Stand-up comedy versus sit-down tragedy.

One great aspect of choosing an existing storytelling context is that the context dictates the structure and transitions.

Another context for storytelling is addiction recovery groups. They really do serve as the new churches where people go to confess their worst selves and to be accepted back by their communities.

Armistead Maupin invented Mona’s Law. It states that of a great lover, a great job, and a great apartment, in life you can have one. At most you can have two of the three. But you will never, ever have all three at the same time.

The job of the creative person is to recognize and express things for others. Some haven’t fully grasped their own feelings. Others lack the skill to communicate the feeling or idea. Still others lack the courage to express it.

you were my student I’d ask: “Why is it that so many successful plots begin at the family plot?” Because for most of us—especially among young people—our worst fear is of losing our parents. If you create a world where one or both parents have died, you’re creating characters that have survived your reader’s worst fears. Your reader will respect th

Scratch the surface of any comedy and you’ll find a dead mother or father. It’s the unresolved, irresolvable hurt that generates all the wisecracking and antics.

introduce the character as simple-minded, then have her or him let rip with a string of esoteric, complicated facts that shock the audience.

consider the following methods for building authority within a story. Make the reader believe you. Make the incredible seem inevitable.