Where do stories come from? How do they work? What do they tell us about ourselves? What do they mean? Why do we need them? How can we use them to improve the world?
THE WRITER’S JOURNEY ~ THIRD EDITION. Christopher Vogler. Published by Michael Wiese Productions
Above all, how do storytellers manage to make the story mean something? Good stories make you feel you’ve been through a satisfying, complete experience. You’ve cried or laughed or both. You finish the story feeling you’ve learned something about life or about yourself. Perhaps you’ve picked up a new awareness, a new character or attitude to model your life on. How do storytellers manage to pull that off? What are the secrets of this ancient trade? What are its rules and design principles?
I know. Not all writers wonder. Perhaps narratologists do. And not all good stories make you cry or laugh. I didn’t cry or laughed with Macbeth or Hamlet. I was enchanted with the body spread on stage (on my mind since I’ve never seen those performed). Am I weird? A little, right?
I also remember books that follow this hero’s journey idea that bored me up to the third or second sequel. The same structure again and again[1]. By the third book I had figured out some female character would need help and this guy, out of an outdated noblesse towards females, would go, lose his liver, an eye, ribs or got a broken leg and; gathering strength from nature or any other pre ordained magical condition, defeat the evil being. Thank you very much, where can I read something that’s not as predictable? Very akin to what happens to some fighting webtoons. Yet, for those; I still wanna know: why does the main character own two bodies?
Dramas that intend to leave behind a moral principle that infuriated me enough to question myself if the writer belittles their audience or if the audience is really that stupid. I always conclude it’s either the writer or the government trying to censure any gray morals. What if anyone feels like robbing a bank? No, we can’t have that. Those who dare may be banned from reincarnation.
Great stories have things in common. Indeed. However, they’re not always the same pattern. Good storytelling is like quantum physics. If you think you understand quantum physics, you understand nothing.
Have fun wondering. Pasto kalo.
[1] I’m too sophisticated for the franchise story ( except Harry Potter or A song of ice and fire…) but too vulgar for the intellectual quest of revolutionary story telling.
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