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Chapter 29 — Pre-Chapter Quiz:

Question 57: what is one of the easiest ways to come up with great narratives?

p.) higher a personal trainer

g.) ask someone else to do it

~.) be a child

%.) try selling your first book for a living

 

Question 58: What is key to finding proper hows?

e.) remember past experiences

s.) end on questions about whats or hows

^.) forget the past

y.) consider the opposite scenarios of ideas

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Okay, if you’ve found enough Whats then you may begin to create some Hows, but no sooner. Promise me you’ll wait. It simply won’t do if you rush into something like this. 

Promise?

 

Okay. Now we create the Hows. This is often pretty easy for our minds. It just takes the willingness to sit there and let an idea, any idea, even the crazy ones.

How? How do we create Hows? Well, there are a few key starting points you can attempt to use as a launch pad. Just keep in mind that these are by no means the end all be all of storytelling, and that’s all we’re really doing - creating a story.

First, we’ll start from the basics, being a child. If you have not read The Introduction, it'll be best for you to do that now, as I’m not about to repeat myself, adding extra fluff and wasting the time of everyone who actually bothered to read such an important page. 

While I do not believe children are geniuses, I do believe that they hold a copious abundance of wisdom from within our world. They may be the wisest people to walk the earth at any given time. While they might not always know what to think, they almost certainly know How to think. In

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such, it’s best to be a bit playful when considering how everything is connected. Consider it a childish game. When creating your stories, you should understand that most of them will end up being fictitious anyways, and so it’s okay to have a little fun. Go crazy. Though I doubt it, if there really is just one thin line between madness and genius, the least you can do, is to have some fun, and tightrope it. Now is the time to shine in your act. The more childish and fantastical your ideas become, the more creative and eye opening they will be in future. (Especially if they turn out to be true!) If you’re looking for HOW to make money, the first thought that pops into your head should be “Rob a bank.” or “Marry a prince.”.

Secondly, do not say, write, or think of your final answers as statements. Always end on a question, consider all the possible answers, but never commit to any of them, do not commit until the end. You can list the answers, but again, NEVER TAKE THEM TOO SERIOUSLY, not when creating them, and not when considering their worth. HOWs are rewards to a game, not prizes for a quiz. Instead of “He was drunk when he kicked the horse.” ask “What makes a man kick a horse?”. Yes, him being drunk will probably be in the list of answers, but forcing your focus more on the questions than the possible answers will help you later on when experimenting and attempting to uncover the real, fullest, truth.

“Maybe he thought he saw an on switch!” Would have been the first answer I wrote down to this question. The next question is: “How many horses have I seen with an on switch.” Remember: When listing off certainties for testing the story, to only use your senses. It’s not “Horses don’t have an on switch.” 

It’s “I’ve never seen a horse with an on switch before.”

You can ask questions and give answers like this AFTER you’ve created every story you could think of, but no earlier. Remember to write a list if you can, but you always focus on, and end on, great questions. If you can’t answer the question right away, that’s perfect. That may even be the best scenario possible. This’ll allow you to live your life normally,

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and see connections with everyday things that you’ve never seen before, leading to the answer of your questions through what is often called "Serendipity". By ending on, and prioritizing the question, with practice, you will be able to generate your own serendipity on whim. Sometimes, my friends, it’s better to appreciate a good question than to get lost in search of an answer.

And finally, practice actual story telling in your everyday life. It’ll make you far more approachable, and truth be told, words are meant to communicate, not just with others, but with ourselves. When we think our thoughts, many of us do so in words. In such, knowing how to write is vitally important to raising your ability to think. The fact is, being able to speak eloquently and concisely, as well as writing as such, can lead to much better forms of thinking, and of course, children are known to love a good story, so you’ll also have a child’s seal of approval. That’s a huge bonus to have in your life.

Now then, you have your possible evidence, and you have your stories. The first step is to assess and make sure that every story is consistent with all of the evidence. This means that no What is left unused in the story. If it is, then it's best to test these stories first, as they are highly unlikely to be correct, and should be put out of the way as soon as possible, but the second step is far more important to get right. You need to apply the scientific method to your hypotheses, and attempt to DISPROVE whatever you believe to be true. And we do this, with a poisoned goblet,

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(And that’s where the next chapter comes in).