Basic Plots: Vonnegut’s Cinderella

Ciao, SEers. I’ve been talking about Vonnegut’s five basic plots. So far, I’ve discussed Man in Hole and Boy Meets Girl, which you can find by clicking the links. Today, I’m going to talk about the third plot type, Cinderella. As I’ve described before, Vonnegut plotted all stories on a grid. The vertical axis was …

Basic Plots: Vonnegut’s Boy Meets Girl

Ciao, SEers. Last time I was here, I talked about the first of Vonnegut’s five basic plots, Man in Hole, which you can find by clicking the link. Today, I’m going to talk about the second, Boy Meets Girl. As I mentioned last time, Vonnegut plotted all stories on a grid. The vertical axis was …

Basic Plots: Vonnegut’s Man in Hole

Ciao, SEers. I’m back again to talk about story structure (admittedly an obsession of mine). Love him or hate him, one of the twentieth centuries most influential and prolific authors was Kurt Vonnegut. Though he studied at some of our nation’s finest institutions (including my alma mater), he never studied writing. And when he wrote …

Happy New Year!

Hey, SE Readers. 2020 was a tough year, but we persevered and made it through. I don't know of anyone who isn't happy to see it end. And now we're at another new year. Here's hoping 2021 is a good one. From all of us at Story Empire, we wish you and your families all …

Three Literary Elements: Symbolism

Ciao, SEers.  Today is a two-fer. I’m writing the last of my posts on literary elements, and I’m also writing my last post of the year. And what a year it’s been, huh? Say what you want about 2020, it's definitely one we'll never forget. (And one I'm happy to put behind me.) Okay, literary …