We also purchased a book specifically for the benefit of people who visit the library accompanied by restless children. Modern children think it's cool. The difference is crucial. Anxious, inexperienced writers obey rules. Rebellious, unschooled writers break rules.
Artists master the form.
Craft Maximizes Talent Rare as story talent is, we often meet people who seem to have it by nature, those street-corner raconteurs for whom storytelling is as easy as a smile. When, for example, coworkers gather around the coffee machine, the storytelling begins. It's the currency of human contact. And whenever a half-dozen souls gather for this mid morning ritual, there will always be at least one who has the gift. Like Coleridge's Ancient Mariner, she hooks everyone's attention.