by Sarah Chauncey | Sep 9, 2016 | Counterintuitive Guide to Life, Memoir, Nonfiction, Resonant Storytelling, Spirituality, Writing
A while back, I wondered about the origins of the phrase “woo-woo” (often shortened, including by me, as “woo”). In my mind, I heard the sound produced by a theremin—an instrument used to create ‘outer space’ sound effects for 1950s and 1960s sci-fi movies—and in the...
by Sarah Chauncey | Aug 26, 2016 | Nonfiction, Resonant Storytelling, Writing
Resonant storytelling includes a mixture of magic and logic, of possibility and practicality. Many nonfiction writers get trapped in one side or the other. Scientists and corporate types become overly attached to jargon and traditional logic out of a fear of being...
by Sarah Chauncey | Aug 19, 2016 | Memoir, Nonfiction, Resonant Storytelling, Writing
The Latin-based languages comprise 26 symbols that, arranged in a mind-boggling array of variation, somehow connect us with one another. It’s pretty awesome, when you think about it. Yet it has limitations. Not only do most words have multiple meanings (like...
by Sarah Chauncey | Aug 17, 2016 | Memoir, Nonfiction, Resonant Storytelling
Every young writer is taught that the essence of story is conflict. But “conflict” is a loaded word. Most people see it as negative, confrontational and even violent. But it isn’t, inherently. Even if you’re writing about a world that’s all unicorns...
by Sarah Chauncey | Aug 16, 2016 | Memoir, Nonfiction, Resonant Storytelling, Writing
Almost anyone can write. All it takes is an idea and a keyboard or pencil and notepad. That’s why there are approximately 200 million active blogs. But writing isn’t the same as storytelling. Writing communicates an idea or facts; it speaks to the intellect....
by Sarah Chauncey | Jul 9, 2016 | Memoir, Nonfiction, Resonant Storytelling, Writing
Yesterday, the people behind the Wordnik Twitter account shared an article about how researchers at the University of Vermont have discovered that all stories follow one of six arcs. These are the arcs they identified by data-mining more than 1,700 novels: “Rags to...
