About Changes

Post 141:

            There’s no right way to tell a story, but after studying the “craft” for oh so many years, there are certain things you need.

            In a word, stories are about changes. Put a person or a group of people in a situation, something changes, then see what happens. There’s a plethora of ways to show the change, but if we’re boiling it down, that’s the essence.

            This is something everyone already knows, but sometimes you don’t think about it. You just want to enjoy yourself, God knows. Nothing wrong with that.

            Stories are important because they give us an outlet from all the change that is occurring in our own lives. Well-told tales can give us an emotional practice run. I’ll explain. Things are always in flux in the real world. One of the greatest sentiments ever stated: Shit happens.

            As elevated and responsible sentients, we have to deal with said shit.

            Not so in stories. We get to read or watch somebody else dealing. It’s catharsis, drama at remove. There’s a philosophical or anthropological reason for our desire to be the audience to make-believe; I’m no scholar, so the reason is still a little hard for me to define. You’d think with all the crap we endure in our day to day, we’d want to shut off everything dramatic—even the fictional.

            Maybe stories remind us that we’re not alone. Nobody’s life is a perfectly placid ocean cruise. Sometimes it is. Sometimes the boat rocks. Because both happen, both are experiences. Either way, how you react is a story that can be told.

            However you’re doing, it’s always going to change. Good news, though. One thing never changes. We’re always going to love a good story.

            See you after.