The Story Behind Storytelling

THE STORY BEHIND STORYTELLINGAND HOW IT CAN INFORM OUR COMMUNICATIONS

Internal Presentation | January 2013

ALMOST ANYTHING CAN BE A STORY

BUT NOT EVERYTHING IS A GOOD STORY

Badlands (1973)

A GOOD STORY HAS ONE OF TWO THINGS

IT EITHER PAINTS THE PICTURE IN A COMPELLING WAY

Tree of Life (2011)

1

OR IT DRAGS YOU INTO A COMPELLING NARRATIVE

Argo (2012)

2

A REALLY GREAT STORY DOES

BOTH

The Deer Hunter (1978)

THERE’S A SCIENCE TO IT.There’s a scientific reason why these two elements make for good storytelling…

PowerPoint presentations with bullet points only activate the language-processing parts of our brain.

BROCA’S AREA

WERNICKE’S AREA

Bullet points only activate two little bullet points in your brain. That’s it.

But when we are told a good story…

#Eureka!

When we are told a good story, our whole brain lights up. It’s our imagination at work.

THE READING PROCESS IS AN INTERACTION BETWEEN THE TEXT AND THE READER’S IMAGINATION.

“

”

Wolfgang Iser was one of the first reader-response theorists, and he argued that our imaginations work on two levels:

1. On the level of the sentence: we imagine the events that are taking place currently in the text (e.g. on page 20)2. On the level of the narrative: we imagine how the story will proceed and anticipate how it will end (e.g. what will happen next and who might die, etc.)

Turns out he was right.

OUR BRAINS CAN RELIVE THE STORIES WE HEAR…

In terms of brain activity there is very little difference between experiencing something in real life, reading about it in a book, and hearing about it in a story.

So…When we hear “that blueberry pie was delicious” in the context of a story, our sensory cortex lights up. When we read “John caught the baseball” in the context of a story, our motor cortex lights up.

Stories are able to activate our imagination on the level of the sentence. This is why painting a good picture is important.

AND THEY RESPOND TO LARGER NARRATIVES AS WELL…

Steven Pinker, How the Mind Works (1997)

But stories also activate our imaginations on the level of the narrative. In his book How the Mind Works, Steven Pinker talks about how our brain is fascinated with the direction that stories follow. When reading or listening to a story, we are constantly imagining what characters will do next, who will die, who will befriend whom.

This is the power of narrative.

WE ARE HARDWIRED TO RECOGNIZE NARRATIVES

Why do we like stories so much? Some anthropologists believe that we are actually hardwired to like stories.

For thousands of years, stories were the key to survival. They were a mode of communicating vital information in a compressed form (e.g. information about predators, prey, enemies, etc.) Better storytellers and listeners stood a better chance of surviving in this famously brutish and nasty world.

Narratives helped people tell and remember stories. Our brains are good at recognizing patterns, and narratives are basically story patterns.

BETTER FOR

SHARING WITH

PEOPLE

STORYTELLING MAKES CONTENT…

MORE ENGAGING

MORE MEMORABLE

To recap: good storytelling makes information much better for sharing and remembering.

And it functions on the level of the sentence and narrative.

WE ALWAYS TALK ABOUT

WHAT MAKES GOOD TELLING

We almost never talk about what makes a good narrative, or even what a narrative is in the first place.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD NARRATIVE?

NARRATIVE?

First off, what is a narrative? Before we can construct a good narrative, we need to know what narratives are.

WHAT IS A

Countless genresLet’s start with what a narrative is not. A narrative is not the genre to which it belongs. There are countless genres. (Upstairs downstairs, fantasy, film noir, Robinsonade, coming of age, dystopian cyberpunk, spaghetti western.) They can refer to anything from the story’s setting to its period to its tone to its obscure literary technique. One story can be associated with multiple genres.

Genre doesn’t dig deep enough. It doesn’t tell you how the narrative is constructed; it tells you how it is dressed. For example, a film noir and spaghetti western can have the same narratives and characters. They can be constructed in exactly the same way. They can be built with the same building blocks, but still be dressed differently. This doesn’t make them fundamentally different stories.

A NARRATIVE IS A SHAPELet me explain…

VIRTUALLY EVERY NARRATIVE HAS ONE THING IN COMMON:A protagonist who is trying to achieve a goal

JENNAY!

MUST. KILL. VOLDE-MORT.

DON’T DIE! B

A

What does almost every story have in common? A protagonist. And what is that protagonist doing? Trying to achieve something.

This achievement can be self-improvement… the betterment of society… the betterment ofa relationship… getting a haircut… what’s important is that the achievement of this goal leaves the character, or the world of the story, somehow better off.

THE PLOT TRACES THE PROTAGONIST’S PROGRESS TOWARD THAT GOAL.And the journey can have different shapes

B

A

B

A

B

A

How the character gets from point A to point B, though, can vary. It’s never a perfectly straight, linear path.

Things can go badly at first, then very well. Or they can go badly for almost the whole story. If we trace these paths in our heads, we start to recognize certain narrative arcs again and again.

THE FOUR ARCHETYPAL NARRATIVE ARCS…

“When it rains, it pours” comedy, tragedy, horror

“Growing Up” coming of age, bildungsroman

“Hero’s Journey” epic, adventure, fantasy

“Hell and Back” confessional, memoir

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Over the years we’ve gravitated towards four archetypal narrative arcs.

HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR A WHILE…

EPIC OF GILGAMESH 15TH CENTURY BC

ST. AUGUSTINE’S CONFESSIONS397 AD

GOETHE’S WILHELM MEISTER’S APPRENTICESHIP

1795 AD

SOPHOCLES’ ANTIGONE441 BC

These narratives have been around for a long time.

…AND AREN’T GOING ANYWHERE

FINDING NEMO

JUNO

THE SANDLOT

BRIDESMAIDS

And we still see them today.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF NARRATIVES

ANCIENT SUMERIAN: 15thc BCEpic of Gilgamesh

ANCIENT GREEK (EPIC): 8th-6thc BCHomer, Hesiod, Sappho

EARLY RELIGIOUS: 6th-1st c BCConfucius, Taoist, Sun Tzu, the Torah

NEW CHRISTIAN TEXTS: 1st-4thc ADNew Testament, St. Augustine’s Confessions, religious autobiographies

MEDIEVAL LITERATURE: 500-1000 ADEpic poem, Boccaccio, Chaucer, Dante, Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

ELIZABETHAN/JACOBEAN ERA: 1558-1625 ADJonson, Shakespeare, Marlowe, Cervantes

ROMANTIC ERA: 1800-1837 ADThackeray, Bronte sisters, Dumas, Flaubert, Byron, Hawthorne, Austen, Scott

DEFOE’S ROBINSON CRUSOE (1719)

VICTORIAN ERA: 1837-1901 ADDickens, Bronte sisters, Thoreau, Hugo, Melville, Eliot, Carroll, Hardy, Wilde, James

MODERNIST ERA: 1901-1940 ADKipling, Fitzgerald, Conrad, Joyce, Hemingway, Forster, Lawrence, T.S. Eliot, Faulkner, Huxley, Woolf

POSTMODERN ERA: 1940-Sartre, Camus, Beckett, Orwell, Mailer, Miller, Pinter, Bellow, Achebe, O’Neill, Updike, Barthelme, Pynchon

HERO’S JOURNEY

HELL AND BACK

TODAYFranzen, Coetze, Allende, McEwan, Mitchell, Morrison, Roth, Murakami, Zadie Smith, Banville, Carey

ANCIENT GREEK (TRAGEDY + COMEDY): 5th-4th c BCAeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophones

ENLIGHTENMENT: 1700-1800 ADVoltaire, Rousseau, Goethe, Pope, Swift, de Sade, Cooper,

TRAGEDY + COMEDY

GROWING UP

These narrative arcs developed in different eras, for different reasons.

-THE HERO’S JOURNEY developed during the earliest years of conquest and exploration.-TRAGEDY and COMEDY became popular in Ancient Greece, during an age of many gruesome, imperialistic wars.-HELL AND BACK developed shortly after the advent of Christianity and the confessional autobiography.-GROWING UP became popular because of our Enlightenment obsession with education and self-improvement.

HERO’S JOURNEY

Narrative archetype that can be traced back to the very first recorded stories: Gilgamesh, The Odyssey, Beowulf. These stories feature a protagonist who faces a virtually insurmountable goal and must overcome several obstacles on the way to achieving that goal. Genres that typically have this narrative structure are: the epic, the mystery, adventure, fantasy and sometimes the action movie.

Finding NemoProtagonist: NemoGoal: finding his fatherChallenge: jellyfish, dentist’s office, fishing net

The Lord of the RingsProtagonist: FrodoGoal: protecting the ring/ vanquishing SauronChallenge: Nazgul, Watcher in the Water, orcs, etc.

Kill BillProtagonist: The BrideGoal: killing BillChallenge: Bill’s death squad

HELL AND BACK

Narrative archetype that has its roots in early confessional and autobiographical literature. It follows a character along a two-step journey: first away from success, then back toward success. (In early religious texts, this was seen as a wandering away from God and pilgrimage back to God.) It is frequently used to tell stories of survival and self-discovery. Genres associated with this type of narrative are: autobiography, memoir, war story and travelogue.

JunoProtagonist: Juno MacGuffGoal: self-discoveryChallenge: her pregnancy/society

127 HoursProtagonist: Aron RalstonGoal: survivalChallenge: the boulder on his arm

Saving Private RyanProtagonist: Captain John MillerGoal: saving Private RyanChallenge: WWII

GROWING UP

The coming-of-age story is an enduring narrative that speaks to our potential for growth and improvement. It usually follows a younger person as he or she matures in some way. This maturity can be educational, emotional, financial or even artistic. Because the maturation and self-discovery processes are internal (inside the protagonist’s head), she is not always aware of her progress. Genres associated with this type of narrative are: bildungsroman, early American rags-to-riches, western and even the modern high-school drama.

The SandlotProtagonist: Scotty SmallsGoal: gaining acceptance among friendsChallenge: new kid in town

Almost FamousProtagonist: William MillerGoal: becoming a respected music writerChallenge: only teenager in the group

My GirlProtagonist: Vada SultenfussGoal: coming to terms w/ her mother’s deathChallenge: her father, adolescence, TJ’s death

WHEN IT RAINS IT POURS

Narrative archetype on which many comedies and tragedies are based. At the beginning of the story, our protagonist is going about life as usual. If anything, life is good (he finds a stash of money, she finds out she’s the maid of honor). As the story progresses, however, the protagonist faces a series of challenges, one harder than the other, almost to the point where she loses hope and gives up. In the case of tragedy, things often end badly (with everyone dying). In the case of comedy, there is usually a happy ending that restores normalcy in the world. Genres associated with this type of narrative are: comedy, tragedy, horror and thriller (in all their various forms).

BridesmaidsProtagonist: Annie WalkerGoal: doing something successfullyChallenge: Helen, Todd, financial constraints

HalloweenProtagonist: Laurie StrodeGoal: surviving the nightChallenge: Michael Myers

No Country for Old MenProtagonist: Llewelyn MossGoal: running off with the money he foundChallenge: Anton Chiqurh and gangsters

MANY KINDS OF PLOTS CAN BE CONSTRUCTED FROM THESE ARCHETYPES

Homeward Bound

Vigilante Justice

Unlikely Hero

Classic Underdog

Reclaiming the Throne

HERO’S JOURNEYHELL

AND BACKGROWING UP

WHEN IT RAINS, IT POURS

Revenge Plot

Comeback Kid

Second Chance

Unjust Accusation

Courtroom Drama

Stranded on a Beach

The Outsider

Find Yourself

On the Road

Whodunit?

Escape

End of the World

Survive the Night

Big Brother

Disaster

Many kinds of plots can be built on these narrative models. (Plots are the series of eventsthat make a story. You can have different plots that still follow the same narrative arc.)

Stranded on a Beach

The Outsider

Find Yourself

On the Road

Whodunit?

Escape

End of the World

Survive the Night

Big Brother

Disaster

A CLOSER LOOK AT PLOT

Homeward Bound

Vigilante Justice

Unlikely Hero

Classic Underdog



AND BACKGROWING UP


Revenge Plot

Comeback Kid

Second Chance

Unjust Accusation

Courtroom Drama

Cast Away (2000)Gladiator (2000) Minority Report (2002)Homeward Bound (1993)

You’re far away from home, and there are many obstacles (known and unknown) in your way. To get home, you must keep the faith and keep fighting.

Someone has wronged you, hurt you, made your life miserable. Sure, you’re down… but you’re not out. The story isn’t over until you get your retribution.

You’re shipwrecked, deserted, all alone in a faraway place. To survive and return home, you must build a temporary shelter and learn basic life skills.

Maybe you’ve done something wrong, or maybe you haven’t… what matters is that 500 government droids are chasing you and you must get away.

Escape

End of the World

Survive the Night

Big Brother

Disaster

Stranded on a Beach

The Outsider

Find Yourself

On the Road

Whodunit?

Homeward Bound

Vigilante Justice

Unlikely Hero

Classic Underdog



AND BACKGROWING UP


Revenge Plot

Comeback Kid

Second Chance

Unjust Accusation

Courtroom Drama

Never Been Kissed (1999)Rocky II (1979)Batman (2001) Independence Day (1996)

There are bad guys on the loose, and you (yes, you!) need to step up and restore peace in the world. To get to the boss, you must go through a number of smaller foes.

You’re down but you’re not out. You’ve suffered a harsh loss, but there’s still a glimmer of hope. You must believe in the dream and fight hard to get back in shape.

You’re not one of the cool kids. People are skeptical and resentful of you. To establish yourself in this world, you must assert yourself and show your worth.

A huge tidal wave is coming. Martians are circling the White House. You need to survive this event and help those around you survive.


Homeward Bound

Vigilante Justice

Unlikely Hero

Classic Underdog


Revenge Plot

Comeback Kid

Second Chance

Unjust Accusation

Courtroom Drama


AND BACKGROWING UP


Stranded on a Beach

The Outsider

Find Yourself

On the Road

Whodunit?

Escape

End of the World

Survive the Night

Big Brother

Disaster

Groundhog Day (1993)High Fidelity (2000) Friday the 13th (1980)The Lord of the Rings (2001)

You’re not a typical hero type (strong, confident, determined), but you’ve been thrust into the role. Now only you can save the world and set things right.

You’ve messed up, and you’re miserable. But you’re determined to set things right. To make amends, you must re-earn the trust of those closest to you and show them what you’re worth.

You’ve lost your way and you don’t even know it. You’re conceited, pretentious, or maybe you mistreat the people around you. To become a better person, you first need to find yourself and acknowledge flaws.

A killer is on the loose, hiding in the shadows. People are dropping left and right. Your goal is to look out for yourself. Avoid the killer and come out on the other side.


Escape

End of the World

Survive the Night

Big Brother

Disaster

Homeward Bound

Vigilante Justice

Unlikely Hero

Classic Underdog



AND BACKGROWING UP


Revenge Plot

Comeback Kid

Second Chance

Unjust Accusation

Courtroom Drama

Stranded on a Beach

The Outsider

Find Yourself

On the Road

Whodunit?

On the Road (2012)Mean Girls (2004) 1984 (1984)The Fighter (2010)

David vs. Goliath. Rocky vs. Drago. It’s an age old premise. You don’t have all the skills or might, but you’re able to defeat a stronger opponent due to sheer intelligence or will power.

One moment you’re a fairly well liked member of society; the next moment you’re a pariah (deservedly or not). You must swing the scales of public opinion in your favor and show people who you really are.

You lacking something in your life, you have an urge to explore the world. Whatever it is, you take to the road and drive off into the sunset. Along the road, you meet new friends, see new places, and meditate on the meaning of life.

It’s sometime in the future. You’re living in a fascist, totalitarian state run by sophisticated computers. Computers that can track your every move. It’s your job to overturn this government and destroy the computers.


Revenge Plot

Comeback Kid

Second Chance

Unjust Accusation

Courtroom Drama

Homeward Bound

Vigilante Justice

Unlikely Hero

Classic Underdog


Escape

End of the World

Survive the Night

Big Brother

Disaster

Stranded on a Beach

The Outsider

Find Yourself

On the Road

Whodunit?


AND BACKGROWING UP


A Few Good Men (2000)Star Wars I (1977) Titanic (1997)National Treasure (2004)

You were the king that everybody loved. But now you’re hiding in a dark cellar, powerless. For the sake of the crown, your legacy, and your people, you must take back the throne.

You’ve been charged with first degree murder, you’re awaiting trial in a holding cell, but you didn’t do it. To get a not guilty verdict, you must convince a jury of your peers that the evidence against you doesn’t hold water.

A man is dead. His wife is missing. And his mistress isn’t talking. It’s a mystery, and it’s your job to figure out what happened. Little by little, you’re going to find clues and get to the facts.

It’s not quite the end of the world, but it’s dangerous nonetheless. Tornado, plane crash, sinking boat… to survive you need to have your wits about you and luck on your side.


YOU CAN ALSO COMBINE AND MASH-UP THESE STORYTELLING ELEMENTS.

“Comeback Kid” boxing story (Rocky II)

+downward-spiraling “when it rains it

pours” narrative

“Escape” story (Minority Report)

+upward-trending, adolescent “growing up”

narrative

Million Dollar Baby (2004) Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

The goal is not necessarily to choose a narrative and plot combination that is conventional. It’s to play around with these narrative and plot combinations.

Some of the most interesting, experimental stories mix and mash-up these storytelling elements. That’s what makes them innovative.

AN ENDLESS ARRAY OF STORIES CAN BE CONSTRUCTED FROM THESE ARCHETYPES

Homeward Bound

Vigilante Justice

Unlikely Hero

Classic Underdog



AND BACKGROWING UP


Revenge Plot

Comeback Kid

Second Chance

Unjust Accusation

Courtroom Drama

Stranded on a Beach

The Outsider

Find Yourself

On the Road

Whodunit?

Escape

End of the World

Survive the Night

Big Brother

Disaster

Setting

Period

Tone

Common Plots

Narrative

BUILDING THE

NARRATIVE

Narratives aren’t just theoretical. The author must construct them from the ground up, with a number of different storytelling tools. Keeping with film as an example medium, these tools are…

THE SCRIPT

Almost Famous (2000)

(Blocking out the plot points)

SET DESIGN(Privileged, sheltered life)

CASTING(He’s just a boy)


WARDROBE (He’s all grown up!)


IT’S NOT ABOUT FOLLOWING A MODEL

This is a storytelling model I encountered last year in a similar presentation. His argument was that all stories have the Hero’s Journey structure, and that we need to craft all of our stories this way. (False. Wrong.)

The takeaway: storytelling isn’t about following a strict model. It’s about understanding the narrative tools at your disposal and using them.

IT’S ABOUT BEING CREATIVE WITH THE INGREDIENTS IN FRONT OF YOU

THESE NARRATIVES HAVE INFORMED ADVERTISING FOR YEARS…

Imported from DetroitPlaces us In the middle of a “Hell and Back” narrative.

Frank Reardon Can’t Use KayakReferences “Coming of Age” conventions to tell the story of why Kayak.com was founded. The story of Kayak starts years after the story of Frank ended.

ReplayTurns fifteen years of disappointment and unfinished business into a two-part “Hell and Back” narrative. By organizing a rematch, two teams create an opportunity to redeem themselves.

Don’t Have a Grandson with a Dog CollarSeries of comedic spots that spiral downward quickly, dramatizing what can happen to you when you don’t have DirecTV. There is no hope from the very beginning, just (funny) misery.

HELL AND BACK

GROWING UP


HELL AND BACK

Back to the Start2-minute branded entertainment that tells the Hell-and-Back story of America’s farm industry.

Walk Around the WorldTells the coming-of-age story of Johnnie Walker, his rise from local farm boy to respected businessman. This story gives depth to the brand and informs everything that they do.

Small Business SaturdayA once-a-year event, a nationwide movement. Though not an ad per se, this project rallies people and businesses against the big bad corporations that dominate the holiday buying season.

NIKE+ FUELBANDNike+ FUELBAND gives you the ability to write your own story of self-improvement in real time. It tracks your movement throughout the day and charts your incremental progress. Perhaps this narrativization of your life will help motivate you to achieve your goal.

HERO’S JOURNEY

GROWING UP

GROWING UP

HELL AND BACK

Kenny Powers MFCEOViral campaign announcing the new CEO-ship of comic “sportsman” Kenny Powers. Step by step, he transforms K Swiss from a standard, corporate shoemaker into a loud and boisterous sports company.

The Taste of CoolnessA lagging Romanian chocolate brand fakes an American takeover, complete with heavy-handed propagandist advertising. The enemy has come ashore, and it’s up to Romanians to fight back.

Getaway StockholmGames can have narratives too. This game puts you in the middle of a Bourne Identity-style “escape” story. It’s capture the flag, and the last person with the car wins.

Braddock, PALevi’s didn’t just make an ad about a recovering town, they donated money and resources to help it recover. They invested in shaping the second half of the archetypal “Hell and Back” narrative.


HELL AND BACK

HELL AND BACK

GROWING UP

The Girl Who Could FlyA precocious, intrepid fifth-grader wants to make a video of herself flying for class. The process is a lot of work, but it all comes together in the end.

Raise Our FlagFundraising campaign for the US Olympic Committee. Every donation buys a stitch that goes into the American flag. The flag is a representation of all the hard work that went into preparing our athletes for competition.

7th WheelThree couples (and Matt) head out on a lovely weekend getaway. They go to the beach; they go canoeing; and they go sightseeing – and Matt has to suffer through the whole thing on his own.

SCREW*DInteractive reality show about a hapless, helpless, non-DIY guy who is placed in various uncomfortable situations… from which he must use his Craftsmen tools to escape.


GROWING UP

GROWING UP

HERO’S JOURNEY

…EVEN WHEN THE STORIES AREN’T TOLD IN FULL

Big Brother

Apple: 1984

Doesn’t set Apple on a Hero’sJourney, it lands the final blow. Itlaunches Apple into a new post-dystopian world.

When you only have :30 or :60 seconds to work with, it’s hard to tell a whole story from start to finish. But it’s easier to tell a scene inthat story. The rest of the story is implied. If you don’t have time to tell the fully story, it’s worth thinking about how you can tell a scene and imply the rest of the story.

STORYTELLING EXERCISE #1

Step 1 Select your character (e.g. a precocious fifth-grader, an average Joe, your brand)

Step 2 Decide what her goal is (e.g. learning how to fly, becoming president, solving global warming)

Step 4

Step 5

Decide what narrative arc best tells the story of her progress (e.g. Hero’s Journey, Hell and Back, Growing Up, When it Rains it Pours)

Write the story accordingly, bringing out plot points to shape the narrative and mark its inflection points (e.g. green screen, recess, Eliza Jones)

Step 3List out the obstacles in her way (e.g. the skeptics and nonbelievers, blue-collar upbringing, a corrupt government)

“Hero’s Journey” epic, adventure, fantasy

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STORYTELLING EXERCISE #2

Step 1 List out the potential characters and stakeholders connected to your brand (e.g. your employees, your heroes, your customers)

Step 2 Decide what their respective goals are (e.g. learning new skills, traveling outside the city more often, feeling a sense of national pride)

Step 4

Step 5

Step 3Map out all the obstacles in their way (e.g. stifling bureaucracy, lack of adventurous friends, the global recession and austerity measures)

Try writing their “ideal” story a few different ways (e.g. Hero’s Journey, Hell and Back, Growing Up, When it Rains it Pours)

Brainstorm ways to help them or encourage them to overcome these obstacles (e.g. a mobile game, an online forum, a Washington protest, a fake American takeover of the brand)

“Hell and Back” confessional, memoir

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THE END(AND A NEW BEGINNING)

Documents

The Story Behind Storytelling