A few months back, I was part of a discussion on Facebook about books that are specific to developmental editing. Being a developmental editor, I watched the thread like a hawk. I wanted to know what books are out there and what was high on the recommended lists. Many of the books discussed I already had, but there was one that came highly recommended by several on the thread.

The book in question: The Story Grid by Shawn Coyne.

So, I ordered a copy of the book myself. It took approximately 6 weeks to arrive (shipping to New Zealand is always a long, drawn out wait), and when it got here, I sat down and started reading. And instantly regretted buying the paper version of the book.

Don't get me wrong: the technique presented in the book is gold. The book itself…

The editor NEEDED an editor. It takes forever to get to the crux of the methodology, and when you finally get to the end, there is no discussion on what to do with the full Story Grid, or how to even generate those pretty graphs that Coyne often talks about. At one point, the book became a political statement against Trump, which actually left a sour taste in my mouth. I'm sorry, folks, but a book about editing books is NOT the place to discuss your political views, whatever they are.

Political discussions aside, what really got to me was the word count taken to discuss certain concepts. Waffle! He spent forever circling the drain.

Let's just say that I WILL NOT be adding this book to my list of recommended books for writers. BUT… As a developmental editor myself, I could see the beauty in the method he presented. He tracks the upbeats and the downbeats, and marks the points of transitions within his detailed spreadsheets—spreadsheets that take days if not weeks to compile. Pretty graphs seem to magically come out of it (the magic of which was not explained, unless that was something that I missed entirely, which wouldn't surprise me). But the idea of understanding the rise and fall of tension is something that is incredibly important. It's for this reason alone that I think many writers keep pointing other writers to this book.

However, much of the details in the book could be compressed into a more concise format and rewritten so it's understandable by all writers.

So, that's what I'm going to do. It's a tall ask for a single post, and I'll likely fail, but if I don't try, then the knowledge that I've gleaned from this book will likely be lost in the filing cabinet that is my brain.

Before I get too carried away, I should point out that The Story Grid methodology only works for fiction and creative nonfiction. If you are talking about academic writing or other nonfiction, The Story Grid will have limited success in helping you craft a better manuscript.

I should also point out that at times, Shawn Coyne uses terminology in odd ways. In some cases, I honestly feel that he's used the wrong term. In an attempt to not confuse writers in the early stages of their careers, I will be using the terms that are standard within the industry for a given concept. When necessary, I will highlight the term Coyne uses, so readers don't get confused if they read his book or listen to his podcast (or get the tools from his website).

The five-leaf clover: Categorizing your manuscript

The Story Grid method actually has two different components to it.

The first aspect is examining how you might categorize your story. Coyne calls it looking at a story's genres, but it's not your traditional genres of Romance, Fantasy, Thrillers, or Horrors. Sure, these are part of it, but you're also examining the length of the piece, the narrative style used to tell your story, the structure applied to the events, in addition to the expectations associated with your chosen external and internal conflicts.

Coyne is fond of talking about the different ways to categorize a story by using a five-leaf clover, each leaf (or genre as Coyne keeps calling them) adding to a reader's expectations. It's not until you have the full clover that you can fully understand and appreciate what is needed within your story.

I would not call these genres myself (in an attempt to avoid confusion), so we're going to adopt the term leaf when discussing the clover concept.

In the broadest sense, the five leaves are:

• story length,
• scope of reality within the story (ranging from the factual through to the absurd),
• the narrative style used to deliver the story (looking at the nature of the medium used, as well as the way in which the story is told),
• story structure,
• and content themes (a modification of the traditional understanding of genre, but dividing content into external and internal story arcs).

From understanding all five leaves, you can identify the important story components and what is expected from your writing. There will be obligatory scenes and story elements necessary based on your content themes and traditional genres, but the way in which a story progresses from plot point to plot point will be determined by your narrative style, the length of your story and the structure concept that you have chosen to follow. Understanding your story's five-leaf clover can even provide insight into how you might market your work as well.

The plotters out there will love working with the five-leaf clover, breaking down what is needed for their stories before they write. The pantsers out there will likely use this as a rough guide as the story takes shape.

A significant portion of the book The Story Grid is dedicated to the five-leaf clover, explaining the nitty-gritty detail of each of the leaves. I won't be doing that in this post. To do the topic justice, I would need another five posts, one for each of the leaves, but seeing as how I'm NOT recommending the book, I don't really see the point. Perhaps one day in the future, I might change my mind.

Scene breakdown: The rise and fall of tension

The bulk of The Story Grid method (not the book) centers around the scene breakdown, understanding the flow-on effects from scene to scene and how each scene adds (or subtracts) from the tension. Things examined include point of view, characters present within a scene or those only mentioned, themes within a chapter and how the tone shifts, as well as pacing. From the analysis, Coyne generates graphs and charts, all designed to help you understand the rise and fall of tension within your story. (Exactly how he generates the graphs is a magic that he didn't explain.)

As the developmental editor, I can tell you that an understanding of the rise and fall of tension is important. There should be an overall upward increase in tension, but it shouldn't be a straight line (as indicated in by the dotted line in the figure below). There should be little dips every so often, lulls in the action to give the reader a bit of a breather before the next high-action sequence. But if that tension starts to sag before you get to the climax in the final act, then you have a problem.

The Traditional 3-Act Structure (Copyright © 2019 Judy L Mohr)

Shawn Coyne presents two different techniques in his book.

You have the simplified (but just as complicated) Foolscap method, which looks at the different components associated with the beginning hook, the middle build, and the ending payoff. Each section (often seen as Acts, if you're following the traditional 3-Act structure) is broken down into the inciting incident, the complication, the crisis, the climax, and the resolution. Each point is assessed as to how it influences the external and internal struggle of the characters, and off you go.

Yeah… It might be simplified, but even that 3-sentence explanation gives you a feel for how complicated the idea is.

The more detailed Story Grid examines everything from point of view and the characters actually in a scene, through to what little moment within the scene causes the shift within the characters' world. It becomes mathematical and spreadsheet intensive.

The Foolscap method can be taken advantage of during the plotting/planning phase of a manuscript, if you are a plotter, but to take full advantage of the full Story Grid method, you NEED a completed manuscript. Some of the details that you track can't be recorded until you have that completed draft.

Don't get me wrong, I'm positive that the full methodology is brilliant in how it works, but most writers (and editors) don't have weeks up their sleeves to just put together a spreadsheet that makes little sense without pretty graphs. Most writers are not that way inclined. It's not that we're not capable of it (because I know I am). It's just that we can't be bothered. We have better things to do with our precious time.

That said, understanding how the rise and fall of tension in your story plays a role in the overall pacing for your story is something that is incredibly powerful and IS a topic that I intend to revisit at some point in the future, simply because this is the heart of what developmental editing is all about.

Other resources for writers

While The Story Grid by Shawn Coyne will not be making my recommended list for writers, there are many other books that do.

There are so many books out there all talking about different things. Some are good and some are... not so good. I maintain on this site a list of books that I would highly recommend to any writer. The list is comprised of those books and reference materials that I have personally found useful over the years.

The list is far from exhaustive. There are many books out there that other writers and editors highly recommend too. Some of those books haven't yet made the list, simply because I haven't had the time to read them. However, there are some books that I have read and honestly believe aren't good books for writers of all levels.

If your favorite writing book is missing from the list, drop me a line and I'll check it out when time allows.