L Sider’s Reviews > Invisible Ink: A Practical Guide to Building Stories That Resonate > Status Update

"In 1993, there were, as I understand it, more comic books published than in any other year. Just a few short years later, so few comics were selling that many wondered if the medium would even survive. Why the big turnaround? Lack of story and story-craft."

"The term self-expression has had a harmful impact on storytellers. Stories are not about the storyteller. If your focus is on yourself, then it is not on what is best for your story."

"...quotable dialogue is not the primary job of a storyteller."

"Think of it more as making discoveries rather than decisions. You will then find yourself looking for things that illustrate your point."

"Be careful of this; it will not serve you well to give into the things you already do well. If you go through the ritual pain of doing the very thing you don't want to do, you will become a better writer. You will ascend."

"Understand that I'm not saying that one, feminine or masculine, is better or worse than the other. On the contrary, I am saying that one without the other is a lie."

"Why is it that all of these forms—mindless action films, soap operas, comic books, pornography, and romance novels—are considered 'trash' by most of us? Even those of us who indulge in them regard them as guilty pleasures. It is because they are unbalanced."

"But here's the big secret—we are all the same. The more you dip into your own behavior, good or bad—the more others will see themselves, and you will fade into the background."