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What I Learned Writing Historical Fiction

Stories help us make sense of the world. Life is messy and chaotic; if there's a point to it all, that point is sometimes very hard to see. We try to impose meaning on our lives by placing experience within a narrative frame. And if we're lucky, there's a big theme that gets developed as the story goes on.
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Professor of constitutional law, University of Pennsylvania Law School

Professor of constitutional law, University of Pennsylvania Law School
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Stories help us make sense of the world. Life is messy and chaotic; if there's a point to it all, that point is sometimes very hard to see. We try to impose meaning on our lives by placing experience within a narrative frame. We see our lives as stories--there are heroes (usually us!) and villains (those jerks!), rising and falling action, unexpected twists and reversals of fortune. And if we're lucky, there's a big theme that gets developed as the story goes on.

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Published 12/28/15

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