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The science of storytelling / Will Storr.

By: Material type: TextTextLanguage: English Publisher: London : William Collins, 2019Description: 272 pages ; 21 cmISBN:
  • 9780008276973
Subject(s): Genre/Form: LOC classification:
  • PN3355 .S87 2019
Contents:
Chapter 1: Creating a world. -- Where does a story begin? -- Moments of change; the control-seeking brain -- Curiosity -- The model-making brain; how we read; grammar; filmic word order; simplicity; active versus passive language; specific detail; show-not-tell -- World-making in fantasy and science fiction -- The domesticated brain; theory of mind in animism and religion; how theory-of-mind mistakes create drama -- Salience; creating tension with detail -- Neural models; poetry; metaphor -- Cause and effect; literary versus mass-market storytelling -- Change is not enough -- Chapter 2: The flawed self. -- The flawed self; the theory of control -- Personality and plot -- Personality and setting -- Personality and point of view -- Cuture and character; western versus eastern story -- Anatomy of a flawed self; the ignition point -- Fictional memories; moral delusions; antagoinsts and moral idealism; antagonists and toxic self-esteem; the hero-maker narrative -- David and Goliath -- How flawed characters create meaning -- Chapter 3: The dramatic questions. -- Confabulation and the deluded character -- The two levels of story; how subconscious character struggle creates plot -- Modernist stories -- Wanting and needing -- Dialogue -- The roots of the dramatic question; social emotions; heroes and villains; moral outrage -- Status play -- King Lear; humiliation -- Stories as tribal propaganda -- Antiheroes; empathy -- Origin damage -- Chapter 4: Plots, endings and meaning. -- Goal directedness; video games; personal projects; eudaemonia; plots -- Plot as recipe versus plot as symphony of change -- The final battle -- Endings; control; the God moment -- Story as a simulacrum of consciousness; transportation -- The power of story -- The lesson of story -- The consolation of story -- Appendix: The sacred flaw approach.
Courses that have reserved this title:
  • M1 Finding Stories in Business
Summary: Why stories make us human and how to tell them better. There have been many attempts to understand what makes a good story – but few have used a scientific approach. In this incisive, thought-provoking book, award-winning writer Will Storr demonstrates how master storytellers manipulate and compel us. 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.
Holdings
Item type Current library Collection Call number Copy number Status Date due Barcode
Book TBS Barcelona Core Textbooks PN3355 STO (Browse shelf(Opens below)) 1 Available B02506
Book TBS Barcelona Core Textbooks PN3355 STO (Browse shelf(Opens below)) 2 Available B02505

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Chapter 1: Creating a world. -- Where does a story begin? -- Moments of change; the control-seeking brain -- Curiosity -- The model-making brain; how we read; grammar; filmic word order; simplicity; active versus passive language; specific detail; show-not-tell -- World-making in fantasy and science fiction -- The domesticated brain; theory of mind in animism and religion; how theory-of-mind mistakes create drama -- Salience; creating tension with detail -- Neural models; poetry; metaphor -- Cause and effect; literary versus mass-market storytelling -- Change is not enough -- Chapter 2: The flawed self. -- The flawed self; the theory of control -- Personality and plot -- Personality and setting -- Personality and point of view -- Cuture and character; western versus eastern story -- Anatomy of a flawed self; the ignition point -- Fictional memories; moral delusions; antagoinsts and moral idealism; antagonists and toxic self-esteem; the hero-maker narrative -- David and Goliath -- How flawed characters create meaning -- Chapter 3: The dramatic questions. -- Confabulation and the deluded character -- The two levels of story; how subconscious character struggle creates plot -- Modernist stories -- Wanting and needing -- Dialogue -- The roots of the dramatic question; social emotions; heroes and villains; moral outrage -- Status play -- King Lear; humiliation -- Stories as tribal propaganda -- Antiheroes; empathy -- Origin damage -- Chapter 4: Plots, endings and meaning. -- Goal directedness; video games; personal projects; eudaemonia; plots -- Plot as recipe versus plot as symphony of change -- The final battle -- Endings; control; the God moment -- Story as a simulacrum of consciousness; transportation -- The power of story -- The lesson of story -- The consolation of story -- Appendix: The sacred flaw approach.

Why stories make us human and how to tell them better. There have been many attempts to understand what makes a good story – but few have used a scientific approach.
In this incisive, thought-provoking book, award-winning writer Will Storr demonstrates how master storytellers manipulate and compel us.
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.

M1 Finding Stories in Business

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