Story or Die Quotes

“AN EXTERNAL LAYER: The thing that happens, the external event, the unavoidable problem the protagonist must tackle (the plot). 2. AN INTERNAL LAYER: What that external problem causes the protagonist to struggle with, internally—the misbelief versus the truth—in order to solve it (what the story is really about). Combined, those two layers rivet us.”
― Lisa Cron, Story or Die: How to Use Brain Science to Engage, Persuade, and Change Minds in Business and in Life

“Ever since we added language to our tried-and-true communication system of grunting, hand gestures, and evocative facial expressions (insert image of eyebrow-waggling Neanderthal here), every story that ever got through to anyone, convincing them of something they didn’t already believe, did it by connecting to their experience. Story was the key to our survival, and every savvy storyteller knew that—how else could they have convinced their tribe that it’s better to harness fire than to run from it?”
― Lisa Cron, Story or Die: How to Use Brain Science to Engage, Persuade, and Change Minds in Business and in Life