The art of storytelling gives children a basic framework for understanding truth as well as the courage to live and tell about it. Over the next few days, I’ll post six important things to know about great stories!  Here is #1 and #2.

1. All great stories have a “joyous turn,” the point at which you think the “bad guys” are going to win the day and good is going to be vanquished forever, and suddenly, everything changes! The incarnation of Christ is the “joyous turn” in the human story, and the “joyous turn” of the incarnation story is the resurrection.  It is the decisive moment at which everything changes – death is defeated, God’s new creation is ushered in, and from this point forward, the enemy’s end is certain. All good, engaging stories work like this!  There’s always a conflict, victory seems all but lost, and often when you least expect it, there’s a joyous turn.  Well, Stephen King doesn’t work that way, but twisted horror stories are so excellent because they play on our expectation that the story should have a joyous turn. Continue Reading…