Schema II

config.style.page.font: 'Arbutus Slab/serif 16' config.style.page.link.font: 'Arbutus Slab/serif 16' config.style.page.link.color: "#903176" config.style.page.link.active.color: "#31373f on #d8e2f1" config.style.page.fork.divider.style: "none" config.style.page.color: '#314891 on #f6f4ef' config.footer.left: " " config.footer.right: " " config.style.page.verticalAlign: 'top' config.header.transition.name: 'none' config.style.page.header.link.font: ' ' -- <h1>Story mental model</h1> <h4>essentials of immersive narrative</h4> <img src="https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2019/05/14/21/50/storytelling-4203628_1280.jpg" alt="story book"> All narratives have plot. Plot is a sequence of events. The car chase, the fight scene, the love scene. Plot is what happens. An immersive narrative tells why it happens. It does so by engaging the reader with the protagonist's internal struggle. By relating to the struggle, the reader is immersed in the protagonist's world and invested in the outcome of events. The story process typically begins by wondering [[what if]] ?

room: 'What If' config.header.left: "« {restart link} | {link to: 'Table of Terms', label: 'TOC'} | {back link}" config.header.center: " " config.header.right: "**{room}**" -- What If is a situation that upsets the [[protagonist]]’s [[equilibrium]] and sets up an [[external struggle]] for the protagonist. Examples <ul> <li>What if the new neighbours are nudists?</li> <li>What if the power went off and never came on?</li> <li>What if people only spoke white lies, half-truths</li> </ul> What If could be constructed with a Story Spine. <ul> <li>Once upon a time …</li> <li>And every day …</li> <li>But one day …</li> <li>Because of that …</li> <li>And because of that …</li> <li>Until finally …</li> <li>And ever since then …</li> </ul>

room: 'The Protagonist' -- The protagonist is the reader’s avatar. The protagonist makes the reader a virtual participant in the story and not simply an observer. What happens to the protagonist happens to us. It is how, as readers, we have skin in the game. The protagonist experiences an [[internal struggle]] leading to [[change of heart]]. This struggle yields the [[point]]. Said another way, the protagonist’s transformation embodies the point. The protagonist is someone specifically whose past will make what happens to him or her inevitable. Pick a protagonist whose transformation (inner change) will embody the point. Example: the protagonist used to be a fashion model who was the clothes; that is, who found identity is what was worn.

room: 'The Point' -- The point is the message, meaning, or moral of the story. The point is what you want readers to go away thinking about. It is what you are you trying to say about human nature. Examples <ul> <li>Clothes project the image we have of ourselves.</li> <li>Those who tell you secrets will tell your secrets.</li> <li>People support what they help create.</li> </ul> The point determines what kind of [[internal struggle]] the story will be about. The point doesn’t come from the events, but from the struggle events trigger within the [[protagonist]] trying to figure out what to do about the problem faced.

room: 'Equilibrium' -- Equilibrium is a sense of stability or balance that occurs when experience (external environment) matches expectations ([[mental model]]). The protagonist maintains equilibrium when his or her mental model can explain (make sense of, [[assimilate->assimilation]]) any new perceptions or experiences.

room: 'External Struggle' -- <img src="https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2017/10/28/13/53/minotaur-2897115_1280.png" alt="story maze"> External struggle is another name for the plot, the sequence of events involving the [[protagonist]] to solve the problem in the [[what if]].

room: 'Internal Struggle' -- The internal struggle is the tension between the [[deep desire]] of the [[protagonist]] and the [[defining misbelief]] that keeps him or her from it. How the protagonist overcomes his or her defining misbelief is what the story is about. Sample Internal Struggle <ol> <li>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.</li> <li>Why does the protagonist want it? To compensate for feeling neglected growing up; only noticed for what I do (modelling), not who I am. </li> <li>What having it will mean? Being noticed will mean I am okay, not broken or unwanted.</li> <li>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.</li> <li>Why does the protagonist have this misbelief? Our family was poor growing up and winnings from me in child parents helped, but left me feeling I am good as what I do, not who I am.</li> <li>Why doesn’t the protagonist overcome the misbelief? Because I am not good enough on my own; clothes make me good enough.</li> </0l>

room: 'Deep Desire' -- Deep desire is what the [[protagonist]] has long wanted. Everything about the protagonist stems from his or her past and the deep desire it instills. Examples <ul> <li>Raised in poverty, I want to be safe and secure.</li> <li>I want somebody to love me, freckles and all.</li> <li>I want to go the stars, to see moonrise on Mars.</li> </ul> The protagonist’s deep desire doesn’t have to be logistically possible to still be desired.

room: 'Defining Misbelief' -- A defining misbelief is what holds the [[protagonist]] from achieving his or her [[deep desire]]. Fear, for instance. The defining misbelief feels right or seems true to the protagonist because, at a crucial moment in the his or her life, it was true in the sense it did work some purpose. Examples <ul> <li>Being rich is being right [money buys anything]</li> <li>If you're nice, people won't hurt you [like daddy did]</li> <li>I'm not good enough [nobody like me did it before]</li> </ul>

room: 'Precipitating Event' -- The precipitating event is the trigger scene of the [[what if]] and sets off the [[protagonist]]’s [[internal struggle]]. By the precipitating event, the storyteller creates [[disequilibrium]] for the protagonist. This creates interest for the reader, wanting to know how the protagonist (how we, vicariously) will handle the discrepancy. The reader experiences the external struggle (plot), but invests in the protagonist's internal struggle leading to [[change of heart]]. Even if what the protagonist expects to happen does occur, it doesn’t feel like the protagonist thought it would, which in turn causes unintended problems that the protagonist did not anticipate. Example <ul> <li>What does the protagonist go into the scene believing? That her identity is the clothes she wears, so she dresses well.</li> <li>Why does she believe it? Neglected as a child, except for beauty pageants.</li> <li>What is my protagonist’s goal in the scene? To model for the nudist neighbours that they can be more glamorous if chicly dressed. </li> <li>What does my protagonist expect will happen in this scene?” That the nudists will put on clothes and welcome her.</li> </ul>

room: 'Mental Model' -- A mental model is a representation of an object or event that directs how a person will respond or intereact with it. For example, the concept of a truck or police officer or job interview. Types of mental models <ul> <li>Inanimate object: attributes, varieties, operation. E.g.: a mental model of an automobile. Has an engine (attribute), may be a sedan (variety), requires fuel (operation). </li> <li>Animate object and person: appearance, behaviour, personal preferences, personality traits, aspirations. E.g.: family dog, store cashier, myself.</li> <li>Event: what to expect and script of how to behave in different social situations. E.g.: going to the movies; job interview; wedding ceremony.</li> </ul> A mental model affects how a person perceives and interacts with an object or event. We filter our world view through mental models. If a mental model is incomplete or inaccurate, however, it may lead to faulty generalizations, such as stereotypes. Example The [[protagonist]] regards older people as lonely, cranky, mentally diminished, and set in their ways. When the protagonist meets a senior citizen with keen mental acuity, the protagonist discounts it as the senior having a rare good day or focuses in on one instance of the senior citizen's forgetfulness.

room: 'Change of Heart' -- A change of heart is a reassessment of what makes sense to the protagonist. It's a change in how one regards somebody or something; a new perspective or outlook, an updated mental model. A change of heart changes not only point of view, but the way a person thinks (outlook) or feels (attitude) about something. With a change of heart, the protagonist resolves the discrepancy between experience and mental model [[disequilibrium]] and restores [[equilibrium]]. <ul> <li>I used to think the people in government cared about the country, but was I wrong. Some politicians care only about themselves.</li> <li>I suppose I don't have to like your fiancé; this is your choice and I will support your decision.</li> <li>It turns our family isn't weird; the ones on TV are.</li> </ul> enlightenment (insight, greater understanding or awareness) leading to revision of a mental model. Enlightenment is insight, greater awareness or understanding. It may cme from It occurs when there is [[disequilibrium]]. That is, when new experience doesn’t fit a [[mental model]] one already has. Examples <ul> <li>Meeting a diversity of people at college, I realized I was raised with prejudices.</li> <li>Life in the city was nothing like home for the visiting country mouse.</li> <li>The coach talks tough, but is actually kind and caring.</li> </ul>

room: 'Disequilibrium' -- Disequilibrium is a discrepancy or cognitive dissonance between a person's way of thinking ([[mental model]]) and environment (experience). When individuals encounter new discrepant information, they enter a state of disequilibrium. To return to [[equilibrium]], a person can <ul> <li>ignore or disavow the discrepency, at least for a while (e.g., refuse to deal with bad news), or</li> <li>[[revise->change of heart]] his or her outlook regarding the object or event (e.g., let go of a prejudice that doesn't match personal experience).</li> </ul> In narrative, disequilibrium motivates behaviour. The protagonist feels frustrated and seeks to restore balance by overcoming the new challenge. Once a mental model has been revised, the process of [[assimilation]] with the new [[mental model]] will continue until there is ever a need to adjustment it.

room: 'Assimilation' -- Assimilation is one way of adapting to new information or a new situation. It is the process of applying a [[mental model]] we already possess to understand something new. To assimilate, modify discrepant information so it matches a current mental model. Examples <ul> <li>I know English, so in learning Spanish I look for cognates. </li> <li>I know about wasps, so I'll treat this new bug that has a stinger with caution. </li> <li>Hosting the family reunion, I want the kids to have activities to keep them busy (unlike last year).</li> </ul>

room: 'Table of Contents' -- Key Terms [[assimilation]] [[deep desire]] [[defining misbelief]] [[disequilibrium]] [[equilibrium]] [[external struggle]] [[internal struggle]] [[point]] [[precipitating event]] [[protagonist]] [[mental model]] [[change of heart]] [[what if]] Resources Adams, Kenn, "Back to the Story Spine," 2013, https://www.aerogrammestudio.com/2013/06/05/back-to-the-story-spine/ Cron, Lisa, Story Genius, Ten Speed Press, 2016 Gottschall, Jonathan, The Storytelling Animal, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012 Storr, Will, The Science of Storytelling, Abrams Press, 2020