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A four-time Moth GrandSLAM winner and bestselling novelist shows how to tell a great story — and why doing so matters
List of contents
PART ONE: FINDING YOUR STORY
Chapter 1: A Coward Tells a Story
Chapter 2: What Is a Story? (and What Is the Dinner Test?)
Chapter 3: Homework for Life
Chapter 4: Dreaming at the End of Your Pen
Chapter 5: First/Last/Best/Worst: Great for Long Car Rides, First Dates, and Finding Stories
PART TWO: CRAFTING YOUR STORY
Chapter 6: "Charity Thief"
Chapter 7: Every Story Only Takes Five Seconds to Tell (and Jurassic Park Wasn't a Movie About Dinosaurs)
Chapter 8: Finding Your Beginning (I'm Also About to Ruin Most Movies and Many Books Forever for You)
Chapter 9: Stakes - Five Ways to Keep Your Story Compelling (and Why There Are Dinosaurs in Jurassic Park)
Chapter 10: The Five Permissible Lies of True Storytelling
Chapter 11: Cinema of the Mind (Also Known As "Where the Hell
Are You?")
Chapter 12: The Principle of But and Therefore
Chapter 13: "This Is Going to Suck"
Chapter 14: The Secret to the Big Story: Make it Little
Chapter 15: There Is Only Way to Make Someone Cry
Chapter 16: Milk Cans and Balls. Babies and Blenders: Simple, Effective Ways to be Funny in Storytelling (Even If You're Not Funny at All)
Chapter 17: Finding the Frayed Ending of Your Story (Or... What the Hell Did That Mean?)
PART 3: TELLING YOUR STORY
Chapter 18: The Present Tense is King (But the Queen Can Play a Role, Too)
Chapter 19: If You Practice Storytelling or Public Speaking in a Mirror, Read This. If You Don't, Skip It.
Chapter 20: The Two Ways of Telling a Hero Story (Or... How to Avoid Sounding Like a Douchebag)
Chapter 21:Storytelling Is Time Travel (If You Don't Muck It Up)
Chapter 22: Words to Say. Words to Avoid.
Chapter 23: Time to Perform (On the Stage, in the Board Room, on a Date, or at the Thanksgiving Table)
Chapter 24: Why Did You Read This Book? To Become a Superhero.
About the author
Matthew Dicks is a bestselling novelist, thirty-six-time Moth StorySLAM champion, and five-time GrandSLAM champion. In addition to his widespread teaching, writing, and performing, he cofounded (with his wife) Speak Up, which produces sold-out storytelling performances throughout Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York at least once a month. He lives in Newington, Connecticut.
