by Henry McLaughlin @RiverBendSagas
We’ve all heard story is about conflict and tension. And
that is definitely true.
Stories about happy people living in Happy Valley don’t
excite readers. Frankly, they can be boring.
The story becomes a story when something disrupts the status
quo. As John LeCarré once said, “The cat sat on the mat is not a story. The cat
sat on the dog’s mat—now that’s a story.”
Here’s another way to look at it: Stories are about the
pursuit of happiness. It’s even in the Declaration of Independence.
