SWING METER
INTRO <h1>Immersive Narrative</h1> [storyBook.jpg] "Stephen King calls fiction ‘the truth inside the lie.’ The truth is what the story says about us. It takes us into the story. "This is an introduction to immersive narrative. Narrative lies — that tell the truth about our lives. - How does this work? [HOW IT WORKS] - What is the goal? [LESSON GOAL] - Resources [VARIOUS RESOURCES] TOC <h2>Key Concepts</h2> - assimilation - deep desire - defining misbelief - disequilibrium - equilibrium - external struggle [STORY SCHEMA] - internal struggle - point - precipitating event - protagonist - mental model - change of heart - what if VARIOUS RESOURCES <h2>Resources</h2> <ul> <li>Adams, Kenn, “Back to the Story Spine,” 2013, https://www.aerogrammestudio.com/2013/06/05/back-to-the-story-spine/</li> <li>Cron, Lisa, Story Genius, Ten Speed Press, 2016</li> <li>Gottschall, Jonathan, The Storytelling Animal, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012</li> <li>Storr, Will, The Science of Storytelling, Abrams Press, 2020</li> </ul><p class="finePrint">Unless otherwise indicated, images are royalty free stock found on Pixabay. Icons by Flaticon, used with permission. The characters and events portrayed in this work are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Copyright © 2022 Roger Kenyon.</p> - Contents [TOC] HOW IT WORKS <h2>How it Works</h2> [audience.jpg] " Content is presented in short exchanges, like a conversation. Each exchange presents a point with examples or detail. " Keep it short. Show more, say less. More like text messaging. Less like a text book. - What is the goal? [LESSON GOAL] - Start the lesson! [STORY SCHEMA] - Show more, say less? [SAYING LESS] SAYING LESS <h2>Saying Less</h2> [theatre.jpg] " Some times a picture is worth a 1000 words. " Other times radio is more visual than television. Words leave room for the reader to fill in with experiences from his or her life. " Words matter. We use words to converse, to make contracts, even to curse. " Use words to engage. For starters, use fewer. And use words that encourage imagination. - Lesson goals? [LESSON GOAL] - Start the lesson [STORY SCHEMA] LESSON GOAL <h2>Aim</h2>[memory_01.jpg] "Choose your path and move at your pace as you learn the essentials of immersive narrative in order to develop compelling storytelling. " Your reader will care what happens. Caring = attention = retention. " This is important in training and education. For instance, for an employee onboarding tutorial or an online help guide. - On to the lesson [STORY SCHEMA] - How does this work? [HOW IT WORKS] STORY SCHEMA <h2>⚪️ Plot</h2> [car_chase.jpg] "All narratives have plot. Plot is a series of events. " The car chase, the fight scene, the love scene. Plot is the sequence of … . - what happens [WHAT HAPPENS] - why events happen [WHY HAPPENS] WHY HAPPENS <h2>🔴 Plot is why events happens?</h2> [oops_03.jpg] " Plot is what happens, not so much isn't why events happen. Let's take a different track. " Why has to do with internal factors, such as motive or mistaken beliefs. " Plot has to do with external events: this happened, then that happened. - Plot is external, got it [WHAT HAPPENS] WHAT HAPPENS <h2>🟢 Plot is what happens</h2> [stage_02.jpg] " Plot is a sequence of events leading up to a point (story climax). " At the climax, the problem is resolved. For example, a mystery leading to … . - finding a missing person [FINDING PERSON] - collecting a set of clues [NOT FINDING] NOT FINDING <h2>Collecting clues is the mystery's climax?</h3> 🔴 Not so much. Collecting clues is part of the story development, but not a high point. [oops_03.jpg] " The climax is a resolution of the external conflict. " Clues would more likely lead to … . - finding a missing person [FINDING PERSON] FINDING PERSON <h2>Plot is struggle</h2> 🟢 The plot is the protagonist's external struggle with the ‘what if’ problem. [bricks_01.jpg] " What if there is an earthquake. " What has to happen to … . - find shelter [FIND SHELTER] - find inner peace [INNER PEACE] INNER PEACE <h2>Plot is finding inner peace?</h3> 🔴 Inner peace is internal. It might be part of the protagonists inner struggle. [oops_03.jpg] " Plot refers to events around external events. "As far as the plot goes, if there is an earthquake, first … . - find shelter [FIND SHELTER] FIND SHELTER <h2>Plot is problem solving</h2> 🟢 Plot tells how the hero conquers the external struggle (e.g., finds shelter). [rain_01.jpg] " Every narrative tells what events happen. " An immersive narrative tells … . - how it happens [TELLS HOW IT HAPPENS] - why it happens [TELLS WHY IT HAPPENS] TELLS HOW IT HAPPENS <h2>Immersive tells how?</h3> 🟡 Well, yes—but every narrative tells how. [explain_01.jpg] " An immersive narrative distinctively focuses on … . - why it happens [TELLS WHY IT HAPPENS] TELLS WHY IT HAPPENS <h2>Tell Why</h3> 🟢 Immersive narrative tells ‘why’ through the protagonist’s internal struggle. [oops_02.jpg] " Injury, loneliness, regret. We have all had it. " You struggle. The protagonist … . - struggles [PROTAGONIST STRUGGLES] - has an easier time [EASIER TIME] EASIER TIME <h2>Has an easier time?</h3> 🔴 The protagonist struggles with issues, just as you do. Getting along with cranky people, never having enough time, wishing you were had made different choices. - struggles, got it [PROTAGONIST STRUGGLES] PROTAGONIST STRUGGLES <h2>Empathy / Sympathy</h2> Can the reader can relate to the protagonist’s struggle? " If so, the reader becomes immersed in the protagonist’s world. " The reader … the outcome of events. - is a spectator to [NOT INVESTED] - becomes invested in [BECOMES INVESTED] NOT INVESTED <h2>Reader as spectator?</h3> 🔴 The reader becomes ‘in the scene’ through the protagonist. " Active, not passive. Less like not a spectator and more like a … . - participant [BECOMES INVESTED] BECOMES INVESTED <h2>Caring</h2> To be immersed is to feel like you are there. To be invested is to feel that you care. " The invested reader cares what may happen. " The … of the protagonist matters to the reader. - history - fate [WHAT WILL HAPPEN] HISTORY MATTERS <h2>History Matters?</h3> 🟡 Yes and no. How the protagonist got here helps the reader relate. Perhaps you have had similar struggles. Perhaps not. " History is the past. Fate is the future. " If I have problems like our hero has, I want to know how he or she handles them. A story is an account of how somebody solved some problem (and probably a lot of lesser problems along the way). Subtly, we want to know how the hero solved the problem. We want to know … . - what will happen [WHAT WILL HAPPEN] WHAT WILL HAPPEN As a writer, the process often begins by asking: what if? " The protagonist was doing all right. " Until, as a writer, you came along. YOU CAME ALONG As writer, you upset the protagonist's world with 'what if.' " What if there was an earthquake? " What if people could only utter the truth? " What if the new neighbours are nudists? TELL THE TRUTH What if something upsets the protagonist’s world. " ‘What if’ is a problem that needs solving. " It is a quest that needs completing. THE PROTAGONIST’S WORLD The protagonist is our avatar. " The protagonist is us; he or she puts us in the story. " The protagonist makes us a participant, makes us immersed. MAKES US IMMERSED We want the protagonist to resolve the struggle. " Because the protagonist's struggle is our struggle. " Maybe the protagonist feels like an outsider—we have felt like an outsider. OUR STRUGGLE The reader goes from watching what happens to wanting it to happen. " What happens to the protagonist happens to us. " What happens there matters here. HAPPENS TO US A protagonist like us is how readers have skin in the game. " The protagonist experiences an internal struggle leading to change of heart. " This struggle yields the main point. YIELDS THE MAIN POINT Said another way, the protagonist’s transformation embodies the point. Here is how the protagonist might put it. I am someone whose past will make what happens to me inevitable. The loner who finds a friend. The outlaw who seeks redemption. EMBODIES THE POINT Every story has a point, a message to be discovered. A message to make sense of your life; give it meaning. It may be that good guys always win. Or there is still time for fix the wrongs. MAKE SENSE OF YOUR LIFE They don't always win and often there isn't enough time. But the message is what you make it. The protagonist seem to have his or her demons under control. Maybe he moved away. Maybe she tries to forget. DEMONS UNDER CONTROL These demons are inner struggle and they are barely under control. As protagonist, I put on a front that I am happy. But something will happen and I will have a change of heart. PUT ON A FRONT As a writer, pick someone to play the protagonist whose inner struggle and change of heart exemplifies the point. For example, I used to be a fashion model. We were poor. I didn't just wear the clothes, they wore me. I became what I wore. BECAME WHAT I WORE The clothes made me glamorous, influential, provocative. I struggle because we had nothing and I become something in what I wear. Internal struggle is the tension between my deep desire and the defining misbelief that keeps me from it. How I overcome my defining misbelief is what the story is about. WHAT THE STORY IS ABOUT What does the protagonist want? I want to feel appreciated for who I am. I want to feel wanted for myself and not the model's clothes I wear. WANT TO FEEL WANTED Why does the protagonist want it? To compensate for feeling neglected growing up. Only noticed for what I do (modelling), not who I am. TO COMPENSATE What having it will mean? Being noticed will mean I am okay, not broken or unwanted. What is the protagonist’s defining misbelief? If people saw me, they would not want me just as others did when I was a skinny little kid. PROTAGONIST’S DEFINING MISBELIEF Why does the protagonist have this misbelief? Our family was poor growing up. My parents put me in child pageants. Winnings helped? Yes, but left me feeling I am good as what I do, not who I am. NOT WHO I AM Why doesn’t the protagonist overcome the misbelief? Because I am not good enough on my own; clothes make me good enough. My deep desire is what I have long wanted. Everything about me stems from my past and my deep desire. STEMS FROM MY PAST Raised in poverty, I want to be safe and secure. I want somebody to love me, freckles and all. Or, in another story, I want to go the stars, to see moonrise on Mars. The protagonist’s deep desire doesn’t have to be possible to still be desired. DOESN’T HAVE TO BE POSSIBLE The protagonist suffers from a misbelief. It defines his or her character. It holds the protagonist from achieving that deep desire. Fear, for instance, may hold the protagonist back. HOLD THE PROTAGONIST BACK Why perpetuate a misbelief that holds a person back? The protagonist might say: because it feels right or seems true to me. At a crucial moment in the my life, it was true in the sense it served some purpose. IT SERVED SOME PURPOSE For instance: being rich is being right [money buys anything]. Or: if you're nice, people won't hurt you [like daddy did]. Or: I'm not good enough [nobody like me ever did such-and-such before]. EVER DID SUCH-AND-SUCH So, quick review, internal struggle isn't the same as external struggle. External struggle is what happens to me, such as a robbery or falling in love. Internal struggle occurs within me; it is how I deal with my deep desire. IT IS HOW I DEAL When the story starts, the protagonist has a sense of stability, balance, equilibrium. This occurs when experience (the external environment) matches expectations (mental model). A protagonist has equilibrium when his or her mental model can explain (make sense of, assimilate) any new perceptions or experiences. MAKE SENSE OF That all goes out the window when aliens land or hurricane hits or the someone from the past wants revenge. A mental model affects how a person perceives and interacts with an object or event. We filter our world view through mental models. FILTER OUR WORLD If a mental model is incomplete or inaccurate, it may lead to faulty generalizations, such as stereotypes or bias. Suppose, the protagonist regards older people as dull, cranky, dim. As a writer, I will the protagonist meet a senior citizen with a sharp mind. What will the protagonist do? I will discount it. The senior had a rare good day. Or I will focus any instance of forgetfulness, however small. WILL THE PROTAGONIST DO Or I give you, as protagonist a change of heart. Change of heart is enlightenment or coming to awareness. This is where the protagonist has an insight into his or her internal struggle As protagonist, I realize my mental model is not correct. MENTAL MODEL IS NOT CORRECT Change of heart: I realize that I've been acting from mistaken expectations and this prevented me from achieving my deep desire. It leads to a new outlook (mental model) and is a turning point for the protagonist personally. It should not be confused with the climax of the external struggle. I may realize not all old people are cranky, some are helpful, but we have not found a bomb shelter yet. A TURNING POINT Here are a few examples of change of heart. I used to think the people in government cared about the country, but was I wrong. Some politicians care only about themselves. I don't have to like your fiancé; this is your choice and I will support your decision. It turns my family isn't atypical; the ones on TV are. THIS IS YOUR CHOICE With enlightenment comes reassessment of what makes sense to the protagonist. It is a change in outlook, a new perspective, a revised mental model. It also changes the way a person thinks (outlook) and feels (attitude). CHANGES THE WAY A PERSON THINKS Here are a few examples. Meeting a diversity of people at college, I realized I was raised with prejudices. Life in the city was nothing like home for the visiting country mouse. I thought you loved me for who I am, but you were only using me. FOR WHO I AM With a change of heart, I resolve the discrepancy between what I experience and my mental model. This restores equilibrium. In narrative, disequilibrium motivates behaviour to find a new equilibrium. The protagonist feels frustrated and seeks to restore balance by overcoming the new challenge. OVERCOMING THE NEW CHALLENGE A story is about the protagonist finding a new equilibrium. This new balance, new status quo or way of life will continue until there is ever a need to adjustment it, which is what sequels are for. Until then, there is the message or meaning of the story. It is what you want readers to go away thinking about. It is what you are you trying to say about human nature. WHAT YOU ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY For example: clothes, like cars, project the image we have of ourselves. Or: those who tell you secrets will tell your secrets. Or: people support what they help create. WHAT THEY HELP CREATE The main point determines what kind of internal struggle the story will be about. The point doesn’t come from external events. It comes from the struggle those events trigger within the protagonist. WITHIN THE PROTAGONIST It comes from how we would try to figure out what to do about the problem faced. The point is what we take from the story into our lives. It is the message in the bottle.