often say that I like to make people laugh before making them cry, because it hurts more that way.

The Moth Radio Hour.

am dumb, ugly, and unpopular. I’m not smart, I’m not at all good-looking, and no one likes me. The second sentence is better, isn’t it? Here’s why: it contains a hidden but. It presents both possibilities. Unlike the first sentence, which only offers single descriptors, the second sentence offers a binary. It presents the potential of being smart

That’s the trick. A simple one: Make sure that every moment in your story has a location attached. Every moment should be a scene, and every scene needs a setting.

See what I mean? Rather than stopping the story to explain a scientific principle, I allow the story to continue with a little bit of anecdotal backstory. I provide the necessary scientific information while also providing an amusing scene that reveals something about my character.

“Then how am I supposed to teach them about photosynthesis?” he asked. “Why not tell the story of the first time you learned about photosynthesis?” I said. “Or a time when you taught photosynthesis? Instead of stopping the story completely to explain the process, why not offer a scene in the form of a flashback that also explains photosynthesis?

In order to achieve this lofty goal, storytellers must do one thing, and happily for you, it’s exceedingly simple: Always provide a physical location for every moment of your story.

A great storyteller creates a movie in the mind of the audience.

Elysha knew the exact night when she was ovulating. Rather than a month-long