Story Fix: Transform Your Novel from Broken to Brilliant

by Larry Brooks, Michael Hauge (Foreword)

Reinvigorate Your Fiction!You've written the first draft of your novel or screenplay, and you've released it into the to your critique group, to your most trusted beta readers, or even to an agent or an editor. But something's wrong. You're not getting the glowing response you had expected, or you might have even received a rejection. Your story is getting a "Meh..." when you had hoped for an "Amazing!"But have no fear--the piece you've sweated and bled over isn't dead on arrival. It just needs fixing.Story Fix is the answer to your revision needs. With practical techniques from critically acclaimed author and story coach Larry Brooks, you will learn how    • Develop a story-fixing mind-set   • Navigate the two essential realms of story and execution   • Evaluate your novel or screenplay against twelve crucial storytelling elements and essences.   • Strengthen your concept and premise.   • Punch up the dramatic tension, pacing, thematic weight, characterization, and more.   • Align your story with proven structural principles.Filled with candid advice on the realities of the publishing world and helpful case studies of real authors who fixed their own stories, Story Fix isn't just about revision--it's about resurrection. Infuse your fiction with a much-needed jolt of electricity, and bring it back to life."Larry Brooks is a superb storyteller and teacher. If anyone can fix your novel, it's him. Put this one on your desk and read it often." --Robert Dugoni, #1 Amazon and New York Times best-selling author of My Sister's Grave"Story Fix is the ultimate writer's companion for taking any manuscript to the next level. A staple for the beginner, a refresher for the pro." --Joe Moore, #1 Amazon and international best-selling co-author of The Blade and The Shield

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Crafts, Reference

242 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 7, 2015

Reviews

[Emma Sea · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars - less specific, and therefore less useful than Story Engineering: Character Development, Story Concept, Scene Construction.

[Sue Coletta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars for Story Fix! I absolutely loved this author's previous craft books. Actually, they are the reason I got published. Bold statement, I know, but it's true. So when I heard he had a new craft book out, I could hardly wait to read it. In this little book of heaven, Larry Brooks walks you through possible reasons why your story failed. And then, he helps you to revise it in order to make it publishable. The really cool thing about this book is that it's set up like a private workshop, where he asks you to evaluate your own work using a grading system. Later, he has you go back to your initial grades and re-evaluate, knowing he's given you the golden ticket on how to revise. Amazing! I've never read a craft book quite like this before. If you've received rejection letter after rejection letter, you owe to yourself to find out why. Don't you? This incredible craft book will show you where you went wrong IF you're honest with yourself. I'm so pumped up after reading this book I can't wait to dive back into the story I'm working on. Buy. This. Book. Make your dreams come true. Story Fix will show you how.
This book isn't only for the unpublished, by the way. The day we stop studying the craft is the day we should stop writing. One of the truly great things about this industry is that there's always more to learn. This book will enhance your skills.

[malrubius · Rating 2 out of 5]

JFC! Okay, your novel sucks either in the value of its story or in the execution of its story. This could have been a 40 page pamphlet were it not for the seemingly endless and gratuitous analogies.

[Allen Bagby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't read this book! It will create more competition for me. Please go to the beach and meditate and wait for your story to manifest from the voice from the collective consciousness of the cosmos.

Okay?

Kidding aside, when reading a Larry Brooks book I feel like I'm getting insider trading information as if I'm cheating on a test. For a moment, I don't wanna do a review. It's for selfish reasons so I relent...eventually. My review will promote his book and thus lead to other writers, perhaps in my genre, gaining insight and thus creating competition for me. My better angels eventually get the best of me.

Larry Brooks is a writing coach and author who changed EVERYTHING for me as a writer. I owe to him my success as a self-published author. Granted, I have a full-time job and would love to write full-time, but I need to write and publish more before that is a remote possibility. But due to following the teaching Brooks put forth in Story Engineering, my fantasy fiction book Blood & Soul spent almost 6 months in the bestsellers category on Amazon. Had I not discovered him God only knows if I'd have been able to finish writing Blood & Soul.

The best way to describe my awakening is that Larry's book gave me handles. Prior to his insights, I couldn't grasp clearly how to do what I was trying to do. Every time I read one of his books I'm closer to being the best storyteller I can be. And my success can be traced to him.

Story Fix is the fourth book I have read by Mr. Brooks. In my opinion, Story Fix is as revolutionary as Story Engineering to the uninitiated. Delving back into Concept and Premise at the start of this book was great. I really needed that and it helped greatly with the next draft in the series I am writing.

I can recite the milestones by rote that NEED to be in a story because of Brooks. I scribbled in the margins of my hardcopy of Story Engineering. I read Story Fix on kindle and highlight many passages.

I highly recommend this book. No I don't. If you are romance writer, read this book. You're not in my genre. ;-)

[Jon Ureña · Rating 5 out of 5]

Apart from more of Larry Brooks' trademark preaching to the choir (I bought your books on story architecture, dude, I know how important it is), it gave me 125 notes to add to my manual, so money well spent. He emphasizes like few others how vital it is to nail the concept and the premise instead of wasting hours upon hours giving CPR to a story that is weak on both. He is one of those writing teachers who follows a sort of four act structure, with the traditional second act split in two, yet uses pinch points, which for me are clearly the climaxes of both the second and third act of a five act structure. I think upgrading those pinch points to climaxes of an act fortifies their importance.

[Andrea]

I found this pretty thought-provoking, despite the author's insistence on 12 terms that were not always well defined, and sometimes too overlapping. He leans heavily toward two broad ideas/terms, and many of the other potential problems are traced back, in some way, to these broad ones, so it would have been nice if I had been able to wrap my head around them sooner. The problem is he has 6 terms he calls "elements" and 6 he calls "essences," and they're paired in such a way that the difference in a pair can be very subtle. Felt like it was building off another book by him, which he did, in fact, reference.

In any case, it was still interesting, if only for being able to consider his ideas about the initial broad concepts (concept versus premise).

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's some very useful stuff in here -- I imagine. I'm not actually writing a novel or concocting a full length story, but if / when I do I wouldn't mind rereading this and applying it. But, having not used it, I can only say that it sure sounds useful.

This book looked like it might deliver better on the promise of Story Engineering. To me, engineering is more about taking ways that something doesn't work and fixing them so it always does. Making it work sometimes when things go right is one thing, but true engineering is making it work even when things go wrong. Story Engineering was mostly about providing a target to aim for, which is the first kind. Still better than nothing, but not serious engineering to me. This one, with its focus on looking at what's broken and fixing it, is more like it.

So does it help you identify what's broken about your story and fix it? It definitely talks about what could be wrong and how to fix it. I'm not sure how easily someone could take the examples in this book and recognize the flaws in their own story to fix them. However, I do know a published author who likes Brooks' guidance and finds it useful, so I'll trust her judgment :)

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is incredibly useful resource for writers, though there's a large chunk of author intervention -- parts where you wish he'd just get on with it rather than the long preamble, but still massively useful once you get to the grist of things. Pick this up when you're stuck in your revisions or prepping to propose your story, it'll really bring our the clarity your novel/treatment/proposal needs.

[A. S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gah, YES! I can't say enough good things about this book! ESPECIALLY since it has rekindled my love for my story and for writing.

A MUST READ for anyone who wants to where to even begin with revising their own novel.

[Charissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book by Larry Brooks. This one delves into all the principles he’s taught about in other books and used these to ask the right questions to figure out if your story WIP is ready to write or send to an agent right then. If you can’t answer his questions with confidence and accuracy, then you’re story probably needs fixing. He goes through each principle again to refresh memory and help you see why each is essential to story. The best part about this book were the actual writer case studies he shares, where authors have answered the questions he gave them about their stories and he analyzes and tells them if they’re on point or if they have strayed far off course. These were very helpful to understanding how to make my own story better before writing it. I would suggest reading Story Engineering and Story Physics before reading this book though.

[Brooke · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think it's important to note that this book primarily focuses on novel writing, and popular fiction genres specifically. As a lover of literary fiction and someone who mainly writes shorter prose (NOT genre fiction) who only occasionally dabbles in novel writing and genre writing, my opinions differ a lot from what is being shared here.

I do think this book has a lot of solid tips for improving your story by returning to the basics, but my main issue was the way it was written. Funnily enough, this book is praised for being brutally honest, which I usually like, but I hated this. It wasn't just brutally honest, it was condescending and pretentious. Also, despite preaching about how you have to be specific and all that, this book was strangely repetitive and unspecific.
Specific quotes that demonstrate my contempt for this book:
"As a professional, it's no longer about you. It's about your readers. Knowing that flip in context can save your writing dream. It is that suffering, unpublished, unread writer who continues to cry out that writing is art, her art, and she writes what pleases her. Meanwhile, the successful writer finds his pleasure in writing stories that touch other lives and gain a spreading readership."
-> If you don't feel uncomfortable from this quote already, Look at the pronouns hello????
"It's like how the Europeans stole North America from the Indians..... nobody cares about that anymore. That's not to say that the Europeans stealing a continent from the Indians isn't a good story."
-> HELLO/???? IS THAT REALLY YOUR REACTION TO SETTLER COLONIALISM AND GENOCIDE. "Oh yeah it makes a good story also nobody cares"
"Be careful— it's really hard to root for a hero who's considering suicide."
-> As someone who has suffered from depression and attempted suicide more than once, this made me feel very uncomfortable. This portrayal of suicide as lazy, the "easy" way out, avoidance (I mean it is but that doesn't mean you should victim-blame. There are reasons why we turn to avoidance)

So.... yeah..

This book puts an uncomfortable amount of focus on GETTING PUBLISHED AND BEING MARKETABLE WOO! A very capitalistic approach to writing indeed! While the concepts mentioned here, again, are solid, I just hate the way Brooks stresses the importance of using all of these concepts in a story. Ultimately, it's so the story sells better. While I agree that not every story written is a good one, I still think that we need to put more emphasis on writing *because we like it* and not for the purpose of MARKETING it, especially when the audience is WHITE and POC stories are automatically considered less than. At the end of the day, why are readers going to care about your story if you yourself don't find interest in it, or don't believe in it? I mean, some will, there's an audience for everything. But it won't work out. Nowhere in this book does Brooks ever mention the value of enjoying your work or process, and that's what I find most problematic.

[Andrea Cox · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book started out great with an easy-to-read author voice, but the presentation quickly became circuitous and hyperfocused on one aspect (“concept”) of storywriting. Through five chapters, I learned nothing I hadn’t already learned elsewhere, and I never felt any tips were helpful for where my writing currently is today.

Perhaps this book would be more helpful for beginner writers.

Content: expletives, crude sexual terms

[Liz Fenwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a useful tool especially in the area of concept and premise. I read it not having a story to ‘fix’ so some of it was redundant. However it’s a good book to have sitting on the shelf to use when your story isn’t working. It will take you through step by step to see where the failure has arisen...But cannot say enough how brilliant it is on concept and premise.

[Doree Weller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book with concrete, practical tips for diagnosing and fixing problems in your book. There were a few repetitive sections, but also many sections I highlighted and flagged to review again (possibly many times).

[Amy Ravenel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some helpful strategies to use when revising. I also have a starting point to revise my next book.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Larry Brooks' Story Fix was an interesting read, but there seemed little information here that could not be found elsewhere.

What was enjoybable was his attempt to clearly define his terms, but as with all, or many, writing terms a hard, clear definition was occasionally hard to come by.

This being said the book will be somewhat useful to new writers hoping to repair a book that doesn't quite hang together.

More seasoned writers may not find much of use here.

Rating 3 out of 5 stars.

Mild Recommendation for new writers.

[Marrije · Rating 3 out of 5]

Irritating and repetitive, but some very very useful take-aways.

[Gio · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a fan of Darius Foroux's method of reading self-help books in 90 minutes and here's why. These days, lots of "self-help" gurus are pushing out books like burgers at a fast food joint. A great deal of these "self-help books" are poorly written. Many many of them vary from good to life-changing. And a growing number of them are cobbled together from website blog posts. Foroux's method (https://bit.ly/32ct10V) takes into account that even the worst self-help book can offer useful content, even if it's just one thing. And what that one thing is, may be subjective. It's really up to me to decide what I want to take away from any self-help book. That really helps. When I was a kid I could soak up knowledge like sponge (sorry for the cliche), but now I take in knowledge like a brick. I can still learn, but I learn better by doing rather than just reading. So as Foroux recommends, pick something useful in a self-help book and read that one thing. There's actually more steps than that in Foroux's method, but the point is, why focus on stuff you don't need?

Brooks's book reads like a collection of blog posts. There's lots of repetition for emphasis. As I struggled to get through the yawns and boredom I wondered about what I would get out of this book. Enter Foroux's advice. I prepared and read the book in about 1 hour and found a few things that mattered to me. This may not apply to you, but here they are in formula form because I like formulas:

A Publishable Book = Killer Concept + Story Execution

[Note: Story Execution = Structure (https://bit.ly/2S0Ngd6) + Craft (https://bit.ly/2YGSIV9) + Hard Work]

That's what this book boils down to FOR ME. It's a simple formula that spells out everything I should consider in a world where HUNDREDS of books are published every year. My interpretation of this formula may help my work rise to the top 10% of slush piles, which is what I want as a writer.

Thanks to a friend who sent me an excellent article about what drives agents (https://bit.ly/2G3SW19), I learned that my work will get published if I find an agent that LOVES what I've written. Yes, that really matters but it's not included in Brooks' book. Agents usually go to bat for writers when they believe in the work. Finding a receptive agent will always make a difference and if I've worked hard then I'll stand a better chance of getting published. So here's how I've rethought the formula with this information on agents:

A Published Book = Publishable Book (see above formula) + Championing Agent

Anyway, a killer concept or high concept (as Brooks puts it) is a unique idea or in business talk, a unique value proposition. This is the idea that makes a story unique. This says that my idea should NOT be a tired or rehashed concept like a werewolf romance or a car/vampire story or yet another family drama set in the suburbs. It's got to be unique and stand out somehow.

The other big part of this book involved being bluntly honest with myself. When I looked at my original concept there wasn't anything unique about it. After reading the sections on concept and premise, a light went off in my head. Boom! I was able to rethink my story concept and premise.

Now, I don't mistake any of this to mean that I want to write a formulaic story. That's a different thing. I'm an engineer at heart and I like formulas. They help me understand the world, which in this case is how to course-correct the book I've written. I'm not saying this review is right for everyone either because it's my review and I'm writing it to help myself (and maybe you) - see Foroux's advice.

Also, I don't for one second believe that this information will turn my book into a bestseller with movie rights, etc. Those are annoying and self-deceiving considerations that usually put $$ in a beginning writer's eyes. Here's a big truth, I don't put my dreams of success ahead of the work. Do the work first. On the other hand, I've been around long enough to know that if I put my best foot forward (oops another cliche), I may get published. That's all I want. What comes after that will be up to the publishing gods and a fickle reading public, two things that I might influence, but can't control.

Anyway, there's good advice in this book. Read it any way you like. It's light on exercises and actually steps to how to improve a story. I believe there's something here for everyone. Just get what you need and discard the rest.

[Allan Walsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Review – Story Fix by Larry Brooks
Story Fix by Larry Brooks is a non-fiction writing guide to help you wrangle your novels into shape, therefore making them publishable.

The Cover: The cover is a fit with non-fiction, but it is the title (and subtitle) that clearly define what this book is about.

The Bad Stuff: I had to think hard to come up with something to say here. For me, and I would say this is purely personal preference, I think there were one or two analogies too many. While they made valid points, I would have found this a better read without some of them, as I could have gotten to the juicy parts faster.

The Good Stuff: I loved this book. For a writers guide covering structure, story shortcomings and the pitfalls that writers can fall into, this is one of the best I have read. It has solid advice and puts the writing process into a perspective that makes perfect sense. This book tells you what you need to know to be a successful writer. I have been writing for some years now, but nobody has ever sat down and explained things to me quite like this. I have pieced parts of this together over the years from many different sources and still fell short of the level of detail provided here. Great work Larry, you have produced an excellent resource for writers.

Overall, I wish I had found this book when I started out writing. It provides great insights into how you should present your work, how to find problems in your manuscript and how to fix them. I would recommend this to all writers, whatever your level of experience. I’m giving this one a page turning 5 out of 5 golden bookmarks (with a little smiley face stamp on the side).

[Jennifer Worrell · Rating 2 out of 5]

The majority of this book felt like introduction, every passage ending on cliffhangers. Brooks presents tough, urgent questions that I rarely see in other craft books, like 'how do you know if your core story isn't good enough' and 'how do you develop greater story sensibility', then spends passage after passage teasing us with wisdom that never really materializes. It was 30 pages before the first point seemed to be reached, and that pacing continues throughout, harkening back, always, to his own Core Competencies. This pattern continues to the point of being predictable.

He reprints a tough-love coaching letter to an author, but the details of the book in question are so vague that the lesson is lost. I also agree with some other complaints that the book is repetitive and condescending.

[Judy Cyg · Rating 5 out of 5]

For any fiction author, at any stage of the writing process, this book is a MUST. I checked a copy out of my library, hoping that the promise on the subtitle, "Transform your novel from broken to brilliant" would be useful. Larry Brooks made no idle promise. Everything you need to know about bringing your novel alive is here, step by step, in detail, and easy to follow. My stories improved, my writing changed, and Larry Brooks taught me to write book descriptions, from concept to premise to tagline (movie poster blurb), necessary once the novel is complete.

When I wanted to reread this book, I bought my own copy and have read it several times. It's a permanent bookshelf writer's guide, and I've invested in his other titles, as well.

A must for any fiction writer, any genre. You will thank me. You will thank Larry Brooks.

[Olivia S · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book seems mainly aimed toward writers who only dabble in character-bloated books who don’t understand the concept that their characters need goals and to actually… do things. Which is good! If you don’t know that, then you should definitely read this book! Over half of the book was pounding the idea of concept and premise… but I felt like it lacked actual writing tools that you could employ to improve your concept or premise. Just a lot of analogies and some forgettable examples without concrete instruction. I felt similarly about the second half of the book that attempted to get into more details (narrative strategy, voice, style, theme, etc.) but each chapter has the same takeaway: “How do you do this right? Just practice a lot!”
The best part of this book were the three case studies at the end and his analysis. That is worth reading.

[Harrison Wein · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was required reading for a novel revision workshop I recently took. While it sets out a decent framework for revision, it was very disorganized, looping back on itself repeatedly and expounding about terms as a setup to defining them. It could and should have been a fraction of the length. The tone was also abrasive. Obviously, people who buy this book want to fix their novels--that's the title, after all. But it spends pages arguing how you first have to face the fact that your novel isn't perfect. The case studies in the last section weren't very helpful, either. Brooks spends much of his energy there berating the authors he is working with for not understanding the framework he's already spent the whole book explaining to us ad infinitum.

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really good writing book that emphasizes structure and planning as the most important factors to writing fiction. Concept, premise, and more details were described in great detail, and how to analyze your writing to improve it. The text was not very encouraging, however, and basically said that most story ideas are faulty and will never make it to print. So, more discouraged then energized, I grit my teeth and decide if my writing will ever see the light of day. At least it will have a firm structure now.

[Astrid Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic. This is one of the most helpful books on writing, and specifically revision, that I read. What makes it stand out is the clarity with which Larry Brooks states unpleasant truths. He is the first person who said that the reason behind the rejection is might be that the core story is not strong enough. For me it was eye opening... and mind blowing. It also hurt. But I'm very glad I read this book, and I think many unpublished authors collecting rejection letters might benefit from reading Story Fix.

[Jessi Waugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

What this fella does well is repeating himself. And repetition leads to remembering. But familiarity leads to contempt. By the end, I hated the author and wanted to make his phrases like "re-word this as a question" into physical objects with which I could hit him.

However, we resist that which we most need to learn, so he's probably right. I don't know the difference between a premise and concept, and my low stakes are killing my stories. But I'd sooner turn my failed novels into papier-mache swords than say he's right.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

On occasion this book was a little bit repetitive, but it was so helpful! I've been trying to figure out for years how to fix one of my books, and this laid out exactly what I was doing wrong and what needed to change to get it right. I would recommend reading STORY ENGINEERING first, but this takes the concepts in that book even further.

[E.M. Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was helpful and informative. It was written from the perspective that the reader had already submitted their book to a literary agent or publisher and received a rejection letter. I am only in the editing stages of my manuscript and I was able to find it helpful for editing. The authors tone of voice came across as negative which caused me anxiety at times. But I’m a bit dramatic.

[Georg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found it a little hard through the first twenty or so pages, but Larry Brooks really gives some solid advice in this book. Made me overthink my (in retrospect crappy) frist draft.
Loved the Case Studies at the end.

[Vince · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very helpful guide once you've got a draft. Brooks gets strait to the point and provides writers with a twelve-point, story element or essence checklist. It's great. Really helpful. I found something valuable on just about every page of this book and find myself repeatedly picking it up.