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A good story feels both surprising and inevitable, fresh and familiar.

Adam Johnson

Writing is hard work, and if anything’s true about the process, it’s that fact that a good story is hard to find and even trickier to get on paper.
ADAM JOHNSON

Anything Character Good Hard Process Story Work Writing
To keep someone alive, you put them inside you, you put their face on your heart. Then, no matter where you are, they’re always with you because they’re a part of you.”
ADAM JOHNSON

Alive Always Face Heart Inside Matter Part Someone
Today, tomorrow,” she said. “A day is nothing. A day is just a match you strike after the ten thousand matches before it have gone out.
ADAM JOHNSON

Before Gone Match Nothing Out Strike Ten Thousand Today Tomorrow
And secretly, he’d be wise to start practicing the piano. For us, the story is more important than the person. If a man and his story are in conflict, it is the man who must change.
ADAM JOHNSON

Change Conflict Important Paino Practsing Secretly Story Wise
In my experience, ghosts are made up only of the living, people you know are out there but are forever out of range
ADAM JOHNSON

Experience Forever Ghost Living Only People Range
[I]n communism, you’d threaten a dog into compliance, while in capitalism, obedience is obtained through bribes.
ADAM JOHNSON

Bribe Communism Dog Obedience Obtained Socialism Threaten
Still, I’d thought I’d had a unique look at North Korea, only to discover I was wrong.
ADAM JOHNSON

Country Discover Look Still Unique Wrong
A good story feels both surprising and inevitable, fresh and familiar.
ADAM JOHNSON

Familiar Fresh Good Inevitable Stories Story
I’d known that the visit would be highly scripted and that genuine interactions with citizens wouldn’t be possible, since it’s illegal for them to speak with foreigners.
ADAM JOHNSON

Citizen Country Genuine Highly Illegal InterAction Scripted Unique Visit
The next day, she was silent. For breakfast, she murdered an onion and served it raw.
ADAM JOHNSON

Breakfast Day Murdered Next Onion Raw Served She Silent
I thought that, with so much current attention focused on the topic of North Korea, I might share what I think are three books which cast a rare light on the elusive realm of North Korea.
ADAM JOHNSON

Attention Book Current Focused Light Share Thinking Topic
Imagine a place where not a single person has read a book that is truly about the character at its center.
ADAM JOHNSON

Book Center Character Imagine Person Place Read Single Truly
But, in North Korea, it’s just the opposite. There’s one story. It’s written by the Kim regime. And 23 million people are conscripted to be secondary characters.
ADAM JOHNSON

Character Conscripted Country Job Opposite Secondary Story Written
Had she never been hungry enough to eat a flower? Did she not know that you could eat daisies, daylilies, pansies, and marigolds?
ADAM JOHNSON

Daisies Eat Flower Hungry Life Marigold never Pansies Rose
Sometimes in life, things happen that will knock you back. Hell, you may get beaten to your knees but you must never ALLOW this world to knock you down!
ADAM JOHNSON

Adversity Allow Beaten Happen Hell Knee Knock Motivational never Overcoming World
There, as a youth, your aptitude towards certain jobs is measured, and the rest of your life is dictated, whether you’ll be a fisherman or a farmer or an opera singer.
ADAM JOHNSON

Dictated Farmer Job Measure Opera Rest Singer Youth

A good story feels both surprising and inevitable, fresh and familiar.

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A good story feels both surprising and inevitable, fresh and familiar.

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