The Science of Storytelling: Why Stories Make Us Human and How to Tell Them Better
by Will Storr
updated 3d ago
by Will Storr
updated 3d ago
When posed with even the deepest questions about reality, human brains tend towards story.
Kojo added 4mo ago
In his paper ‘The Psychology of Curiosity’, Loewenstein breaks down four ways of involuntarily inducing curiosity in humans: (1) the ‘posing of a question or presentation of a puzzle’; (2) ‘exposure to a sequence of events with an anticipated but unknown resolution’; (3) ‘the violation of expectations that triggers a search for an explanation’; (4)
... See moreSerim Tarcan added 5mo ago
Active grammar means readers model the scene on the page in the same way that they’d model it if it happened in front of them. It makes for easier and more immersive reading.
Kojo added 4mo ago
A character’s conviction in their rightness and superiority is precisely what gives them their terrible power. Great drama often forms itself around a clash of competing hero-maker narratives, one belonging to the protagonist, the other to their foe. Their respective moral perceptions of reality feel utterly genuine to their owners and yet are cata
... See moreKojo added 4mo ago
over the last 20,000 years, our brains have shrunk by between ten and fifteen per cent, the same reduction that’s been observed in all the thirty or so other animals that humans have domesticated. Just as with those creatures, our domestication means we’re tamer than our ancestors, better at reading social signals and more dependent on others. But,
... See moreSerim Tarcan added 5mo ago
In his paper ‘The Psychology of Curiosity’, Loewenstein breaks down four ways of involuntarily inducing curiosity in humans: (1) the ‘posing of a question or presentation of a puzzle’; (2) ‘exposure to a sequence of events with an anticipated but unknown resolution’; (3) ‘the violation of expectations that triggers a search for an explanation’; (4)
... See moreSerim Tarcan added 5mo ago
to make vivid scenes, three specific qualities of an object should be described,
Serim Tarcan added 5mo ago
Unexpected change makes us curious, and curious is how we should feel in the opening movements of an effective story.
Serim Tarcan added 5mo ago
Aristotle argued that ‘peripeteia’, a dramatic turning point, is one of the most powerful moments in drama,
Serim Tarcan added 5mo ago