Be careful which stories you expose yourself to. …The meanings you find, and the stories you hear, will have an impact on how optimistic you are: it’s how we evolved. … If you do not know how to draw positive meaning from what happens in life, the neural pathways you need to appreciate good news will never fire up.
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Fascinating short film on slow-motion as a storytelling device in writing and film.
1. Complex heroes must suffer.
2. Complex heroes are rewarded for their suffering.
3. Complex heroes fail.
4. Complex heroes have fatal flaws.
5. Complex heroes are ordinary people.
2. Complex heroes are rewarded for their suffering.
3. Complex heroes fail.
4. Complex heroes have fatal flaws.
5. Complex heroes are ordinary people.
Roger Colby synthesizes J. R. R. Tolkien’s 5 tips for creating complex heroes, based on the writer’s letters.
Pair with Tolkien’s little-known original drawings for the first edition of The Hobbit.
There are certain children who are told they are too sensitive, and there are certain adults who believe sensitivity is a problem that can be fixed in the way that crooked teeth can be fixed and made straight. And when these two come together you get a fairytale, a kind of story with hopelessness in it.
I believe there is something in these old stories that does what singing does to words. They have transformational capabilities, in the way melody can transform mood.
Kurt Vonnegut’s classic lecture on the shapes of stories, now in an infographic.
The Brothers Grimm fairy tales were published 200 years ago today – celebrate with the best illustrations from their history and Philip Pullman’s modern retelling.
If Mr. Pullman’s Grimm is relatively traditional, that is a gesture of respect not only to these folk tales but to their origins, and to the surety we, like small children, sometimes crave in our stories.
Amanda Katz on Philip Pullman’s retelling of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales.
What antiheroes teach us about the heroic.
Just after Philip Pullman’s new retelling of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales, some grimly gorgeous drawings inspired by classic fairy tales by illustrator Haejeon Jessica Lee.
“As we move into the future, which is clearly going to be dominated by technology, it’s important that we bring culture along with us.”
If Aaron Koblin wasn’t already your hero, his insights on the future of storytelling will change that – a fascinating look at some of his most acclaimed projects.
Other thinkers’ thoughts on the evolution of storytelling, from the same series, here and here.
The neuroscience of the classic dramatic arc coined by German playwright Gustav Freytag 150 years ago.
Jake Barton of Local Projects on the power of collaborative storytelling – fantastic, timely and moving short film, produced for the Future of Storytelling summit.
Also from the series, see this fantastic short film on the neurochemistry of empathy, storytelling, and the dramatic arc.
Stories are the only enchantment possible, for when we begin to see our suffering as a story, we are saved.
My own philosophy on storytelling is that people don’t want to be told how to feel but they do want to be told what to pay attention to. One of the most basic ways to do this when you’re telling a story is to use what’s sometimes called a “pointing arrow,” or signposting. Right before something happens, drop in a little phrase like…”and that’s the moment when everything changed”…or…” and that’s when things got interesting.” Those phrases are like little arrows that tell the listeners: pay attention to what’s about to happen because it’s important. (We use these mercilessly in Radiolab, too much perhaps). Anyhow. I felt like as I was living inside the story I’m telling you now, I’d periodically bump into these pointing arrows, but I could never predict when they’d appear or where they’d lead.
Jad Abumrad shares insights on storytelling from Radiolab’s origin story
