I’ve read in several places that the human brain is wired for story. Thousands of years ago, storytelling was how knowledge and news were shared. Spiritual texts often include stories as a way to spread teachings. In modern day, teachers (of many topics) often use stories to make a point. Children love to listen to stories. It’s not unusual for a child to make up their own story as they page through a picture book (perhaps too young to read or they’re struggling with language).
Social media engineers and journalists know this about the human brain. To get people to stay on a platform, the posts are in story form (words or pictures or video). Regardless of the event or circumstances that make the news (newspaper, magazine, TV, etc.), reporters impart the information as a story. A writer friend of mine says she likes K-dramas but doesn’t know why. I do.
Whether the story is conveying information or an explanation, oral or written language is used to induce emotion. My friend likes K-dramas because it makes her feel happy/sad/angry/etc. Fiction readers escape into story to feel something. Horror might make someone feel fear (from the safety of their couch). Thriller/mystery/suspense makes the reader feel excitement. Any novel that ends with appropriately delivered justice makes the reader feel satisfied. Romance readers enjoy the hope, the happiness, the strength of characters to overcome something.
We all know someone who is good at telling a joke or sharing a story. We lean forward, concentrating on their words, building a picture in our minds based on the details that are shared. Perhaps our heart speeds up, or we smile, or our mouth drops open in surprise. The deeper the emotion, and the more emotions that are felt, the longer we remember the joke/story.
This is the reason I encourage students to make up a story about people or places or events when they study for a history test or create some silly story when they need to know about the organelles in a cell. The mind holds onto the emotion evoked through storytelling.
Writing a novel is one of the most difficult and rewarding endeavors someone can do (many resources say… they say the same about raising a child). There is a lot that goes into crafting a good story. Believable characters, a descriptive setting, twists in the plot, a satisfying ending… and evoking enough emotion to keep the reader turning the pages. Ask anyone who has written a good book, and they might say it was simple, but not easy.
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