Gerry Mooney's Modules

Gerry Mooney - http://thegravityposter.com/

If you have attended my workshops you'll recall my reference to Natural Law and how no human can escape it, and how successful story structure is the consequence of Natural Law. One of the illustrations I use is Gerry Mooney's popular GRAVITY POSTER; (purchase it at the link under the picture at right). As I explain, your characters, like real humans, can make any choice they want, but they have no choice over the consequence of their actions.

That inescapable cause (by us) and effect (from nature) relationship is why stories work and why humor works. The laws of nature transcend our physical realm and also pervade our psychological, spiritual, emotional, and moral worlds.

The productive juxtaposition of science, religion, politics, humor, and storytelling has perhaps never been so poignant than in a series of one-frame cartoons by Mooney, which appeared in Asimov's Science Magazine back in the 80s (that's the 1980's for the vampires reading this).  In each of his 51 creations, there is, like in all stories, a physical reality that metaphors the psychological reality -- which is what each module or story is REALLY about.

Below (left) is the first in the Mooney's Module series that links to the Modules, and a second image (right) to a wonderful story about a little boy and his teacher, Sister Mary Dracula that I recently purchased and "devoured".  CLICK ON EITHER IMAGE FOR THE SERIES, OR TO PURCHASE THE GRAPHIC NOVEL.