The Secrets of Story
Innovative Tools for Perfecting Your Fiction and Captivating Readers
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Narrated by:
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Eric Michael Summerer
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By:
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Matt Bird
About this listen
The Secrets of Story is a revolutionary and comprehensive writing guide for the 21st century, focused on clever ways to get an audience to fully identify with an all-too-human hero. Authors will learn to how to cut through pop culture noise and win over a jaded modern audience by rediscovering the heart of writing: shaping stories that ring true to our shared understanding of human nature. Providing conversational advice that spans multiple disciplines - from fiction to film to creative nonfiction - Matt Bird's insightful techniques allow characters to come alive and stories to reach a new level of appeal.
©2016 Matt Bird (P)2016 HighBridge, a division of Recorded BooksListeners also enjoyed...
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Featured Article: The 10 Best Audiobooks on Writing
National Novel Writing Month—or NaNoWriMo—is the one time every year you can be totally obsessed with your novel, live knee-deep inside your own stories, and no one can say anything about it! It is, in short, a creative writer's dream (or nightmare, depending on how well you write under pressure). From fantastical epics to realistic shorts to flash-fiction, we each have our own wonderful story to tell. This carefully selected list of the best audiobooks on writing will help you access your inner writer and get your story on the page.
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For almost a century, Americans have been losing their hearts and losing their minds in an insatiable love affair with the American musical. It often begins in actors and reaches its passionate zenith when it comes time for love, marriage, and children, who will start the cycle all over again. Americans love musicals. Americans invented musicals. Americans perfected musicals. But what, exactly, is a musical?
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Great review lacked music
- By joseph f mcgovern on 10-14-18
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Big Magic
- Creative Living Beyond Fear
- By: Elizabeth Gilbert
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Gilbert
- Length: 5 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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People of all ages and walks of life have drawn inspiration and empowerment from Elizabeth Gilbert’s books for years. Now this beloved author digs deep into her own generative process to share her wisdom and unique perspective about creativity. With profound empathy and radiant generosity, she offers potent insights into the mysterious nature of inspiration. She asks us to embrace our curiosity and let go of needless suffering. She shows us how to tackle what we most love, and how to face down what we most fear.
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Biggest Inspiration In a Long Time
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Finding Your Own North Star
- Claiming the Life You Were Meant to Live
- By: Martha Beck
- Narrated by: Karen White
- Length: 14 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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As the creator of Life Designs, Inc., Martha Beck has helped hundreds of clients find their own North Stars and figure out how to fulfill their potential and create joyful lives through her lectures, seminars, and one-on-one counseling. In this book she shares her step-by-step program that will guide you to fulfill your own potential.
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Narration not for me
- By MARYANN ORDONEZ on 10-02-17
By: Martha Beck
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The Art of Fiction
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- Length: 6 hrs and 50 mins
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Ayn Rand discusses how a writer combines abstract ideas with concrete action and description to achieve a unity of theme, plot, characterization, and style, the four essential elements of fiction. Here, too, are Rand's illuminating analyses of passages from famous writers, rewrites of scenes from her own works, and fascinating rules for building dramatic plots and characters with depth.
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Get Stein on Writing
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By: Ayn Rand
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The Simpsons
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John Ortved's oral history is the first-ever look behind the scenes at the creation and day-to-day running of the television phenomenon known as The Simpsons, as told by many of the people who produce it.
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Great Content, Awful Reading
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By: John Ortved
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Age of Cage
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Nicolas Cage is many things, but love him, or laugh at him, there's no denying two things: You've seen one of his many films, and you certainly know his name. But who is he, really, and why has his career endured for over 40 years, with more than a hundred films, and birthed a million memes? Age of Cage is a smart, beguiling book about the films of Nicolas Cage and the actor himself, as well as a sharp-eyed examination of the changes that have taken place in Hollywood over the course of his career.
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Excellent filmography of a successful career
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Doctor Who
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Premiering the day after the JFK assassination, Doctor Who humbly launched one of the entertainment world's first super-brands. We begin with a look at TV programming of the day and the original pitch documents before delving into the Daleks, which almost didn't make the cut but inspired many monsters to follow. After three years, First Doctor William Hartnell left, prompting the BBC to recast their hit rather than end it, giving us the first "regeneration" and making TV history.
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Not a Good Reference, a Good Springboard
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By: Alan Kistler
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Significant Zero
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- Unabridged
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When his satirical musings in a college newspaper got him discharged from the Air Force, it became clear to Walt Williams that his destiny in life was to be a writer - he just never thought he'd end up writing video games, let alone working on some of the most successful franchises in the industry - Bioshock, Civilization, Borderlands, and Mafia, among others. Williams pulls back the curtain on an astonishingly profitable industry that has put its stamp on pop culture and yet is little known to those outside its walls.
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it's a bad autobiography not what the title says
- By Chelsea on 11-22-17
By: Walt Williams
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Pictures at a Revolution
- Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood
- By: Mark Harris
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
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Here is the epic human drama behind the making of the five movies nominated for Best Picture in 1967 - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, The Graduate, In the Heat of the Night, Doctor Dolittle, and Bonnie and Clyde - and through them, the larger story of the cultural revolution that transformed Hollywood and America forever.
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Would It Be Too Much To Ask?
- By Casey Keller on 12-31-08
By: Mark Harris
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Accidental Genius
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- By: Mark Levy
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
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When it comes to creating ideas, we hold ourselves back. Thats because inside each of us is an internal editor whose job is to forever polish our thoughts, so we sound smart and in control, and so that we fit into society. But what happens when we encounter problems for which such conventional thinking fails us? How do we get unstuck? For Mark Levy, the answer is freewriting....
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Great Ideas
- By Amazon Customer on 12-31-10
By: Mark Levy
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The Stephen King Companion
- Four Decades of Fear from the Master of Horror
- By: George Beahm
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The Stephen King Companion is an authoritative look at horror author King's personal life and professional career, from Carrie to The Bazaar of Bad Dreams. King expert George Beahm, who has published extensively about Maine's main author, is your seasoned guide to the imaginative world of Stephen King, covering his varied and prodigious output: juvenalia, short fiction, limited edition books, best-selling novels, and film adaptations.
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A Kingopedia: Books, Movies, Bio and Art
- By tru britty on 02-28-16
By: George Beahm
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What listeners say about The Secrets of Story
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Daniel
- 07-26-17
I Have Become A Fortune Teller
What did you like best about this story?
I've become a fortune teller after reading this book. I was watching a movie the other day I'd never seen and could predict many of the clique plot points, twists and turns thanks to this book. Amazing book on the process of writing a good story. Didn't realize how formulaic writing is especially for movies and TV shows. Really explains why there are so many bad movies and TV shows out there. Think Transformers or almost every comic book movie.
Any additional comments?
Author gives reader a formula on how to write good work. Got me thinking may be there should be, quote, bad writing and we should be able to create, quote, bad TV shows, books, and movies. I was kind of off put on how structured the creative process is and that's seen as a good thing. I'm not so sure.
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2 people found this helpful
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Story
- Mike L Lane
- 07-07-17
Fantastic Reference Tool for Characters & Plot Dev
Matt Bird’s The Secrets of Story is the perfect book for any writer looking to tell a story whether they write novels, plays, screenplays, etc. I love to write and I’m always looking to improve my skills. Up until now, the only go-to book I ever used when it came to the craft was Stephen King’s On Writing. Matt Bird’s The Secrets of Story is just as good, dealing more with what makes for a good story more than anything. If you’re looking for tips on grammar and punctuation, this is not the book. But if you want to know what really appeals to audiences and what makes a good story tick, Bird dissects the formula for compelling stories and helps you to craft characters your audience will cling to. There are so many good pointers within this book, I couldn’t begin to nail them all for you in this review, but I will say this is a must have tool that I will refer to on a regular basis. Bird also provides worksheets and checklists on his website to help you better absorb what he is explaining and so you can see how your own fiction will hold up under scrutiny. This was another one of those books where I was iffy on the author also being the narrator, but in this case Bird does a superb job. He has a captivating voice and his stories are personable. There couldn’t be a better narrator for this book.
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Overall
- joey toledo
- 09-29-17
Great read!
Loved this book! I highly recommend to any writers or creators looking to learn the best way to craft a story, really insightful with many useful tools for story crafting.
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- Patrick N
- 01-31-23
Fantastic writer’s resource
If I had to choose one “on writing” book to give to a fellow aspiring writer, this might be it.
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- EC Moran
- 01-20-23
My new favorite primer on modern storytelling
Author, Matt Bird , delivers in spades both in teaching and in reminding us how to produce stories that sing on key (useful techniques) with heart (emotional resonance) and melody (memorable voice). I love his real-world examples which include his own personal testimonial on the significance of stories. I will be sure to tell everyone I know about this fabulous book as I plug away at my latest project, a middle grade graphic novel. Thank you to Matt Bird for sharing his story secrets.
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- Jaye Murray
- 09-09-24
Succinct
Succinct. The outlined points encouraged me to explore aspect of the novel I am writing from new perspectives. Inspiring.
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- rita v.
- 02-15-17
Best Book on Fiction I've Read So Far
Sorry, this book is so complete and simple at the same time so thorough I would have to write all morning. You will be happy to have discovered it.
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17 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 06-05-17
Worth every penny!
Where does The Secrets of Story rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
I've purchased many books on writing but this one by far provided the most clarity to what makes a best seller and/or what subtleties make a story more believable. Thank you Matt Bird!
What did you like best about this story?
I wish I could absorb this book into my cells so I can carry this information into each sentence and chapter! I've listened several times and learn or realize something new each time. This by far is the most descriptive or most inspired book on writing I've found thus far.
What does Eric Michael Summerer bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
He has a great voice and really seemed to "get" the topics or points expressed as if he was a writer himself.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
It made me gasp at the clear logic of the topic of writing a story so that everyone will want to read what you write.
Any additional comments?
I want more books by Matt Bird!
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- Tyler
- 01-18-19
The Best in Show
Having read many, many books on the art of story, this one is hands down my favorite. It opened my eyes to all new ways of thinking about this seemingly-easy, yet dastardly-elusive task of story crafting.
I can’t recommend it highly enough.
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- Benjamin
- 07-13-17
This is a fiction writer's gospel.
I got this on a whim, but damn, was it a good buy!
I'm going to be referencing this book for ages.
Every chapter is packed with nuggets of truth, vividly describing the craft of storytelling.
You need this book! Get this book!
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