The Cat
sat on a mat 

Every great story features a hero we can really cheer for, not just because of their brave actions, but because of their incredible transformation.

No (wo)man ever steps in the same river twice. For it's not the same river and (s)he's not the same (wo)man.

The hero’s journey involves the hero walking into the river, and the person who must walk back out should be different—either good or bad—but not the same person who walked in.

We find ourselves connecting with characters  who change and  transform because they mirror our own struggles and failures. 

The most captivating stories take a hero from a vulnerable spot—where they might feel broken, uncertain, or even morally grey—on a journey toward becoming braver, wiser, and sometimes even finding redemption.

Emotion equals conflict. If you want your audience to feel something for your protagonist, you must put your hero on a tree, set the tree on fire and then figure out a way to bring her back down.  

John le Carré, the author of espionage thrillers,  once famously reminded us that the story isn’t that the cat sat on the mat. 

The story, my dear friends, is that the cat... sat on the dog’s mat.