What I Discovered

Are there any more incredible children's  story-tellers than Pixar and Disney? (I'm sure there are some strong candidates!) As I listened to representatives from both studios explain their techniques during their TED lectures, I was startled to learn how simple these techniques really were. Not simplistic. Simple. Universal themes packaged in easy-to-follow formulas: Desire + Motive + Action. Isn't that amazingly spellbinding in its lack of unnecessary complexity?

                 (1) Hero in his/her NORMAL WORLD.  
                 (2) CALL TO ADVENTURE. 
                 (3) Hero in his/her NEW WORLD.  
                                       = Stunning simplicity!

"Drama is anticipation mingled with uncertainty." they explained. Brilliant!

                Beginning.
                Middle.
                End.
​                                      = the basic building blocks of effective storytelling.

The greatest stories are all the same in their allegiance to the simplest fundamentals - done correctly. All I had to do is learn to make these ingenious story-telling precepts useable!

​I had gathered a handful of foundational ideas about what I needed to know in order to begin to write my children's book adventure series. Now, I had to find out what I didn't know about actually utilizing this knowledge. As I continued down this magical rabbit hole of eye-opening (to me!) information, I began to regularly listen to podcasts by a half-dozen published authors. In my next update, I will "spill the beans" and name names! I hope that you will check back in again soon!