by Will Storr
Steinbeck, John, The Grapes of Wrath, 140
stories: Abrams’ ‘mystery boxes’, 20; analysis using ‘big data’, 187–9, 191–2; ancient roots of, 136–8; archetypal storytelling, 90, 128, 141, 144–5, 154, 182, 191–2, 194, 196–8; basic shapes, 5, 6, 186, 228; brain as ‘story processor’, 3–4, 48–51; crisis-struggle-resolution, 81–2, 182, 183, 188–90; David and Goliath, 98–100; as distraction from the void, 1–2; dramatic turning points, 13–14; Eastern fiction, 82–3, 129; endings, 192–3, 194–8, 228–9, 230–1; explanatory, 50–1; first sentences, 14–17; good dialogue as ‘two monologues clashing, 86; as hallucinated models, 3, 27–8, 29–32, 37, 64–8, 77, 198–9; hidden symmetry in, 187, 189; information gaps, 19–20, 55, 102, 171, 190; Kishõtenketsu (Japanese form), 83, 129; modernist, 129–30, 139–40, 231; moments of unexpected change, 11–12, 13–17, 55, 83, 179, 185, 189, 214, 215, 224–5; openings of, 11, 14–17, 55–6; perceptions of tribal ‘others’, 153, 200–2; significance of change in, 11–12, 13–17, 53–5, 63, 68, 83, 189–92, 224–5, 230; simulacrum of human consciousness, 198–9; state of ‘transportation’, 198–9; and status play, 144–52, 153–4, 155–7, 160–2; ‘the God moment’, 197–8, 230–1; time as compressed time, 132–5; tribal master-stories, 152–8, 159–62; truth as consolation of, 202–3; and two levels of consciousness, 119–30; use of salient detail, 39–40; see also plot structures; sacred flaw approach; writing
Storr, Will: The Heretics, 3–4; science-based course for writers, 4
story theorists, 4, 5, 13, 131, 139, 144, 163; importance of, 6–7, 228; preoccupation with structure, 5, 186, 228; pursuit of the perfect plot, 186
Stowe, Harriet Beecher, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, 199
Stretcher, Professor Victor, 81
Süskind, Patrick, Perfume, 30–1
Tartt, Donna, The Secret History, 15, 18
Tavris, Professor Carol, 93–4
television, 5, 20, 53, 120–1, 134–5, 166–7
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (film, 1974), 162
theatre, 19–20, 135, 148–51, 179
Tolkien, J.R.R., The Hobbit, 31–2
Tolstoy, Leo: Anna Karenina, 11, 16–17; on works of art, 27
Transparent (TV drama), 120–2
‘transportation’, state of, 198–9
trees, solitary, 119–20
tribes, 136–42, 154–5; hunter-gatherer, 2–3, 36, 136–8, 143, 154–6; master-stories, 152–8, 159–62; perceptions of tribal ‘others’, 153, 159–62, 200–2; stories as tribal propaganda, 155–7, 159–62, 201; tribal conflict, 158, 159–62; tribal emotions, 2, 136–42, 200–2, 224
Trier, Lars von, 140–1, 194
The Truman Show (film, 1998), 65
video games, 182–3
Voldemort, Lord (Harry Potter character), 162
Waal, Professor Frans de, 144, 159
Walker, Alice, ‘Burial’, 42–3
Welles, Orson, 56
Wexler, Professor Bruce, 85, 87
White, E.B., Charlotte’s Web, 14
Wilson, Michael, 123
Wilson, Professor Timothy, 50, 193
Woolf, Virginia, Mrs Dalloway, 129–30, 139–40
Woolf, Virginia, ‘Street Haunting’, 44
writing: books by people like us, 200; embracing the rewind, 209–10; evocation of the senses, 30–1; ‘show not tell’, 29–30, 55; simulacrum of consciousness, 198–9; traditional ‘how-to’ guides, 4, 6–7; use of specific detail, 29–30, 31–2, 172–3, 210, 211–13, 214–17; word order and grammatical style, 28–30; see also plot structures; sacred flaw approach; stories
Yates, Richard, Revolutionary Road, 38–9, 40
Yorke, John, 13; Into the Woods, 187, 228
About the Author
Will Storr is an award-winning writer. His work has appeared in the Guardian, Sunday Times, New Yorker and New York Times. He is the author of four critically acclaimed books, most recently Selfie: How the West Became Self-Obsessed. He teaches popular journalism and storytelling classes in London. He is an in-demand ghostwriter whose books have spent months at the top of the Sunday Times bestseller chart, selling more than 300,000 copies in 2018 alone.
Also by Will Storr
FICTION
The Hunger and the Howling of Killian Lone
NON FICTION
Will Storr Vs. The Supernatural
The Heretics: Adventures with the Enemies of Science
Selfie: How the West Became Self-Obsessed
COURSES
The Science of Storytelling
The Science of Storytelling for Business
How to Tell a Story
For more information about courses, please visit
www.scienceofstorytelling.co.uk
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