The Science of Storytelling

The Science of Storytelling
Will Storr

Humans have been telling stories ever since we came down from the trees.But do we really understand why?And if we did, would we be able to tell them better?We would be nothing without story. Story moulds who we are, from our character to our cultural identity. Story compels us to act out our dreams and ambitions, and shapes our politics and beliefs. We use story to construct our relationships, to keep order in our law courts and governments, to make sense of the world in our newspapers and social media. Even when we sleep, we dream in story. Storytelling is an essential part of what makes us human.There have been many attempts to understand what makes a good story – from Joseph Campbell’s well-worn theories about myth and archetype to recent attempts to crack the ‘Bestseller Code’. But few have used a scientific approach. This is curious, for if we are to truly understand the machinations of storytelling, we must first come to understand the ultimate storyteller – the human brain.In this original and surprising book, Will Storr takes a scalpel to story. Leading us on a journey from the Hebrew scriptures to Mr Men, from Booker prize-winning literature to box set TV, he demonstrates how master storytellers manipulate and compel us using a dazzling display of psychological research and cutting-edge neuroscience. With the help of world leading story-analysts and brain experts, he shows how we can use this science to tell better stories – and reveals the benefits this can have on everything from our creative endeavours and careers to our happiness and wellbeing.

Copyright (#ulink_a31d1504-e925-5be5-96ac-f7c422ad6002)

William Collins

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers

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London SE1 9GF

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This eBook first published in Great Britain by 4th Estate in 2019

Copyright © William Storr 2019

Cover design by Jack Smythe

William Storr asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins

Source ISBN: 9780008276935

Ebook Edition © April 2019 ISBN: 9780008276959

Version: 2019-04-08

Dedication (#ulink_ba5adef4-918d-5b05-9f8c-b869d921ce18)

For my firstborn, Parker

Epigraph (#ulink_c81417bd-0ab5-5526-aef9-ea659425ff2e)

‘Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp,

Or what’s a heaven for?’

Robert Browning (1812–1889)

Contents

COVER (#u406b4d6d-8f54-5119-8f6c-927910c9a593)

TITLE PAGE (#u70d1e287-cbe1-55b3-b4e5-109639572879)

COPYRIGHT (#u4ac5d878-c673-5cb5-9e36-6535dcf51860)

DEDICATION (#u1d6969a8-8d35-5b90-aa14-cda95d8b170c)

EPIGRAPH (#ubcc6876c-a923-5742-9ec9-0ea503cf9264)

INTRODUCTION (#uff9e2ce1-4703-521e-8fcf-cc12ed8957b6)

CHAPTER ONE: CREATING A WORLD (#u321d45bf-ac86-5108-861e-a8c2a533a8b2)

1.0 Where does a story begin? (#ulink_c71de59c-e2b8-5f17-8274-80da309b7db1)

1.1 Moments of change; the control-seeking brain (#ulink_7f4d798b-0b2a-5905-a5ab-a4a19c8f91b7)

1.2 Curiosity (#ulink_a371751c-19a7-58e6-9f1c-73c2b359e372)

1.3 The model-making brain; how we read; grammar; filmic word order; simplicity; active versus passive language; specific detail; show-not-tell (#ulink_d0474c69-e453-5e17-b2b9-598fc96e43bc)

1.4 World-making in fantasy and science fiction (#ulink_bf3b00c4-9d6f-534e-bf1d-88704e55de26)

1.5 The domesticated brain; theory of mind in animism and religion; how theory-of-mind mistakes create drama (#ulink_38c1a8b8-0482-5913-8aad-5e680eb98ec9)

1.6 Salience; creating tension with detail (#ulink_b181ea2c-54e4-51eb-9c7c-6352189f2dbd)

1.7 Neural models; poetry; metaphor (#ulink_1dcfcf14-3c41-5e50-9e31-ed235a12647b)

1.8 Cause and effect; literary versus mass-market storytelling (#ulink_0822e372-df71-59fd-80a1-b4c2a88e61d4)

1.9 Change is not enough (#ulink_b6c62ef3-4c82-5eff-95e9-b82ff0482ba9)

CHAPTER TWO: THE FLAWED SELF (#u507bda99-08aa-5b76-bbbc-ba740b4eab6d)

2.0 The flawed self; the theory of control (#ulink_a7e52f61-1a53-588b-a96a-a55729d01930)

2.1 Personality and plot (#litres_trial_promo)

2.2 Personality and setting (#litres_trial_promo)

2.3 Personality and point of view (#litres_trial_promo)

2.4 Culture and character; Western versus Eastern story (#litres_trial_promo)

2.5 Anatomy of a flawed self; the ignition point (#litres_trial_promo)

2.6 Fictional memories; moral delusions; antagonists and moral idealism; antagonists and toxic self-esteem; the hero-maker narrative (#litres_trial_promo)

2.7 David and Goliath (#litres_trial_promo)