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The Science of Storytelling
Stories mould who we are, from our character to our cultural identity. They drive us to act out our dreams and ambitions, and shape our politics and beliefs. We use them to construct our relationships, to keep order in our law courts, to interpret events in our newspapers and social media. 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 storytelling in its grandest sense, we must first come to understand the ultimate storyteller – the human brain.
In this scalpel-sharp, thought-provoking book, Will Storr demonstrates how master storytellers manipulate and compel us, leading us on a journey from the Hebrew scriptures to Mr Men, from Booker Prize-winning literature to box set TV. Applying dazzling psychological research and cutting-edge neuroscience to the foundations of our myths and archetypes, he shows how we can use these tools to tell better stories – and make sense of our chaotic modern world.
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 storytelling in its grandest sense, we must first come to understand the ultimate storyteller – the human brain.
In this scalpel-sharp, thought-provoking book, Will Storr demonstrates how master storytellers manipulate and compel us, leading us on a journey from the Hebrew scriptures to Mr Men, from Booker Prize-winning literature to box set TV. Applying dazzling psychological research and cutting-edge neuroscience to the foundations of our myths and archetypes, he shows how we can use these tools to tell better stories – and make sense of our chaotic modern world.
144 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 18, 2019
About the author
Will Storr
14 books537 followersWill Storr is a long-form journalist, novelist and reportage photographer. His features have appeared in The Guardian Weekend, The Telegraph Magazine, The Times Magazine, The Observer Magazine, The Sunday Times Style and GQ, and he is a contributing editor at Esquire. He has reported from the refugee camps of Africa, the war-torn departments of rural Colombia and the remote Aboriginal communities of Australia, and has been named New Journalist of the Year, Feature Writer of the Year and has won a National Press Club award for excellence. His critically acclaimed first book, Will Storr versus The Supernatural is published by Random House in the UK. The Hunger and the Howling of Killian Lone is his first novel.
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January 28, 2021This book was recommended to me by Katherine Center and if any of you have read one of her books or gone to one of her book events, you know that her passion is intoxicating. (If not, I highly recommend anything Katherine Center. I find her to be one of the most likable people on the planet.) And boy, was she right about this book. It’s about storytelling—but more than anything it’s about character, it’s about people. And because of it, it’s really about who we are. Why we all do the things we do. I make more sense to myself after reading this book. So I recommend it for absolutely anyone, writer or not. It is really, very special.
July 5, 2021
Listening, Not Telling, Is the Issue
The idea of correlating literary criticism with physiological and psychological research is intriguing on the face of it. But I would be much happier about this book if it were directed toward the listeners rather than the tellers of stories. As it stands, it’s a sort of how-to manual for improving the script for the Kardashians and other creators of literary roadside bombs.
The world isn’t experiencing a dearth of folk who can tell stories well. There are many more good stories in print, and podcasts, and film than all of us could ever experience. And any one of us is hopelessly overwhelmed. Particularly by the semi-literate terrorists with whom we co-inhabit the planet.
There is a natural identifier for most good writers and other storytellers - they get paid; or at least they get published by people who pay for the privilege of doing so. Bad storytellers abound on blogs and webcasts and chat rooms and GR because nobody thinks they’re worth paying for, except the odd rogue government or fascist billionaire.
Why would anyone want to make these ill-educated denizens of the storytelling underworld better at their craft? In order to be more convincing about their tales of cannibalistic pedophile Democrats, poisonous contrails, or the global conspiracy of Corona virus? They already do a pretty good job of attracting an audience for this junk. Teaching them more tricks of the trade strikes me as superfluous.
The real problem is obviously the inability of vast numbers of story-listeners to discern how these modern bards of balderdash, hate and spite are being manipulated by the rhetorical technique, bad as it is, that they already employ.
I suppose that the intent of the book could easily be subverted by reading it as a listening-guide. But that’s not its stated purpose. Besides, any piece by Harold Bloom provides more insight than the whizz bang psychological factoids presented by the author.
Storr is certainly right in his contention that we tell stories in order to keep the horrors of conscious existence at bay. Storytelling is therapy for the knowledge that everything about us is temporary, transient and doomed. But far too much story-listening isn’t therapy; it’s rage and revenge on other storytellers for our fragile, incomplete, and changing grasp of what we call reality.
The idea of correlating literary criticism with physiological and psychological research is intriguing on the face of it. But I would be much happier about this book if it were directed toward the listeners rather than the tellers of stories. As it stands, it’s a sort of how-to manual for improving the script for the Kardashians and other creators of literary roadside bombs.
The world isn’t experiencing a dearth of folk who can tell stories well. There are many more good stories in print, and podcasts, and film than all of us could ever experience. And any one of us is hopelessly overwhelmed. Particularly by the semi-literate terrorists with whom we co-inhabit the planet.
There is a natural identifier for most good writers and other storytellers - they get paid; or at least they get published by people who pay for the privilege of doing so. Bad storytellers abound on blogs and webcasts and chat rooms and GR because nobody thinks they’re worth paying for, except the odd rogue government or fascist billionaire.
Why would anyone want to make these ill-educated denizens of the storytelling underworld better at their craft? In order to be more convincing about their tales of cannibalistic pedophile Democrats, poisonous contrails, or the global conspiracy of Corona virus? They already do a pretty good job of attracting an audience for this junk. Teaching them more tricks of the trade strikes me as superfluous.
The real problem is obviously the inability of vast numbers of story-listeners to discern how these modern bards of balderdash, hate and spite are being manipulated by the rhetorical technique, bad as it is, that they already employ.
I suppose that the intent of the book could easily be subverted by reading it as a listening-guide. But that’s not its stated purpose. Besides, any piece by Harold Bloom provides more insight than the whizz bang psychological factoids presented by the author.
Storr is certainly right in his contention that we tell stories in order to keep the horrors of conscious existence at bay. Storytelling is therapy for the knowledge that everything about us is temporary, transient and doomed. But far too much story-listening isn’t therapy; it’s rage and revenge on other storytellers for our fragile, incomplete, and changing grasp of what we call reality.
October 24, 2023
Gather round ye GoodReads fiction addicts, writers and reviewers: here is the book we've all been waiting for (well I have, at any rate).
Don't be put off by the rather pedestrian title - this is a thoroughly accessible and fascinating approach to the art of storytelling, and why we need stories, not just for entertainment, but to help us make sense of the world and to understand ourselves and those around us.
I was gripped from the very start - in fact, before the very start - by Storr's compelling introduction (edited here for space) :-
'We know how this ends. You’re going to die and so will everyone you love... Human life, in all its noise and hubris, will be rendered meaningless for eternity... The cure for the horror is story... It gives our existence the illusion of meaning and turns our gaze from the dread. There’s simply no way to understand the human world without stories'
So a definite five stars for all the 'E's by which I grade the books I review:-
Enticing / Engaging /Enlightening / Entertaining / and Elegance of writing.
Don't be put off by the rather pedestrian title - this is a thoroughly accessible and fascinating approach to the art of storytelling, and why we need stories, not just for entertainment, but to help us make sense of the world and to understand ourselves and those around us.
I was gripped from the very start - in fact, before the very start - by Storr's compelling introduction (edited here for space) :-
'We know how this ends. You’re going to die and so will everyone you love... Human life, in all its noise and hubris, will be rendered meaningless for eternity... The cure for the horror is story... It gives our existence the illusion of meaning and turns our gaze from the dread. There’s simply no way to understand the human world without stories'
So a definite five stars for all the 'E's by which I grade the books I review:-
Enticing / Engaging /Enlightening / Entertaining / and Elegance of writing.
October 31, 2020
It successfully answers the why behind the writing rules we generally understand and consider commonplace. It was interesting to read from the scientific perspective. But I feel like I knew why already without needing so much detail in some accounts, so it was a mediocre book on craft for me.
My main problem with nonfiction textbook style books is when they give me personal opinion I didn’t ask for. I didn’t need to hear that Native American origin stories and legends are ‘rubbish’ within the authors opinion. And while it does talk about how religion originates from stories I felt like it could have been more sensitively done. Less implying all religions are fictions because this is some peoples beliefs, and it didn't need to be stated that way to get the point across that it wanted to.
It also does the nonfiction thing where it spoils a lot of book plots while explaining craft. I had to skip over some of the examples because I do want to eventually read those books
That said, there were some good things and some valuable things I learned – I have a few tabs after reading, so I wouldn’t say I didn’t take away anything at all. It just wasn’t a favourite book on writing craft of mine.
Content Warnings: mentions of the Holocaust, murder, ableism.
My main problem with nonfiction textbook style books is when they give me personal opinion I didn’t ask for. I didn’t need to hear that Native American origin stories and legends are ‘rubbish’ within the authors opinion. And while it does talk about how religion originates from stories I felt like it could have been more sensitively done. Less implying all religions are fictions because this is some peoples beliefs, and it didn't need to be stated that way to get the point across that it wanted to.
It also does the nonfiction thing where it spoils a lot of book plots while explaining craft. I had to skip over some of the examples because I do want to eventually read those books
That said, there were some good things and some valuable things I learned – I have a few tabs after reading, so I wouldn’t say I didn’t take away anything at all. It just wasn’t a favourite book on writing craft of mine.
Content Warnings: mentions of the Holocaust, murder, ableism.
September 16, 2021
Great, really great.
I would also highly recommend actually reading on human psychology too for a deeper, meaningful understanding of human psychology e.g. work of Erik Erikson, Robert Kegan (developmental psychology), Jean Piaget (child psychology, and Moral Animal by Robert Wright as well (evolutionary psychology).
I would highly recommend this to anyone who's learning storytelling on their own.
I would also recommend:
- Story by Robert McKee.
- Body Keeps the Score.
- Into the Woods by John Yorke.
- Creating Character Arcs by K. M. Weiland
- The Hero With Thousand Faces by Campbell
I would also highly recommend actually reading on human psychology too for a deeper, meaningful understanding of human psychology e.g. work of Erik Erikson, Robert Kegan (developmental psychology), Jean Piaget (child psychology, and Moral Animal by Robert Wright as well (evolutionary psychology).
I would highly recommend this to anyone who's learning storytelling on their own.
I would also recommend:
- Story by Robert McKee.
- Body Keeps the Score.
- Into the Woods by John Yorke.
- Creating Character Arcs by K. M. Weiland
- The Hero With Thousand Faces by Campbell
February 3, 2022
I enjoy reading the occasional book on the craft of writing, and I slowly made my way through this newish release this winter. Storr posits that stories make us human: we were evolved to care deeply about what happens to others, and our brains crave to understand the causes and effects of human behavior. (You know what we love most of all, according to Storr? GOSSIP. It's biology; we can't help ourselves.)
According to Storr, when we better understand the physiology of stories, we tell better stories. I especially loved his copious examples, which run the gamut from Shakespeare to contemporary bestsellers.
As shared in the January 2022 Quick Lit round-up on Modern Mrs Darcy.
According to Storr, when we better understand the physiology of stories, we tell better stories. I especially loved his copious examples, which run the gamut from Shakespeare to contemporary bestsellers.
As shared in the January 2022 Quick Lit round-up on Modern Mrs Darcy.
November 9, 2021
The insightful passage below made me think of white privilege. In colonial America, white landowners pursued a divide and conquer strategy with the white and black laborers who worked for them for small wages. The owners feared that the laborers, who got along well with each other, would join forces and rebel. The owners convinced white laborers that they were inherently superior to black ones and to prove it they paid white laborers a bit more than the black ones. This practice has continued down to this day and is the basis of white privilege. No matter how poor or uneducated you are you are taught that you are better than any black person.
The author suggests why the loss of white privilege is so threatening, engendering an intense fear of a loss of status....
We still have this primitive cognition. We think in tribal stories. It’s our original sin. Whenever we sense the status of our tribe is threatened by another, these foul networks fire up. In that moment, to the subconscious brain, we’re back in the prehistoric forest or savannah. The storytelling brain enters a state of war. It assigns the opposing group purely selfish motives. It hears their most powerful arguments in a particular mode of spiteful lawyerliness, seeking to misrepresent or discard what they have to say. It uses the most appalling transgressions of their very worst members as a brush to smear them all. It takes its individuals and erases their depth and diversity. It turns them into outlines; morphs their tribe into a herd of silhouettes. It denies those silhouettes the empathy, humanity and patient understanding that it lavishes on its own. And, when it does all this, it makes us feel great, as if we’re the moral hero of an exhilarating story.
The brain enters this war state because a psychological tribal threat is a threat to its theory of control – its intricate network of millions of beliefs about how one thing causes another. Its theory of control tells it, among many other things, how to get what it most desires, namely connection and status. It forms the scaffolding of the model of the world and self it has been building since birth.
Of course this model, and its theory of control, is indivisible from who we are. It’s what we’re experiencing, in the black vault of our skulls, as reality itself. It’s hardly surprising we’ll fight to defend it. A tribal challenge is existentially disturbing. It’s not merely a threat to our surface beliefs about this and that, but to the very subconscious structures by which we experience reality.
It’s also a threat to the status game to which we’ve invested the efforts of our lives. To our subconscious, if another tribe is allowed to win, their victory won’t merely pull us down the hierarchy but will destroy the hierarchy completely. Our loss in status will be complete and irreversible. This removal of the ability to claim status meets the psychologist’s definition of humiliation, that ‘annihilation of the self’ which underlies a saturnine suite of murderous behaviours, from spree shootings to honour killings. When a group’s collective status feels threatened and they fear even the possibility of humiliation by another group, the result can be massacre, crusade and genocide.
===========
From "Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment Is Killing America's Heartland" by Jonathan M. Metzl
Trevor had no health insurance and severe liver disease put him in the hospital.
“Ain’t no way I would ever support Obamacare or sign up for it,” Trevor told me. “I would rather die.” When I asked him why he felt this way even as he faced severe illness, he explained, “We don’t need any more government in our lives. And in any case, no way I want my tax dollars paying for Mexicans or welfare queens.
Trevor voiced a literal willingness to die for his place in this hierarchy, rather than participate in a system that might put him on the same plane as immigrants or racial minorities.
In his seminal work on Reconstruction, historian W. E .B. Du Bois famously argued that whiteness served as a “public and psychological wage,” delivering to poor whites a valuable social status derived from their classification as “not-black.” “Whiteness” thereby provided “compensation” for citizens otherwise exploited by the organization of capitalism— while at the same time preventing working-class white Southerners from forming a common cause with working-class black populations in their shared suffering at the bottom of the social ladder.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
The author suggests why the loss of white privilege is so threatening, engendering an intense fear of a loss of status....
We still have this primitive cognition. We think in tribal stories. It’s our original sin. Whenever we sense the status of our tribe is threatened by another, these foul networks fire up. In that moment, to the subconscious brain, we’re back in the prehistoric forest or savannah. The storytelling brain enters a state of war. It assigns the opposing group purely selfish motives. It hears their most powerful arguments in a particular mode of spiteful lawyerliness, seeking to misrepresent or discard what they have to say. It uses the most appalling transgressions of their very worst members as a brush to smear them all. It takes its individuals and erases their depth and diversity. It turns them into outlines; morphs their tribe into a herd of silhouettes. It denies those silhouettes the empathy, humanity and patient understanding that it lavishes on its own. And, when it does all this, it makes us feel great, as if we’re the moral hero of an exhilarating story.
The brain enters this war state because a psychological tribal threat is a threat to its theory of control – its intricate network of millions of beliefs about how one thing causes another. Its theory of control tells it, among many other things, how to get what it most desires, namely connection and status. It forms the scaffolding of the model of the world and self it has been building since birth.
Of course this model, and its theory of control, is indivisible from who we are. It’s what we’re experiencing, in the black vault of our skulls, as reality itself. It’s hardly surprising we’ll fight to defend it. A tribal challenge is existentially disturbing. It’s not merely a threat to our surface beliefs about this and that, but to the very subconscious structures by which we experience reality.
It’s also a threat to the status game to which we’ve invested the efforts of our lives. To our subconscious, if another tribe is allowed to win, their victory won’t merely pull us down the hierarchy but will destroy the hierarchy completely. Our loss in status will be complete and irreversible. This removal of the ability to claim status meets the psychologist’s definition of humiliation, that ‘annihilation of the self’ which underlies a saturnine suite of murderous behaviours, from spree shootings to honour killings. When a group’s collective status feels threatened and they fear even the possibility of humiliation by another group, the result can be massacre, crusade and genocide.
===========
From "Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment Is Killing America's Heartland" by Jonathan M. Metzl
Trevor had no health insurance and severe liver disease put him in the hospital.
“Ain’t no way I would ever support Obamacare or sign up for it,” Trevor told me. “I would rather die.” When I asked him why he felt this way even as he faced severe illness, he explained, “We don’t need any more government in our lives. And in any case, no way I want my tax dollars paying for Mexicans or welfare queens.
Trevor voiced a literal willingness to die for his place in this hierarchy, rather than participate in a system that might put him on the same plane as immigrants or racial minorities.
In his seminal work on Reconstruction, historian W. E .B. Du Bois famously argued that whiteness served as a “public and psychological wage,” delivering to poor whites a valuable social status derived from their classification as “not-black.” “Whiteness” thereby provided “compensation” for citizens otherwise exploited by the organization of capitalism— while at the same time preventing working-class white Southerners from forming a common cause with working-class black populations in their shared suffering at the bottom of the social ladder.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
October 26, 2023
Son söyleyeceğimi baştan söyleyeyim; hikaye anlatıcılığına, yazmaya dair merakı olan herkesin okumasını isteyeceğim bir kitap. Neden öykülere ihtiyaç duyarız, bir öykü nasıl anlatılır vs. gibi sık dile gelen ama cevapları genelde tatmin etmeyen sorulara bilimsel temelli cevaplar veriyor yazar. Üstelik derli toplu ve okuması da gayet kolay. Kolay olması önemli zira bu ve benzer çalışmaların en büyük sorunu bir noktadan sonra metnin iyice akademik dile teslim olup, odağını kaybetmesi. Bu kitap bu açıdan da gayet kıymetli. Konuya ilgi duyanlara tavsiye ederim.
April 5, 2019
People have long tried to deduce exactly what makes a great book or a bestseller and most have failed miserably with so many theories doing the rounds that it's almost impossible to know which, if any, have hit the nail on the head. The Science of Storytelling looks at the art of creating a compelling narrative in an entirely different way by using science to break everything down and analyse it. This is an accessible, fascinating and thought-provoking book which is a fantastic resource for writers to help them understand how to craft an engaging story.
There are plenty of examples from books, movies and TV shows to illustrate the points being made and the fact that Storr primarily looks at the neurological and psychological facets of storycraft makes this a wholly unique read. I feel anyone who writes or is planning to write a novel of any genre would find this helpful. Knowing some of the reasons behind why certain books I've enjoyed have become so critically acclaimed helps a reader to understand different aspects of the plot. Because of this book, I will never think about a novel in the same way again.
Many thanks to William Collins for an ARC.
There are plenty of examples from books, movies and TV shows to illustrate the points being made and the fact that Storr primarily looks at the neurological and psychological facets of storycraft makes this a wholly unique read. I feel anyone who writes or is planning to write a novel of any genre would find this helpful. Knowing some of the reasons behind why certain books I've enjoyed have become so critically acclaimed helps a reader to understand different aspects of the plot. Because of this book, I will never think about a novel in the same way again.
Many thanks to William Collins for an ARC.
January 3, 2022
In The Science of Storytelling, Will Storr reminds readers our brains are hard-wired for stories and how best to utilize this in our own writing endeavors.
Through the use of various writing tools based on scientific research, Storr demonstrates how to appeal to an audience, keep them hooked and connected to the characters.
For example, Storr writes the use of change in storytelling grabs readers' attention because human beings are always on the look out for it. Change can be good or bad- it's life itself. Our brains look for change as a survival mechanism and this trait can be used to entice readers so they come back for more story.
"This is what storytellers do. They create moments of unexpected change that seize the attention of their protagonists and, by extension, their readers and viewers." pg 13, ebook
Change is also something that people try to control (they can't but they try). This universal pattern is called, 'the theory of control'. When readers see traits they share with characters in stories, they become invested in the outcome which keeps them reading. Or when readers see traits they don't believe they have, but do, they're hooked.
There's a lot of hooking going on, which is a good thing when you're writing a story. :)
"A character in fiction, like a character in life, inhabits their own unique hallucinated world in which everything they see and touch comes with its own unique personal meaning." pg 41, ebook
Storr suggests creating complex characters and writes that the story almost creates itself with a properly drawn character. A complex character has flaws, a personality, misunderstandings with others in the story.
Also, going back to the 'change' theme, complex characters are generally passing through a 'change of status' of some kind. This ignites curiosity in the reader. It makes readers ask themselves, 'What's going to happen next?!'
"The place of maximum curiosity- the zone in which storytellers play- is when people think they have some idea but aren't quite sure." pg 18, ebook
Highly recommended for writers or anyone interested in how the brain works. If you're looking for more writing advice, I recommend Murder Your Darlings: And Other Gentle Writing Advice from Aristotle to Zinsser or Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t: Why That Is And What You Can Do About It.
Through the use of various writing tools based on scientific research, Storr demonstrates how to appeal to an audience, keep them hooked and connected to the characters.
For example, Storr writes the use of change in storytelling grabs readers' attention because human beings are always on the look out for it. Change can be good or bad- it's life itself. Our brains look for change as a survival mechanism and this trait can be used to entice readers so they come back for more story.
"This is what storytellers do. They create moments of unexpected change that seize the attention of their protagonists and, by extension, their readers and viewers." pg 13, ebook
Change is also something that people try to control (they can't but they try). This universal pattern is called, 'the theory of control'. When readers see traits they share with characters in stories, they become invested in the outcome which keeps them reading. Or when readers see traits they don't believe they have, but do, they're hooked.
There's a lot of hooking going on, which is a good thing when you're writing a story. :)
"A character in fiction, like a character in life, inhabits their own unique hallucinated world in which everything they see and touch comes with its own unique personal meaning." pg 41, ebook
Storr suggests creating complex characters and writes that the story almost creates itself with a properly drawn character. A complex character has flaws, a personality, misunderstandings with others in the story.
Also, going back to the 'change' theme, complex characters are generally passing through a 'change of status' of some kind. This ignites curiosity in the reader. It makes readers ask themselves, 'What's going to happen next?!'
"The place of maximum curiosity- the zone in which storytellers play- is when people think they have some idea but aren't quite sure." pg 18, ebook
Highly recommended for writers or anyone interested in how the brain works. If you're looking for more writing advice, I recommend Murder Your Darlings: And Other Gentle Writing Advice from Aristotle to Zinsser or Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t: Why That Is And What You Can Do About It.
February 2, 2020
An introduction to the topic, serving mainly the ones interested in knowing the secrets behind human passion for stories. However, this is no academic book, don't expect depth or novel scientific concepts. Storr writes with fluidity, maintaining the reader engaged, but if you're looking for academic work to support your research, look elsewhere.
A larger discussion, with references, is presented in my blog, but in Portuguese: https://virtual-illusion.blogspot.com...
A larger discussion, with references, is presented in my blog, but in Portuguese: https://virtual-illusion.blogspot.com...
May 24, 2021
Nice defadır yazdığım gibi Türkçe'ye çevrilen bu tip kitaplarda gerçekten hayal kırıklığı yaşadıklarım oldu. Yazmak isteyen insanlar için tam tersi duruma, yazamamaya sebebiyet verecek kötülükte baskılara denk geldim. İşte bu kitap, hiç haddini aşmadan birkaç önemli kısma lokalize olup verimli bir bilgi birikimi, öğrenim sunuyor. Yazmak ile ilgilenenler için "Alın," diyebilebileceğim bir eser.
July 19, 2022
77th book of 2022.
I've been reading this here and there for about a week now and glad to be done with it. Though Storr makes a few interesting points here and there, it was not what I was imagining it to be. Where I imagined pragmatic (who wants pragmatism? Creatives sometimes need pragmatism) insight into the 'science' of stories, their structures and how they work on a more pratical level, Storr really went with the science stuff. Who can blame him, he sets it up in his title, I just chose to ignore it or pretend it would be something else. A good 200 pages of this is used up on psychology: he talks about studies that have been done on different people regarding different things, talks more about movies than novels, it seemed, to demonstrate human behaviour, etc., and overall didn't talk in the areas I was looking for. The final chapter, the last twenty or so pages, is his own approach to developing a story, which is beginning with a character's 'sacred flaw' and then expanding the story from that. It's more interesting than other things I've seen on developing characters, like 'character sheets', which are almost entirely useless (what is your character's favourite colour? What was your character's first pet called?). Mostly a waste of time, but it did embed some old stuff I've already learnt/heard about. Mostly it felt like a psychology lesson (I dropped A-Level psychology after a single, painful, year of it).
I've been reading this here and there for about a week now and glad to be done with it. Though Storr makes a few interesting points here and there, it was not what I was imagining it to be. Where I imagined pragmatic (who wants pragmatism? Creatives sometimes need pragmatism) insight into the 'science' of stories, their structures and how they work on a more pratical level, Storr really went with the science stuff. Who can blame him, he sets it up in his title, I just chose to ignore it or pretend it would be something else. A good 200 pages of this is used up on psychology: he talks about studies that have been done on different people regarding different things, talks more about movies than novels, it seemed, to demonstrate human behaviour, etc., and overall didn't talk in the areas I was looking for. The final chapter, the last twenty or so pages, is his own approach to developing a story, which is beginning with a character's 'sacred flaw' and then expanding the story from that. It's more interesting than other things I've seen on developing characters, like 'character sheets', which are almost entirely useless (what is your character's favourite colour? What was your character's first pet called?). Mostly a waste of time, but it did embed some old stuff I've already learnt/heard about. Mostly it felt like a psychology lesson (I dropped A-Level psychology after a single, painful, year of it).
May 19, 2019
3.5 stars.
A nice overview of cognitive psychology and its role in the telling of stories. Will Storr writes well, has good insights, and seems to be a nice sort of bloke. I learnt some interesting stuff.
A couple of awkward moments pulled the overall score down. Storr allows himself to draw a few political conclusions from his outline of psychology, and in so doing moves into heavily subjective territory. Sure, you can talk about wars and conflicts entirely in terms of tribal psychological baggage, but it's a bit like explaining basketball in terms of quantum physics. Furthermore, it implies that both sides in a conflict are equally at fault, equally driven by primal urges. What about situations where one side is clearly oppressed and fighting against oppression? What about, say, the South African freedom struggle?
The book also breaks a golden rule: don't cite conservative twat Jordan Peterson.
A nice overview of cognitive psychology and its role in the telling of stories. Will Storr writes well, has good insights, and seems to be a nice sort of bloke. I learnt some interesting stuff.
A couple of awkward moments pulled the overall score down. Storr allows himself to draw a few political conclusions from his outline of psychology, and in so doing moves into heavily subjective territory. Sure, you can talk about wars and conflicts entirely in terms of tribal psychological baggage, but it's a bit like explaining basketball in terms of quantum physics. Furthermore, it implies that both sides in a conflict are equally at fault, equally driven by primal urges. What about situations where one side is clearly oppressed and fighting against oppression? What about, say, the South African freedom struggle?
The book also breaks a golden rule: don't cite conservative twat Jordan Peterson.
July 6, 2019
Fascinating! I first came across this after Holly Bourne mentioned on Twitter that she'd read it, and how good it was. If you enjoy writing fiction, or even if you ever just ask yourself, "why does this book work so well, but others don't?", then this is for you. One to come back to and read again.
April 4, 2023
Imagine a psychologist tearing your faves apart… super interesting, accessible and fun to read!
Read
January 3, 2021Interesting as far as it goes, but focusing entirely on character arcs as the basis for story (and a fairly specific type of character arc at that). Which is fine, but the marketing of this as a much more wide-ranging Theory of Story book is a bit off imo. An interesting deep dive into this specific aspect of story-telling.
February 9, 2021
كتاب مدهش عن فن القص
الإدهاش فيه هو طريقة ويل ستور في صياغة الأفكار لإيصالها بطريقة فنية وجمالية.
المفترض أنه كتاب نظري ممل ومقيت, ولكن الحقيقة أنه كتاب مليء بالتفاصيل الممتعة, التي لا تجعلك تترك الكتاب وخاصة إن كنت من المهتمين بالتأليف.
الإدهاش فيه هو طريقة ويل ستور في صياغة الأفكار لإيصالها بطريقة فنية وجمالية.
المفترض أنه كتاب نظري ممل ومقيت, ولكن الحقيقة أنه كتاب مليء بالتفاصيل الممتعة, التي لا تجعلك تترك الكتاب وخاصة إن كنت من المهتمين بالتأليف.
October 4, 2019
Essential resource for writers of fiction.
Storr writes in an engaging and informative way, effectively interpreting the science for the layperson. He draws on research by story theorists, mythologists, anthropologists, sociologists, psychologists, neuroscientists, biologists and social genomicists to explain how stories work. Each point is amply demonstrated with examples from literature, film, TV and computer games.
Just some of the topics covered by The Science of Storytelling include:
How to construct sentences for greater impact
The importance of metaphor and simile
The writer-reader relation
Character motivation
Dialogue
The beginning, middle and end.
Appendices give exercises to help draft your manuscript.
I highlighted so many passages and will come back to this book again and again.
A fascinating read.
Thank you NetGalley and publisher HarperCollins for the ARC.
Storr writes in an engaging and informative way, effectively interpreting the science for the layperson. He draws on research by story theorists, mythologists, anthropologists, sociologists, psychologists, neuroscientists, biologists and social genomicists to explain how stories work. Each point is amply demonstrated with examples from literature, film, TV and computer games.
Just some of the topics covered by The Science of Storytelling include:
How to construct sentences for greater impact
The importance of metaphor and simile
The writer-reader relation
Character motivation
Dialogue
The beginning, middle and end.
Appendices give exercises to help draft your manuscript.
I highlighted so many passages and will come back to this book again and again.
A fascinating read.
Thank you NetGalley and publisher HarperCollins for the ARC.
August 19, 2019
Came to me at an important moment of change in my life, and helped me grow as a person and be more compassionate towards the people in my life. Cannot recommend enough.
November 28, 2021
Four and a half stars.
I used to be obsessed with reading books about writing techniques, surely because I believed there was a correlation between learning the right techniques and me being able to avoid having to work full-time at some office. After reality proved that hope to be a delusion (reality tends to do shit like that), I stopped reading such kinds of books for a while.
In any case, I learned I could classify them into three categories:
1) Those that don't believe in rules and that want to inspire you to write. They love expressions like "writer's block" as the reason why you can't push scenes out. I found such books mostly useless, but I guess they help those who want to brute-force their way into writing a novel. Or at the very least, the kind words contained in such books comfort those writers as they inevitably end up stuck in a ditch.
2) Those that have studied many stories that worked, and have synthesized sets of rules or suggestions so you can build your own stories. They range from Campbell's mythical stuff to random fiction writers of which I had never heard, but that have produced useful lists that probably improve your stories.
3) Those that realize that human brains are organic machines that respond in somewhat predictable, researchable ways to stimuli, so if a writer wants to capture the reader's attention, surprise them or in general affect them reliably, there might be scientific studies out there that suggest how to do so. My favorite of this category might be Lisa Cron's 'Wired for Story', but I can't recall any other at the moment.
Although you can't go wrong with many books of the second category, I prefer the latter. This book I'm reviewing contains plenty of references to scientific studies or to books on popular science to justify its conclusions.
In general, the author advocates for the following:
-One's stories should be built around a main character's fatal flaw. The book says plenty of interesting stuff about how to build those fatal flaws (the author calls them 'sacred flaws') and how they should affect the story.
-An inciting incident should kick off the story with unexpected change tailored to a main character's fatal flaw, which causes that person to react in unexpected ways.
-The plot's main goal should be a result of that main character's reaction to the inciting incident.
-Instead of going on about acts like most books that get into plotting, the author considers that you should focus on figuring out different stages of that main character's development, in which he or she is a "different" person.
-The story's ending should answer definitely whether or not that main character has outgrown his or her fatal flaw, or if it has grown ten times worse.
-Character growth shouldn't be limited to the main character. The writer should explore how the interactions between all the main characters cause them to grow (this is a contrast with other books that suggest that the rest of the cast should remain steadfast to avoid stepping on the main character's journey of growth).
-Likely other stuff I can't remember.
I would have rated the book five stars if some of its points didn't get repetitive. For example, it brings up studies that show that our ancient brains make our decisions for us, and the parts of our brains that evolved later mostly make up a story of what has bubbled up to its department, the same way it tries to build a coherent narrative out of dreams. In general we just delude ourselves into thinking that we hold certain beliefs (religious, political, tastes, and about the people we love) for logical reasons. We are little else than filthy monkeys with delusions of grandeur, whose tribal impulses, that have changed little in millions of years, will inevitably fuck us all up. Such monkey-brained loons shouldn't be trusted with the fate of thousands or millions, and to be honest we likely shouldn't be writing books either.
I used to be obsessed with reading books about writing techniques, surely because I believed there was a correlation between learning the right techniques and me being able to avoid having to work full-time at some office. After reality proved that hope to be a delusion (reality tends to do shit like that), I stopped reading such kinds of books for a while.
In any case, I learned I could classify them into three categories:
1) Those that don't believe in rules and that want to inspire you to write. They love expressions like "writer's block" as the reason why you can't push scenes out. I found such books mostly useless, but I guess they help those who want to brute-force their way into writing a novel. Or at the very least, the kind words contained in such books comfort those writers as they inevitably end up stuck in a ditch.
2) Those that have studied many stories that worked, and have synthesized sets of rules or suggestions so you can build your own stories. They range from Campbell's mythical stuff to random fiction writers of which I had never heard, but that have produced useful lists that probably improve your stories.
3) Those that realize that human brains are organic machines that respond in somewhat predictable, researchable ways to stimuli, so if a writer wants to capture the reader's attention, surprise them or in general affect them reliably, there might be scientific studies out there that suggest how to do so. My favorite of this category might be Lisa Cron's 'Wired for Story', but I can't recall any other at the moment.
Although you can't go wrong with many books of the second category, I prefer the latter. This book I'm reviewing contains plenty of references to scientific studies or to books on popular science to justify its conclusions.
In general, the author advocates for the following:
-One's stories should be built around a main character's fatal flaw. The book says plenty of interesting stuff about how to build those fatal flaws (the author calls them 'sacred flaws') and how they should affect the story.
-An inciting incident should kick off the story with unexpected change tailored to a main character's fatal flaw, which causes that person to react in unexpected ways.
-The plot's main goal should be a result of that main character's reaction to the inciting incident.
-Instead of going on about acts like most books that get into plotting, the author considers that you should focus on figuring out different stages of that main character's development, in which he or she is a "different" person.
-The story's ending should answer definitely whether or not that main character has outgrown his or her fatal flaw, or if it has grown ten times worse.
-Character growth shouldn't be limited to the main character. The writer should explore how the interactions between all the main characters cause them to grow (this is a contrast with other books that suggest that the rest of the cast should remain steadfast to avoid stepping on the main character's journey of growth).
-Likely other stuff I can't remember.
I would have rated the book five stars if some of its points didn't get repetitive. For example, it brings up studies that show that our ancient brains make our decisions for us, and the parts of our brains that evolved later mostly make up a story of what has bubbled up to its department, the same way it tries to build a coherent narrative out of dreams. In general we just delude ourselves into thinking that we hold certain beliefs (religious, political, tastes, and about the people we love) for logical reasons. We are little else than filthy monkeys with delusions of grandeur, whose tribal impulses, that have changed little in millions of years, will inevitably fuck us all up. Such monkey-brained loons shouldn't be trusted with the fate of thousands or millions, and to be honest we likely shouldn't be writing books either.
December 19, 2019
The Science of Storytelling is a psychology book. It looks at the age-old art of storytelling through what we know today about what catches the attention, what holds it, what intrigues the mind, repulses it or gets it calculating. All this in aid of writing novels and screenplays, which Will Storr teaches.
When I was a (marketing) manager, I had the reputation of always telling stories. Any time I wanted some sort of action taken, I would tell a story where similar circumstances led to the needed result. It’s just natural to tell stories people can relate to (I noticeably more than most, apparently). So with novels and films. It’s all about manipulating hallucinations for fun and profit. Knowing how the mind works makes modern fiction ever more gripping (when done right). Motivations, self-delusion and subconscious acts all figure prominently in Storr’s analyses.
He is very observant, deconstructing not just stories and scenes, but sentences and words. He gets the reader to understand the completely different impact of a simple declaration like: Jane gave her dad a kitten vs Jane gave a kitten to her dad. There’s not just a world of difference, but a world of different potential between the two sentences.
Similarly, everything must have a purpose. He says scenes without cause and effect are boring.
The basic driver of everything is the character. Who is s/he really? It might take the entire novel for the character to find out, and the reader might know well before s/he does. Bizarre turns should give the reader clues.
The basic structure is the five act drama. Things happen in a certain order and certain scenarios must be fulfilled to get to the next step. It has been the basis of storytelling for 2000 years, he says. It works, and is path of least resistance in writing fiction.
As for plots, he cites Christopher Booker numerous times that there are only seven. Everything we see and read is a variant of one of them.
The whole crux is what Storr calls a sacred flaw (He devotes the Appendix to it). The character controls his own little world, as we all must or go crazy. In that world the character is safe, secure, and most of all, right. It is the theory of control. Something happens to shake that control and that theory, and so begins a fight, an adventure, a chase, an investigation, a crusade, a campaign…. This is of course just life. The world and the universe are constantly changing. Anyone who holds to an unshakeable position will prove to be sadly mistaken. No matter who you are or what you perceive, it works until it doesn’t, and you have to adjust the theory to fit the new reality.
One thing that really slowed me down was Storr’s use of pronouns. He mixes singular and plural like they were masculine and feminine. Michael Corleone is they/them, for example. At one point, he uses the word themself, a combination of singular and plural in a single word, which grabbed my attention and made me forget what I was reading. I actually stopped and posted it on a forum to see if anyone else had ever encountered it. Why bother to squeeze a tortured neuter pronoun in for someone the reader clearly knows is female? Sometimes it’s hard to know who he is referring to. His and their are not interchangeable.
Overall, it’s an instructive ride, as Storr cites passages from numerous books and films to prove his points. It’s all true and relatable. He cites Roy Baumeister: “Life is change that yearns for stability.” And good luck with that.
David Wineberg
When I was a (marketing) manager, I had the reputation of always telling stories. Any time I wanted some sort of action taken, I would tell a story where similar circumstances led to the needed result. It’s just natural to tell stories people can relate to (I noticeably more than most, apparently). So with novels and films. It’s all about manipulating hallucinations for fun and profit. Knowing how the mind works makes modern fiction ever more gripping (when done right). Motivations, self-delusion and subconscious acts all figure prominently in Storr’s analyses.
He is very observant, deconstructing not just stories and scenes, but sentences and words. He gets the reader to understand the completely different impact of a simple declaration like: Jane gave her dad a kitten vs Jane gave a kitten to her dad. There’s not just a world of difference, but a world of different potential between the two sentences.
Similarly, everything must have a purpose. He says scenes without cause and effect are boring.
The basic driver of everything is the character. Who is s/he really? It might take the entire novel for the character to find out, and the reader might know well before s/he does. Bizarre turns should give the reader clues.
The basic structure is the five act drama. Things happen in a certain order and certain scenarios must be fulfilled to get to the next step. It has been the basis of storytelling for 2000 years, he says. It works, and is path of least resistance in writing fiction.
As for plots, he cites Christopher Booker numerous times that there are only seven. Everything we see and read is a variant of one of them.
The whole crux is what Storr calls a sacred flaw (He devotes the Appendix to it). The character controls his own little world, as we all must or go crazy. In that world the character is safe, secure, and most of all, right. It is the theory of control. Something happens to shake that control and that theory, and so begins a fight, an adventure, a chase, an investigation, a crusade, a campaign…. This is of course just life. The world and the universe are constantly changing. Anyone who holds to an unshakeable position will prove to be sadly mistaken. No matter who you are or what you perceive, it works until it doesn’t, and you have to adjust the theory to fit the new reality.
One thing that really slowed me down was Storr’s use of pronouns. He mixes singular and plural like they were masculine and feminine. Michael Corleone is they/them, for example. At one point, he uses the word themself, a combination of singular and plural in a single word, which grabbed my attention and made me forget what I was reading. I actually stopped and posted it on a forum to see if anyone else had ever encountered it. Why bother to squeeze a tortured neuter pronoun in for someone the reader clearly knows is female? Sometimes it’s hard to know who he is referring to. His and their are not interchangeable.
Overall, it’s an instructive ride, as Storr cites passages from numerous books and films to prove his points. It’s all true and relatable. He cites Roy Baumeister: “Life is change that yearns for stability.” And good luck with that.
David Wineberg
June 30, 2023
ถ้าให้ผมสรุปเนื้อหาทั้งเล่มภายในประโยคเดียว ผมจะสรุปว่า "เขียนเรื่องราวของคุณให้เป็นมนุษย์ที่สุด เพราะมนุษย์ย่อมเข้าใจและเข้าถึงเรื่องราวของตนเองมากที่สุด"
เเม้หน้าหนังสือจะทำให้เราเข้าใจว่า เนื้อหาจะเน้นไปที่การอธิบายทางวิทยาศาสตร์ จริงๆก็มีวิทยาศาตร์เเหละครับ เเต่ไม่ใช่ในเเบบที่เราเข้าใจ ประมาณว่ามาผ่าสมองให้เราดูเลยว่าทำงานเเบบนี้กับเรื่องเล่าหรือการเขียนเเบบนี้ เเต่เป็นการเชื่อมโยงให้เห็นว่า สมองของเราในเชิงจิตวิทยา ทำงานยังไงกับเรื่องเล่า
พอเข้าใจว่าเรื่องเล่าเเบบไหนที่ทำให้สมองทำงานมากเป็นพิเศษ (หรือพูดเเบบง่ายว่าสมองคึกคัก) ทีนี้ก็นำจุดนั้นเเหละครับมาขยายให้เราฟังว่าเพราะอะไรถึงเป็นเเบบนั้น ซึ่งผลสรุปก็คือ เรื่องราวที่โชว์ถึงความเป็นมนุษย์ ความอ่อนเเอ ความผิดพลาด การเเก้ไข ที่เหมือนกับชีวิตของเราทุกคน คือ คำตอบของทั้งหมด
คำตอบนี้ เข้าใจได้ชัดเจนเลยว่ามันเป็นเเบบนั้นจริงๆ หากลองนึกย้อนไปว่างเรื่องราว ตัวละคร ไหนที่ยังตราตรึงอยู่ในความทรงจำของเราเเม้เราจะอ่านมันจบไปนานเเล้ว เรื่องพวกนี้น่าจะไม่พ้นตัวละครที่เเตกสลายหรือมีข้อผิดพลาดต่างๆมากมาย เเต่ด้วยสถานการณ์บางอย่างที่ทำให้ตัวเอกของเราเปลี่ยนเเปลงตัวเอง (ไม่ว่าจะเปลี่ยนไปในทางที่ดีหรือไม่ดีก็ตาม) มักจะเป็นตัวเอกที่เราจดจำได้มากว่าตัวเอกที่เราไม่รู้อะไรเลย ไม่ว่าภูมิหลัง นิสัย เพราะเมื่อเราอ่านไปเเล้วเราสัมผัสได้ไม่ว่ามุมใดมุมหนึ่งว่าตัวละครนี้อาจเป็นเราก็ได้ หากเป็���เราเเล้วเราจะตัดสินใจหรือทำยังไงในสถานการณ์เดียวกันกับที่ตัวละครนี้ได้พบเจอ เรื่องเล่าที่ทำให้เราสามารถเเทนตัวเองลงไปในตัวละครนี่เเหละคืออีกเหตุผลที่ยืนยันได้ว่านี่คือเรื่องเล่ารวมถึงการออกเเบบตัวละครที่ดี
เเม้ว่าเนื้อหาดูจะเหมาะกับคนทีเป็นนักเขียน ในการเป็นไกด์บุ้คคร่าวๆเพื่อช่วยออกเเบบโครงเรืองหรือตัวละครที่น่าสนใจ เเต่ผมคิดว่าใครก็ตามที่ทำงานด้านที่ต้องใช้ความสามารถในการถ่ายทอดเรื่องราวให้กับคนอื่น เหมาะที่จะอ่านหนังสือเล่มนี้ทั้งนั้นครับ มันช่วยให้เราเข้าใจว่ามนุษย์ของเราสนใจในเนื้อสารเเบบไหน เนื้อหาอย่างไรที่ทำให้คนสนใจ เเล้วใช้หลักการนี้ในการออกเเบบวิธีสื่อสารเพื่อให้ได้ผลตามที่เราต้องการ
เป็นหนังสืออีกเล่มที่ยืนยันว่าปัจจัยในการเล่าเรื่องอะไรซักอย่างให้ประสบความสำเร็จไม่ได้เป็นเเค่เรื่องของศิลป์หรือพรสวรรค์เท่านั้น เเต่ยังศาสตร์ที่อยู่เบื้องหลังที่สามารถอธิบายได้ว่าเพราะอะไรศิลป์เหล่านั้นถึงได้ผลอย่างที่เป็นอยู่ครับ
เเม้หน้าหนังสือจะทำให้เราเข้าใจว่า เนื้อหาจะเน้นไปที่การอธิบายทางวิทยาศาสตร์ จริงๆก็มีวิทยาศาตร์เเหละครับ เเต่ไม่ใช่ในเเบบที่เราเข้าใจ ประมาณว่ามาผ่าสมองให้เราดูเลยว่าทำงานเเบบนี้กับเรื่องเล่าหรือการเขียนเเบบนี้ เเต่เป็นการเชื่อมโยงให้เห็นว่า สมองของเราในเชิงจิตวิทยา ทำงานยังไงกับเรื่องเล่า
พอเข้าใจว่าเรื่องเล่าเเบบไหนที่ทำให้สมองทำงานมากเป็นพิเศษ (หรือพูดเเบบง่ายว่าสมองคึกคัก) ทีนี้ก็นำจุดนั้นเเหละครับมาขยายให้เราฟังว่าเพราะอะไรถึงเป็นเเบบนั้น ซึ่งผลสรุปก็คือ เรื่องราวที่โชว์ถึงความเป็นมนุษย์ ความอ่อนเเอ ความผิดพลาด การเเก้ไข ที่เหมือนกับชีวิตของเราทุกคน คือ คำตอบของทั้งหมด
คำตอบนี้ เข้าใจได้ชัดเจนเลยว่ามันเป็นเเบบนั้นจริงๆ หากลองนึกย้อนไปว่างเรื่องราว ตัวละคร ไหนที่ยังตราตรึงอยู่ในความทรงจำของเราเเม้เราจะอ่านมันจบไปนานเเล้ว เรื่องพวกนี้น่าจะไม่พ้นตัวละครที่เเตกสลายหรือมีข้อผิดพลาดต่างๆมากมาย เเต่ด้วยสถานการณ์บางอย่างที่ทำให้ตัวเอกของเราเปลี่ยนเเปลงตัวเอง (ไม่ว่าจะเปลี่ยนไปในทางที่ดีหรือไม่ดีก็ตาม) มักจะเป็นตัวเอกที่เราจดจำได้มากว่าตัวเอกที่เราไม่รู้อะไรเลย ไม่ว่าภูมิหลัง นิสัย เพราะเมื่อเราอ่านไปเเล้วเราสัมผัสได้ไม่ว่ามุมใดมุมหนึ่งว่าตัวละครนี้อาจเป็นเราก็ได้ หากเป็���เราเเล้วเราจะตัดสินใจหรือทำยังไงในสถานการณ์เดียวกันกับที่ตัวละครนี้ได้พบเจอ เรื่องเล่าที่ทำให้เราสามารถเเทนตัวเองลงไปในตัวละครนี่เเหละคืออีกเหตุผลที่ยืนยันได้ว่านี่คือเรื่องเล่ารวมถึงการออกเเบบตัวละครที่ดี
เเม้ว่าเนื้อหาดูจะเหมาะกับคนทีเป็นนักเขียน ในการเป็นไกด์บุ้คคร่าวๆเพื่อช่วยออกเเบบโครงเรืองหรือตัวละครที่น่าสนใจ เเต่ผมคิดว่าใครก็ตามที่ทำงานด้านที่ต้องใช้ความสามารถในการถ่ายทอดเรื่องราวให้กับคนอื่น เหมาะที่จะอ่านหนังสือเล่มนี้ทั้งนั้นครับ มันช่วยให้เราเข้าใจว่ามนุษย์ของเราสนใจในเนื้อสารเเบบไหน เนื้อหาอย่างไรที่ทำให้คนสนใจ เเล้วใช้หลักการนี้ในการออกเเบบวิธีสื่อสารเพื่อให้ได้ผลตามที่เราต้องการ
เป็นหนังสืออีกเล่มที่ยืนยันว่าปัจจัยในการเล่าเรื่องอะไรซักอย่างให้ประสบความสำเร็จไม่ได้เป็นเเค่เรื่องของศิลป์หรือพรสวรรค์เท่านั้น เเต่ยังศาสตร์ที่อยู่เบื้องหลังที่สามารถอธิบายได้ว่าเพราะอะไรศิลป์เหล่านั้นถึงได้ผลอย่างที่เป็นอยู่ครับ
August 23, 2020
I have to confess that I picked this book up with fairly specific expectations - namely a scientific dive into why stories are so important to human beings.
Instead Storr delivers much more. Drawing from a much wider range of psychology than I expected, including Personality, neurology and perception and how this impacts different elements of storytelling. So rather than a sort of interest piece of why people like stories anyone who reads this gets a fairly thorough bundle of both a 'how-to' book on writing and a thesis of the science of storytelling.
The tome ends with a plotting model for writers called the Sacred Flaw approach, which is probably the most well explained character development tool I've worked with - and doesn't preclude using any of the other useful plotting tools out there.
Highly recommended.
Instead Storr delivers much more. Drawing from a much wider range of psychology than I expected, including Personality, neurology and perception and how this impacts different elements of storytelling. So rather than a sort of interest piece of why people like stories anyone who reads this gets a fairly thorough bundle of both a 'how-to' book on writing and a thesis of the science of storytelling.
The tome ends with a plotting model for writers called the Sacred Flaw approach, which is probably the most well explained character development tool I've worked with - and doesn't preclude using any of the other useful plotting tools out there.
Highly recommended.
March 27, 2019
I found 'The Science of Storytelling' to be really interesting at the start, with thought-provoking statements about the importance of storytelling and the way that our brains perceive it.
As the book moved on there were tonnes of outlines and references to other novels and movies, which (as I haven't read or seen all of them) went over my head a little. It also contains spoilers!!! I skipped over a lot of the quotes and outlines from books that I haven't read yet.
Will Storr's writing style is accessible and easy to follow, and I have enjoyed his previous works. This one wasn't for me, but would be helpful to anybody with an interest in writing fiction.
As the book moved on there were tonnes of outlines and references to other novels and movies, which (as I haven't read or seen all of them) went over my head a little. It also contains spoilers!!! I skipped over a lot of the quotes and outlines from books that I haven't read yet.
Will Storr's writing style is accessible and easy to follow, and I have enjoyed his previous works. This one wasn't for me, but would be helpful to anybody with an interest in writing fiction.
November 16, 2023
my, oh my, what a treat this is. a great read on the art and science of storytelling served in a template of exemplary storytelling with many side dishes of literary extravaganza. At its core it’s about how our brains are wired and how we perceive the reality. I really liked how Storr put all the different stories into context to exemplify the methods of storytelling.
August 20, 2023
เนื้อหาดี แต่วิธีการเขียนแย่ อ่านไปเจอสปอยเฉย เซ็งไม่ใช่ไร
August 5, 2019
Humans make a narrative out of anything. A painting drops from the wall, and we think there are hidden motives behind it. There is an extra susurrus in the darkness, and we see glowing eyes and figures despite there being none. Narration is our surviving power alone and as a group, and it's no wonder we are drawn into stories. And it's no wonder that there are specific kinds of stories that speak to us. Will Storr looked behind the science of storytelling through a social psychology's perspective, combining them with wisdom found in writing guidebooks.
Everything boils down to characters (flawed ones,) our mind detecting changes, and for our need to understand. Those are already good building blocks for any story. He moves on explaining why stories matter, how we handle them, and why we need them (survival and group coherence). And to top it all he explains how to use them in writing, drawing examples from well-known books and movies. A warning, though, the book contains spoilers. If you plan to read Gone Girl or watch Lawrence of Arabia, then maybe read this book afterward.
If you are a writer or someone who wants to understand why stories matter or how and why we come up with stories, I recommend this book. It's well written, the writer justifies his conclusions, and he offers clear examples of how to use the science behind storytelling as a writer. Will Storr even offers examples on how to start your story so it will draw the reader in. That is advice worth more than gold.
Everything boils down to characters (flawed ones,) our mind detecting changes, and for our need to understand. Those are already good building blocks for any story. He moves on explaining why stories matter, how we handle them, and why we need them (survival and group coherence). And to top it all he explains how to use them in writing, drawing examples from well-known books and movies. A warning, though, the book contains spoilers. If you plan to read Gone Girl or watch Lawrence of Arabia, then maybe read this book afterward.
If you are a writer or someone who wants to understand why stories matter or how and why we come up with stories, I recommend this book. It's well written, the writer justifies his conclusions, and he offers clear examples of how to use the science behind storytelling as a writer. Will Storr even offers examples on how to start your story so it will draw the reader in. That is advice worth more than gold.
July 12, 2022
One of my top three writing craft books.
January 21, 2020
So fascinating! Would even recommend to non-writers. Gives an insight into why we are so obsessed with stories.
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