Stories of Suspense with a Sense of Humor
This will probably seem ridiculous, but I have a new, all-time favorite book on story design. It’s called Into the Woods by Yorke, and it pretty much replaces Story Grid, which was my previous all-time favorite. When I read Story Grid (by Shawn Coyne) it was life-changing. The way he described the fractal nature of … Read more
An article on how The StoryGrid by Shawn Coyne helped one author learn to stop worrying and love designing stories.
Sally and Billy in Babyland is a political satire told in the form of a fable. It also borrows elements from fairy tales. In particular, it borrows the setup of the Grimm fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel. In my story, Sally and Billy are two children abandoned in the woods. But beyond that, the … Read more
I have always been a big fan of satire and absurd stories, such as Animal Farm, Alice in Wonderland, and Life of Brian. Several years ago, I was brainstorming ideas for a story to write. I was attracted to the idea of a story about two kids who end up in a bizarre world. But … Read more
I told a story about two children abandoned in the woods. It is an homage to Hanzel and Gretel, a fairy tale told in the time when children were frequently abandoned in the woods when families had too many mouths to feed, and parents had to choose between leaving their children to die alone in … Read more