class that I revisited recently， and I can see why it was assigned。 Lisa Cron weaves together writing advice with information on why the brain reacts to good stories the way it does。 The book may be a bit basic to some。 Also， Cron admits that she prioritizes story structure over language， which might be part of the reason that it took longer to read this than a 238 page normally would be for me。In fact， I think I got more out of this by l This was originally a book assigned for a college writing class that I revisited recently， and I can see why it was assigned。 Lisa Cron weaves together writing advice with information on why the brain reacts to good stories the way it does。 The book may be a bit basic to some。 Also， Cron admits that she prioritizes story structure over language， which might be part of the reason that it took longer to read this than a 238 page normally would be for me。In fact， I think I got more out of this by learning about what my brain does when I'm reading/watching a story。 Now I can put into words why some scenes don't feel right in weaker works。 。。。more
Chris
，
This could be a nice blog article reminding you of things you already know。 Instead， it's a book full of knowledge usually taught to elementary school students。 Even worse are the pseudoscientific descriptions of neuroscience findings。 It seems that they are intended to hide the fact that the book contains only simple general knowledge。 This could be a nice blog article reminding you of things you already know。 Instead， it's a book full of knowledge usually taught to elementary school students。 Even worse are the pseudoscientific descriptions of neuroscience findings。 It seems that they are intended to hide the fact that the book contains only simple general knowledge。 。。。more
Anna Bushi
，
Stories have been with us since we lived in caves。 We crave them and know instinctively as a reader what makes a good story。 But this skill does not translate so easily when we are writing。 I realized this when I wrote the first draft of Heir to Malla。 I knew the story， characters， and plot very well。 I could imagine each scene vividly。 But when I wrote it down， I left key parts out。 My mind filled the blanks。 Unfortunately， since my readers cannot read my mind， they were left in the dark。 Thank Stories have been with us since we lived in caves。 We crave them and know instinctively as a reader what makes a good story。 But this skill does not translate so easily when we are writing。 I realized this when I wrote the first draft of Heir to Malla。 I knew the story， characters， and plot very well。 I could imagine each scene vividly。 But when I wrote it down， I left key parts out。 My mind filled the blanks。 Unfortunately， since my readers cannot read my mind， they were left in the dark。 Thankfully， with the help of my editor， I fixed this in subsequent drafts。 This book spells it all out for us authors—how to craft a story that resonates with our readers—along with common pitfalls to avoid—plus an insight into the human brain。I recommend this book to all my fellow authors who want to better their craft。 。。。more
Jo-Anne Barker
，