Matthew Dicks: Every story should open with location and immediate action
Matthew Dicks · How to tell better stories | Matthew Dicks (Storyworthy) · Dec 15, 2023 · at 1:38:18
Storyteller and author Matthew Dicks shares his core tactical rule for beginning effective stories with Lenny Rachitsky.
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“So two things should start every story you ever tell for the rest of your life. So you start with location. Where are you? Location activates imagination, right? If I say I'm standing in the kitchen, You've already automatically applied a thousand adjectives to my story. You see the kitchen with great clarity. You probably put me in your own kitchen or your parents' kitchen or a kitchen you see on TV. But if the particularities of the kitchen are relevant to the story, that's what I want you to do. I'm not interested in reproducing locations with some kind of visual accuracy in your brain. I want you to see a fully realized location. So I love location because it's one word that Comes imbued with a thousand adjectives. So you start with location, and you start with action, meaning something needs to be happening right away.”
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