“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.”
– William Shakespeare (As You Like It)

It’s a trite phrase, a fairly obvious cliché more than 400 years old.  Yet like so many of these little sayings  it has only stuck around this long because it holds a certain truth.  We each have defined roles we play out, hoping that they both fit into the bigger production even as we standout as the star in our own monologues.  Where the saying fails, however, is the lack of a written script implied by the credit given to the Bard.  A play has to seem true and make sense – but life is rarely just as we like it.  Life is more of an improv act.

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Truth, like fire, takes many forms.  There is a harsh truth that burns everything it touches and a softer truth that has the mysterious spark of life at the core of it.  And then there is the basic truth of the universe that is as irrefutable as the waves of cosmic radiation that constantly washes over us, unfelt and unseen.

Many kinds of truth are best explored through fiction.   That’s what is at the heart of my new project, Mythnology.  I’d like to take some time to explain this new novel, the interaction I hope will guide it, and an a way that writers can connect directly to their readers.  If you like what you see, please subscribe – and tell your friends!

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Stories that stay with us are often built around strong characters.  Consider for a moment any story that you have enjoyed, either in book form or on film or from an exchange among friends – what is it that you remember the most?  Odds are it will be the Harry Potter or Gatsby or someone’s strange uncle as much as the meanderings of the plot itself.  They are the star of the show, the person we either relate to or want to be like or at least would like to know.  Set them up, and the situation of the plot often moves forward through the force of their will.

Less obvious is fact that this also guides the non-fiction world.  Entertainers carefully craft their public persona, as do politicians and even nooze commentators.  Understanding how to do this can make a blog much more compelling.

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Everyone has the experience at some time.  You’ve read a book or seen a movie that you absolutely loved, and you want to tell the world about your new obsession.  You might even know someone that you’d love to share this new world with.  So you start telling them about the intricate details of the plot and characters and after rambling on and on … and then you see their eyes slowly glaze over. What went wrong?  Often it’s that you had suspended your disbelief in something that sounds too absurd to tell easily.  It makes sense to you, but the retelling leaves you sounding a bit crazy.

This doesn’t just happen with fiction.  A  disconnected world requires a lot of suspension of disbelief.

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