“The Science of Storytelling” by Will Storr
I was recommended Will Storr's The Science of Storytelling as a book on writing. And while it did indeed leave me with a better understanding of storytelling, I wasn't expecting it to be accompanied by an existential crisis.
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.
I picked up this book after having it recommended to me on a writing course. I was told it was one of those books every writer needs to read.
And so I bought it. And I began reading it. And before I'd reached the end of the first chapter, I found myself facing a full-on existential crisis. Storr wasn't simply telling me how to write. He was breaking down how human beings interpret the world at its most basic level, reminding me that everything I see, feel, or otherwise experience is nothing more than a hallucination created by a lump of tissue inside my skull.
So, yeah. Don't go in expecting a light-hearted read. It's never hard to read, but it's not simple. When he says he's going to teach us about storytelling, what Storr means is a complete breakdown of how humans have evolved to tell stories as a way of interpreting the world around us.
And it's fascinating.
Yes, I may have been thrown when I first began this book. But by the end, I realised this might have been the best way to introduce the idea of storytelling I've ever read. Storr isn't simply telling us how a story works but why it works. Why we create stories in a certain way, and how we can use the fact that we are all the heroes of our own story to bring readers into our writing.
But in a way, The Science of Storytelling is something far greater than simply a book on writing. In breaking down how we create stories, it becomes a vital tool for all walks of life. I'd recommend this book to anyone and everyone who wants to better understand how human relationships grow and why we interact with each other in the way we do.
I can't recommend The Science of Storytelling enough to anyone with an interest in the human condition or who wants to know more about relationships and communication. In a way, I'd almost say it's more a book on relationships than one on writing. But if you are a writer, you have to give it a read.
