Book SummaryWired for Story, by Lisa Cron

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of Wired for Story

In Wired for Story, Lisa Cron argues that our brains evolved to absorb information through stories, and so writers who want to create compelling narratives should write in a way that satisfies our brains' expectations of story. Stories developed hundreds of thousands of years ago as a way to keep us safe from potential dangers without us actually experiencing them, and thus we’ve evolved to crave them. Today we continue to use stories to experience simulated realities to learn about life. Cron’s advice is directed mainly at literary novel writing, but her principles can be applied to any type of storytelling.

Cron is an...

Wired for Story Summary How Stories Appeal to Our Brains

From a neurological perspective, storytelling developed to help us remember important information and use that information to make predictions. Cron says this allowed us to survive difficult challenges by preparing for them without having to experience the dangerous situations firsthand. For example, an ancient hunter-gatherer who had a close call with a bear might regale their community with that harrowing tale, giving them important survival knowledge, like where they might expect to encounter bears and tips for how to get away unscathed (don’t run from it, and don’t try hiding in a tree either!).

Ancient Storytelling

Some experts argue that the majority of stories that ancient people told while gathered around the fire were not necessarily adventure stories, but were instead family stories that helped to establish and pass down a familial and cultural identity. They suggest that these stories were particularly impactful for children, noting that children of families that tell more intricate stories [tend to have better...

Wired for Story Summary How to Build Your Protagonist

According to Cron, the protagonist is what helps you as a writer determine what information is important and what isn’t. The protagonist is who the story is about, and it’s the character your reader will need to relate to in order to feel engaged in the story and understand the importance of everything that happens.

The Importance of Emotion

The way the reader relates to the protagonist and understands the importance of the story’s events is through emotion. Therefore we must convey information about the protagonist through their emotional state. Indeed, the importance of every detail in your story is determined by its emotional impact on the protagonist.

(Shortform note: By analyzing around 1,300 mostly fictional stories, researchers have concluded that six basic emotional arcs recur in literature. These are: rags to riches, riches to rags, man in a hole, Icarus, Cinderella, and Oedipus arcs. While a story may depict many characters, all of whom experience their own emotional journey, the story’s emotional arc is characterized by [the protagonist’s emotional...

Wired for Story Summary How to Build Your Plot

We’ve discussed the first element of story, the protagonist. Now, we’ll discuss the next element: plot, or the story events themselves. Plot consists of the many conflicts that create obstacles to your protagonist achieving their goal. To subject your protagonist to these seemingly impossible obstacles, you have to establish and escalate conflict in your story.

Conflict

As mentioned above, stories are about change, and conflict is what drives change. According to Cron, our brains are programmed to resist conflict. We evolved to cooperate for survival, so conflict with others poses a risk to our survival—and in fact, according to an MRI study, conflict causes the brain areas associated with physical pain to light up.

Our brains also resist change, whether it’s a good or bad change. We evolved to seek to maintain a state of secure equilibrium to ensure our well-being—if we’ve found a routine that keeps us safe, making a change to that routine creates a potential risk to our safety, which makes us fearful.

(Shortform note: Conflict and change don’t just cause us pain: Because we perceive them as a threat, they actually [activate the body’s stress...

Shortform Exercise: Identify Your Protagonist’s Internal Goal

Cron explains that everything your character does is driven by their internal goal. Identify this goal and use it to start a powerful story.

First, decide what external goals your protagonist wants to achieve or accomplish.