Sunday Report

I got a request to bring Sunday report back into play. It makes sense, since Gleanings, back when I did it as a newsletter, was quite popular.

So here are things I’ve found recently. I’m teaching a class on story at CCA this semester, so 9o% of what I’m looking at is about that topic. (PS if you’d like me to offer it as a online class, please leave a comment below with what you’d pay for such a thing. Free is a viable, though rather undesirable answer. 😉

Storycraft: The Complete Guide to Writing Narrative Nonfiction (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing) This is AMAZING. Pretty much the book I’ve been looking for on writing.  Each and every chapter was valuable.

I found this 15 minute podcast on learning how to write better from puppetry fascinating, and applicable to design as well.  The Four Principles of Puppetry, with Mary Robinette Kowal  I may have shared before, I gave it a relisten this week because I found it so interesting.

Solid primer on the Five whys

A little puff of a book, but admittedly useful: TED Talks Storytelling: 23 Storytelling Techniques from the Best TED Talks by Akash Karia

If I had to simplify the structure of a great story, here’s what it would look like: Character –> Conflict –> Spark –> Change in Character –> Takeaway Message
Which had me watching this

“Why does she stay” is code for “its her fault” Leslie Morgan Steiner: Why domestic violence victims don’t leave  amazing example of storytelling, but also very disturbing. We lie so well to ourselves.

Quote from The Story Factor: Inspiration, Influence, and Persuasion through the Art of Storytelling, Which I’m rereading in order to consider for a class I’m teaching

“One story Plato used to teach about the limitations of democracy was about a ship in the middle of the ocean. On this ship was a gruff, burly captain who was rather shortsighted and slightly deaf. He and his crew followed the principles of majority rule on decisions about navigational direction. They had a very skilled navigator who knew how to read the stars on voyages, but the navigator was not very popular and was rather introverted. In the panic of being lost, the captain and crew made a decision to follow the most charismatic, eloquent, and persuasive of the crew members. They ignored and ridiculed the navigator’s suggestions, remained lost, and ultimately starved to death at sea.”

 And here is the tl;dr on story structure: Story Structure 101: Super Basic Shit

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