The quote library
Frankisms
Short truths, collected over a lifetime of writing and teaching. Read a few, or lose an afternoon.
- Collected
- 1,993
“Story is often about a protagonist coming to realize what’s really causing him to do the things he does, at which point he either celebrates, because he’s better than he thought, or begins making amends, because he’s worse. — Lisa Cron”
storytelling
“Storytelling trumps beautiful writing every time. — Lisa Cron”
storytelling
“Successful writers build stories that engage our better instincts and tap into a natural human predisposition to feel concern when we see another person in trouble. — Eric Edson”
storytelling
“Telling stories is fundamentally a memory reinforcing process. The more you tell, the more you remember. The areas you dwell on when you talk are the areas your memory wants to, and does, reinforce. — Roger Schank”
storytelling
“The ability to write successful stories is an acquired skill, not an inborn talent. — Jerry Cleaver”
storytelling
“The attention span of the reader of marketable short stories varies from the flick of an eyelash to the dart of a lizard. — John Updike”
storytelling
“The key to all story endings is to give the audience what it wants, but not the way it expects. — Robert McKee”
storytelling
“The magic of story is that it allows us to vicariously experience the emotion of the tale and feel it so deeply that it helps us to navigate our own issues. — Jeff Gerke”
storytelling
“The more passionate you are about making your point, the more you have to trust your story to convey it. — Lisa Cron”
storytelling
“The more personal and particular your story, the more universal it will be. — Linda McCullough Moore”
storytelling
“The most common problem with stories that haven’t been outlined is that they don’t build. — Lisa Cron”
storytelling
“The outside world determines which of our stories are worthy of telling by the way it listens to them. — Roger Schank”
storytelling
“The richest and most satisfying pleasures of all are found in stories that focus on the reactions that events cause and the insights gained. — Robert McKee”
storytelling
“The story will become static if we don’t elevate the conflict and force the character to reevaluate his goals. — Cheryl St.John”
storytelling
“The ultimate in storytelling is to have the stories become the stories of the listeners, to have them think that these are actually their stories. — Roger Schank”
storytelling
“The writer shapes story around a perception of what’s worth living for, what’s worth dying for, what’s foolish to pursue. — Robert McKee”
storytelling
“There are never enough storytellers. — Eugene Peterson, Author of The Message”
storytelling
“There is no story that is not made finer with some smart deletions. Reading aloud helps mightily. — Linda McCullough Moore”
storytelling
“There is too little of what we really like in stories. I am afraid we shall have to try and write some ourselves. — C. S. Lewis to J. R. R. Tolkien”
storytelling
“To get our current stories right, we must be willing to dive into the world of our subconscious and explore the terrain. — Jim Loehr”
storytelling
“To understand the end of a story, we must know and understand the beginning of the story. — Geron Davis”
storytelling
“We all have a dream of telling our stories—of realizing what we think, feel, and see before we die. Writing is a path to meet ourselves. — Natalie Goldberg”
storytelling
“We avoid telling stories that evoke feelings that we do not care to relive. — Roger Schank”
storytelling
“We do not easily remember what other people have said if they do not tell it in the form of a story. — Roger Shank, author of Tell Me a Story”
storytelling
“We understand personal problems and relationships between people through stories that typify those situations. — Roger Schank”
storytelling
“What is story? It’s the introduction of a character who faces a conflict that escalates into a climactic conclusion that provides the audience with a satisfying resolution. — Steven James”
storytelling
“When the story is finished, no matter how many rewrites it takes, you ought to be able to name to yourself what each scene brought out, how it developed the characters, how it showed action or led toward consequences. — Ansen Dibell”
storytelling
“When you tell a story the way Jesus told stories, you’re not arguing your philosophy. You’re telling the truth in a way that breaks into life. — Randall Wallace”
storytelling
“While conflict is what drives a story forward, it’s often the mounting anticipation of it that has readers so engrossed they forget to breathe. — Lisa Cron”
storytelling
“Your facts may be complete and convincing, but your reader won’t remember them ten minutes afterward if you haven’t bothered to find a specific illustration. — Rudolph Flesch”
storytelling
“[I’m looking for] distinctive voices, ambitious concepts, and memorable characters. — Mark Tavani, executive director at Ballantine Books”
writing
“Setup is, by definition, not story. It always drags. Always. Leave it out. Find another way. — Donald Maass”
writing
“A bad ending can spoil an otherwise good piece of writing. The ending deserves as much attention as does any other part of your composition. — Winston Weathers”
writing
“A big part of your job is to continually find more people to meet. — Bob Burg”
writing
“A book is the only immortality. — Rufus Choate”
writing
“A breakout novel rattles, confronts, and illuminates. It is detailed because it is real. — Donald Maass”
writing
“A character must make a sacrifice in order to be truly heroic and show growth. — Cheryl St.John”
writing
“A character’s inner conflict will show that he is real. — Elizabeth George”
writing
“A college degree alone does not prepare you to be a writer. — Dennis Hensley”
writing
“A common mistake is to glance at a dictionary or stylebook entry without noting which part of speech is being described. Many times, we have one word as an adjective, two words as a noun. — Bill Walsh”
writing