Why is story so important — no matter what genre we write? How can we use emotion to hook readers — and also tap into what matters in our own lives? Lisa Cron talks about these questions and more in this discussion about Story or Die. In the intro, Ultimate Guide to Copyright [ALLi]; How do you see your book — is it a baby, is it art, or is it a product? [Jane Friedman's blog]; The History Quill convention online; The Creative Penn Podcast Survey (by 21 Dec); Today's podcast sponsor is Findaway Voices, which gives you access to the world's largest network of audiobook sellers and everything you need to create and sell professional audiobooks. Take back your freedom. Choose your price, choose how you sell, choose how you distribute audio. Check it out at FindawayVoices.com. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below. Lisa Cron is a story coach for writers and a story consultant for film and TV, as well as a professional speaker. She’s also the author of Wired for Story, Story Genius, and her latest book, Story Or Die: How to Use Brain Science to Engage, Persuade, and Change Minds in Business and in Life. Show Notes * Why story is so important for humans — and why it's present in every area of life * What stories are really about* The brain chemicals that a good story will activate — and how to write so they are triggered* Story principles in non-fiction* Emotion telegraphs meaning* The three biggest lies that are taught about writing You can find Lisa Cron at WiredForStory.com and on Twitter @LisaCron Transcript of Interview with Lisa Cron Joanna: Welcome back to the show, Lisa. Lisa: Thank you. It is an utter pleasure to be here. Joanna: I'm excited to talk about this again. So, quoting from the book, you say, “Story far predates written language, and evolved as an essential survival tool, long before it was mis-classified as fiction,” which I love. Why does story matter in every book we write, no matter the genre? Lisa: Well, because first of all, story is story, regardless of genre, regardless of the format, whether you're talking about a two-word tweet or War and Peace, it is always the same. And it predates, really, everything. It really goes back to, if you want to think about it, our brains' last, as we've all heard, big growth spurt,