Story Genius by Lisa Cron guides you through developing a character-driven story with scene cards focused on your protagonist’s internal conflict.

It takes everything we’ve learned about writing, reminds us what doesn’t work and emphasizes that readers stick around for your characters and their internal transformation. 

So, rather than throwing suspense-building events at the page to see how your characters fare, Cron has us start with our character.

Jumping into scene cards without first delving into your protagonist’s internal dilemma will lead us back to developing a stagnant plot-driven story.

This post is part one of a series that breaks down the Story Genius process.

I’ll guide you through discovering your protagonist’s internal and external journey, show you how to utilize that info for scene card writing and wrap it up with Lisa Cron’s best advice.

What’s Today’s Goal?

We’ll focus on crafting a crystal clear character with specific goals and misbeliefs that will influence the trajectory of your story.

If you want to follow along, download the free workbook at the bottom of this post. It provides the tasks and reflection questions in one place.

Gather all this information now so that next week, you’re prepared to start mapping out your story.

Here we go!

Here’s a quote that sums up Lisa Cron’s narrative strategy: “A story is actually about how your protagonist’s internal dilemma changes her worldview.”

The story is not the plot.

An action-driven plot is just a series of things that happen. Those events are strung together through the eyes of a character who’s been dumped into a conflict and is pulled along with little autonomy.

A character-driven story is about the MC’s internal change: how what happens affects and challenges their goals and misbeliefs, ultimately leading to their change or revelation. 

When you understand your character’s mindset – how and why they are who they are –  their internal arc is driven with purpose.

Every challenge feeds off their internal dilemma, forcing them to question, struggle and ultimately change.

This is why Lisa Cron’s book doesn’t start with scene cards.

The first section is dedicated to understanding your protagonist – the one who drives your story.

And that’s where we’ll start, too.

Many writers start with a “what if?” for their story.

What if dragons lived among us?

What if we could manipulate the past and the present?

Yet, Cron states that a “what if” without a point is incomplete.

The theme, or “so what?” will be the lens through which your protagonist views their world.

Whether or not they learn this point through their evolution and struggles will depend on what you want readers to go away thinking about.

The point of your story helps you to write with focus.

To figure out your story’s theme, ask yourself:

1. What do you want your readers to walk away thinking about?
2. What does your story say about human nature?

Use these questions to summarize the specific point of your story.

Your character’s story doesn’t start on page one. 

They have a past where you’ll find the reasons for their misbeliefs, the challenges they face and their goal.

You may already know how you want your story to begin, yet does that external problem connect to your character’s internal conflict?

To find out, discover who your MC was the day before your story starts.

Ask yourself:

1. Where are they specifically in life? How did they get there? (demonstrate how their misbelief holds them back from achieving their goal)
2. What do they want? (“I want to be happy” isn’t specific enough. What do they believe will bring them happiness and why?)

Write 1-2 paragraphs on where we find your character the day before your story starts.

From the first page, your protagonist must have a specific desire and a logical reason for wanting it.

They must also come to the story with a strong misbelief that prevents them from achieving their goal.

Your story will be about how your character overcomes their misbelief (or doesn’t). 

Caution though! It’s not about overcoming external challenges, although that will play a part in your story. 

To overcome their misbelief, your MC must realize it’s no longer true or helpful. And that will be a mighty struggle!

Ask yourself:

1. What is your protagonist’s desire? Why do they want it?
2. What misbelief is holding them back from achieving it?
3. Why does their misbelief feel true to them? Did it ever help them in the past?

Write a paragraph that describes your protagonist’s goal and misbelief. Be specific!

Superheroes all have their origin story, and so does your protagonist. 

Your main character’s origin story will begin with a defining moment in their past that shaped their current misbelief.

Knowing their origin story before writing your narrative ensures that every scene and struggle is shaped through the lens of their experience.

It’s not enough to write about a horrible external event that caused trauma in your protagonist’s past.

Their misbelief is shaped by their internal reaction to and the meaning that they place upon this experience.

Ask yourself:

1. What moment in my protagonist’s past shaped their misbelief? (set the place, time and context)
2. What is your protagonist’s goal at the start of your scene? 
3. What do they begin the scene believing, and why?
4. What do they expect will happen? (Chances are, their expectations will be crushed.)
5. What are they thinking? What is their internal reaction to what’s happening?
6. How does their viewpoint change throughout the scene? What did their belief change from?

Write your protagonist’s origin scene in first person.

Don’t forget that we’re interested in the emotional and psychological impact this experience has on your protagonist, not simply the external events surrounding them.

Your protagonist’s misbelief will lead them astray, foiling their plan to achieve their goal. And it doesn’t just occur in your novel.

The first few times their misbelief influences their decisions, your MC doesn’t realize how these choices shape their life path.

By the time your story starts, their misbelief is ingrained in them because of these experiences.

To determine how their misbelief deepened, write 3 key backstory scenes that demonstrate their decisions based on their current “belief.”

Each scene will have escalating consequences leading them to the crux of your story.

Ask yourself:

1. What decision did they make based on their misbelief? What happened next?
2. How did their misbelief influence this major life decision?
3. Why did this experience cause their misbelief to deepen?

Write these scenes in first person and chronological order to envision your story’s escalating arc.

It’s time to determine the problem presented at the outset of your story.

This problem will anchor all other conflicts as your protagonist struggles to maintain their belief at every turn.

You might already know how you want your story to begin. But will it hold up against the scrutiny of Cron’s questions? 

Cron suggests writing a list of potential problems that might befall your protagonist. 

Within this list, you’ll discover the overarching conflict and additional problems that will influence their transformative journey.

To ensure that each problem connects to their internal struggle, ask yourself:

1. Will this problem force your protagonist to struggle with their misbelief?
2. Will it force your character to change or break their misbelief?
3. Does this problem have a specific consequence if your protagonist doesn’t take action?
4. Does your problem have a logical deadline (the ticking clock) that counts down to the impending consequence?
5. Can the problem escalate throughout the story? (Think: if my protagonist tries to solve the problem in one way, will the problem grow or change?)

The problem that you land on shouldn’t be too easily resolved. It must sustain your story from beginning to end and force your character to struggle with their misbelief.

Dropping your MC into the middle of a conflict without context will leave your readers thinking it’s not that urgent.

You’ll need to understand how your character got to this place.

What signs did they ignore up until this point that escalated the problem?

As Cron states, every protagonist has a “ticking clock,” a problem that’ll have dire consequences if they ignore it. 

By the time your character enters your story, that clock has been ticking for a while, unnoticeable at first.

Now, they’re aware of the immediacy of their situation and have no choice but to take action.

To determine the first 3-5 ticks that your protagonist ignored, ask yourself:

1. Will this event begin to unsettle your protagonist’s worldview?
2. How did they respond to this challenge and why? (did they ignore it, reframe it into “not a big deal,” run away from it, etc.)
3. How does each tick nudge your character towards change and the inciting incident?

Discover why this conflict was set into motion and gain some excellent backstory to use in the process.

We need to pause for a moment and congratulate ourselves. That was hard work.

You just detailed:

• The point of your story
• Your character’s snapshot
• Their goal and misbelief
• Their origin scene
• Their escalating backstory
• Your narrative’s core problem 
• The first few ticks of their clock

You’re ready to delve into the Story Genius scene cards.

Which will be the topic of next week’s blog post!

Keep those notes safe and add to them if something sparks you over the next week.

If you’re still working on these preliminary steps and are looking for a safe space for your ideas, I’ve compiled the tasks and reflection questions into a workbook just for you.

Download the free Story Discovery Workbook below.

Let’s get excited about our stories! Share “the point” of your story below. 

Download the free printable to guide you through this preparation phase with the reflection questions from above. 

You’ll be ready to jump into scene cards next Thursday when part two goes live on the blog!

Want to learn more about Lisa Cron’s story methods in the meantime? This blog post is about her first book, Wired for Story.

Talk soon!

Julia