Narrative Structure

Narrative Structure

A storytelling collage featuring a man inspecting barrels, a person holding a skull mask, another man observing the mask, and the text "THE NIGHTCRAWLER" in bold black and orange.
Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.
Open book with a sketch of two toy characters on the left page and a story prompt with fill-in-the-blanks, inspired by a Pixar career hack, on the right.
Storytelling skills are not just for entertainment — practical exercises used by the cream of Hollywood can transform your work-life.
In a black and white illustration, four cartoon characters stand among poppies, set against a fantasy world backdrop. Overlaid text delves into the 19th-century currency debate, highlighting the clash between "Silverites" and "Goldbugs," merging historical intrigue with imaginative charm.
Many beloved fantasy adventures take place in worlds that bear a striking resemblance to our own.
A painting of lord Rama, a major deity in Hinduism and a key figure in the monomyth, depicted with a bow and arrow set against a dynamic sky background.
Joseph Campbell argued that nearly every myth can be boiled down to a hero’s journey. Was he right?
Tolkien's imaginative world encompassed a square and stationary earth.
Narnia and early Middle-earth were pancake-esque — but their creators took differing views on de-globalization.
A famous black and white painting.
Rejecting romanticism, these famous paintings depict war as it really is: sadistic and senseless.
A group of people utilizing effective communication skills sitting around a table in a meeting.
Clear communication is good for business and life — but compelling communication can take you to another level.
A Tolkien-inspired painting portraying a man and woman amidst a mystical forest.
Ignoring the legacy of William Shakespeare is difficult for any writer, let alone one as quintessentially English as "Lord of the Rings" author J.R.R. Tolkien.
"War and Peace" titles by Leonardo da Vinci and John F. Kennedy.
Take a closer look before judging a book by its title.
david lynch style illustration
“Like real dreams, it does not explain, does not complete its sequences," film critic Roger Ebert once wrote about "Mulholland Drive."
"Painfully forced" is how one contemporary critic described Fitzgerald's writing style.
Annie Ernaux
Many were expecting extremism survivor and free speech advocate Salman Rushdie to take home the Nobel Prize in Literature, but Annie Ernaux beat him to it.
movies
Netflix might have something to do with it.
Sherlock Holmes
Detective fiction reveals how a particular society or time period looks at crime and criminal justice.
A man walks through the snow listening to music on his headphones.
Just as storylines make sense only when you have the context of the beginning and the end, listeners need to understand the impetus for why the album was even made.
Satan
By taking Satan out of the religious context, storytellers explored the nature of sin in new ways.
Dostoevsky
According to literary theorist Mikhail Bakhtin, Dostoevsky's talents were on par with those of William Shakespeare.
For the first time, I genuinely enjoyed the new series. There’s been one question that’s bothered me in every episode since Star Trek: Discovery began: why would anyone want to be […]