Story Sense for Writers: A guide to the essentials

Everyone has a natural “story sense”, honed by the thousands of stories we’re exposed to growing up, from fairy tales, TV shows, movies, novels, comic strips, family anecdotes and playground jokes, to the founding myths of our many cultures.

And just as musicians combine their natural, in-born sense of timing, pitch, melody and harmony with a learned knowledge of music theory to further their art, writers can combine this natural “story sense” with a little learned knowledge to further their...