“Julian Barnes says, “Books say: she did this because. Life says: she did this. Books are where things are explained to you; life is where things aren’t.”
– Lisa Cron, author and writing coach, on Writer Unboxed, 10/8/15
(photo: The Bovine Bibiliophile, outside The Bookstore, Dillon, MT; photo by Leslie)
“Studies have shown that reading novels increases our ability to empathize, but not by choice, but by rewiring our brain. … Story isn’t something we humans created for “entertainment” nor is story about something as ephemeral, vague and – honestly unhelpful – as the concept of “art.” In fact, we didn’t create story at all; story created us. Or at least our perception of the world we live in. Story is built into the architecture of the brain, it’s the framework that allows us to process all the raw info that life throws at us 24/7.”
– Lisa Cron, Writer Unboxed blog, 10/8/15
“Story is all about how someone’s worldview changes. …
What this means is that you must begin with empathy for every single character you create, even characters who do things you’d never ever do. After all, what people do isn’t what gives us empathy for them. Why they do it is where empathy comes from.
In fact that’s what empathy is. To wit: empathy is the ability to feel what other people feel about a situation for the same reason they feel it. In other words, empathy is giving dignity and weight to their feelings, even if you disagree with the conclusion they’ve drawn.”
– Lisa Cron, Writer Unboxed, 12/8/16
“Stories are about how we deal with the unexpected. And when that happens, your protagonist would instantly and innately call up her own subjective narrative – that is, her past life experience – to figure out what the hell to do.”
– Lisa Cron, Writer Unboxed, 10/8/15
(Leslie reading The Bobbsey Twins, ca. 1968.)
“Narrative is our internal attempt to figure out how the external world works, and—most importantly—why people do the things they do, the better to not get clobbered for saying the wrong thing. Story isn’t what happens, externally; story is how we make sense of what happens, internally.”
– Lisa Cron, on Writer Unboxed, 10/8/15