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  • The Secrets of Story

  • Innovative Tools for Perfecting Your Fiction and Captivating Readers
  • By: Matt Bird
  • Narrated by: Eric Michael Summerer
  • Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (24 ratings)
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The Secrets of Story cover art

The Secrets of Story

By: Matt Bird
Narrated by: Eric Michael Summerer
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Summary

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 Books

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

all good... except...

great book but with one gripe. The constant repetition of a statement followed by 'Au contrare' becomes extremely annoying.
That said, the book is filled with great advice and helpful examples as well as online further reading so great value for money and better than most of the other 'here's my re-hashed take on structure' books out there.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

One of the best

This is true gold. All sections are useful, tips are right to the point, examples are clear. Exactly what a future writer needs.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great advice well delivered

Great book with excellent practical advice and questions to ask about your own writing.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Beyond valuable.

Simply superb. If you are put off by the repetition of ‘au contraire’, this book is wasted on you. The most valuable advice on
writing I’ve ever read, and I’ve read a lot.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

I found the tone deeply disappointing, sanctimonious, supercilious. I don’t think I can take one more au contraire statement. Not helpful and very difficult to listen to. I would not recommend this book to anyone. I tried but gave up around chapter 20.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

This is a MUST listen for all prospective writers

Have you ever watched a movie or read a book that didn't quite connect with you, but you weren't exactly sure why? Are you writing a story that just isn't coming together but you don't know how to fix it? Well this book is for you!

I have no idea why this book doesn't have more reviews. It's an absolute gamechanger for me. I've read many different books on writing and this has contained by far the most useful advice. It won't tell you the craft of writing, how to put one word after the other, but it will teach you story structure. It essentially acts as a checklist of 122 items that your story may (or may not) need and is the perfect troubleshooting tool for would-be writers. But it's more than a list; it's a comprehensive manual for constructing an effective story.

But even though this book is about telling great stories it doesn't use the old favourites as a crutch. There's very little talk of 3 act structures or the hero's journey, instead coming up with fresh takes on those ideas and explaining them in ways that simply make you go, "Oh yeah, that makes perfect sense!" In the end, as a confused writer, that's exactly what I needed.

The author is a screenwriter so most of his references are from film. For me, this made the examples even more accessible and he draws from a wide range of classic, genre and pop-culture favourites. The narration is also fantastic and really brings the book alive, giving real character to the text which is already written in a lively and accessible style. Download this today, you won't be disappointed.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Best book on writing I’ve ever found

Don’t let the lacklustre voicing put you off. This is the most valuable available guide to refining your story telling. Dynamite!

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