Step 1: Life Is Pain
Sometimes, my life as a book coach/ writer and my life as a high school history teacher collide in spectacular ways. I happened to be writing some newsletter content about why heroes need story goals at around the same time that I was teaching my world history students about Buddhism. And it occurred to me that the central teachings of Buddhism (also called the 4 Noble Truths) can be applied to story craft.
If you are unfamiliar or rusty, here are the 4 Noble Truths of Buddhism:
All living beings experience suffering
Suffering is caused by desire or attachments.
To end suffering, one must curb desires or let go of attachments.
One can curb desires and limit attachments by following the Eightfold Path (a life of moderation).
