Story in 25 Words

Llama pisses on guy next to me. 20 years pass. Me: “I’ll never forget that llama pissing on you.” Guy: “You REMEMBER that?” –Roger Ebert Blog this! Bookmark on Delicious Digg this post Recommend on Facebook Share on Linkedin Share on Posterous share via Reddit Share with Stumblers Tweet about it Subscribe to the comments on this post Print for later Bookmark in Browser Tell a friend...

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Disappear? Shed Your Identity? Start Over As Someone Else?

Who hasn’t thought about it? Yes, but how hard is it for someone to disappear in the digital age? Author Evan Ratliff goes on the lam for WIRED Magazine with that question in mind. The article “Gone” reads like a techno-thriller,but ends with a poignant twist that touches the heart of story, and why we need one. Turns out the biggest hazard is loneliness. He writes: Had I shown that a person, given enough resources and...

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Want Job–Tell A Story

Liz Ryan writes a column in the Daily Camera, my local newspaper, about keeping your career on track. On August 24, 2009 it was all about the power of story, especially in a job interview. She writes: A story answer to an interview question has three benefits over a stock “Yes, I’ve done {x} in spades” answer: 1. It’s more memorable to the interviewer. 2. It brings out more of you–not just your skills. It shows...

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Story Quote #10 (Joseph Campbell, Give Me A Break!!)

“All of the great mythologies and much of the mythic story-telling of the world are from the male point of view. When I was writing The Hero with a Thousand Faces and wanted to bring female heroes in, I had to go to the fairy tales. These were told by women to children, you know, and you get a different perspective. It was the men who got involved in spinning most of the great myths. The women were too busy; they had too damn much to...

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Story Quote #9

“The story itself becomes the weapon of the weaponless. The struggles of women, for example, are not resolved by combat, on the whole (one or two Amazon heroines excepted) . . . when they need to undo error or redeem wrongdoing or defend the innocent, they raise their voices, if only in a conspiratorial whisper–hence the suspicion of women’s talk that haunts the whole history of the old wives’ tale.” –Marina...

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