What makes a good story?\u00a0 And by story I\u2019m including books, movies, songs, even a story being told by word of mouth.\u00a0 What makes it a good story.\u00a0 Simply, it has to make the audience feel something; satisfaction, recognition, joy, sorrow, anger, fear, horror, amusement, surprise or maybe even wonder.\u00a0 In the absence of emotion can a story be good?\u00a0 I\u2019d say no.<\/p>\n
So, when writing a story how do you ensure that the story checks some of those boxes?\u00a0 Well, plot is one of the tools you can use to activate the reader\u2019s emotions but more importantly, you have to build the characters so that they\u2019re human.\u00a0 Certainly, any generic female character being thrown into a scene where she is being stalked by a psychopath will elicit at least some emotion from the audience but if she is first made into a real woman with the requisite and recognizable emotions then the scene becomes harrowing.\u00a0 Think of Agent Starling trapped in Buffalo Bill\u2019s lightless room while he toyed with her in preparation for ending her life.\u00a0 She is a trained law enforcement agent but she\u2019s also a terrified young woman trapped by a predator.\u00a0 The audience is on the edge of their seats.\u00a0 Her fear is the fuel to make the scene real for the viewers.\u00a0 It\u2019s gripping.<\/p>\n
And this is just as important for any emotion in any situation.\u00a0 To be considered a success the reader has to feel something strong enough to make the story in some way real.\u00a0 Let\u2019s test my thesis.\u00a0 Is the movie, \u201c2001: A Space Odyssey,\u201d a good story?\u00a0 Does it make us feel anything?\u00a0 Yes, there are scenes in the movie where we feel a sense of wonder at some of the things happening.\u00a0 And there is a feeling of worry for Dave Bowman as he faces off against HAL9000.\u00a0 I guess there is sadness over the death of Frank Poole.\u00a0 But are any of these emotions particularly strong.\u00a0 I guess on reflection the sense of wonder at the technological wonders we are shown in the flight to the Moon and aboard the Discovery One spacecraft are pretty interesting.\u00a0 But none of the characters (except perhaps HAL) really activate our emotions.\u00a0 In some ways Dave and Frank appear more robotic than HAL.\u00a0 So, on the whole I wouldn\u2019t call \u201c2001\u201d a successful story.\u00a0 It\u2019s almost like a travelogue to inform the audience about some interesting things that will be seen during a vacation trip.<\/p>\n
Now compare this to the earlier science fiction movie, \u201cDestination Moon.\u201d\u00a0 Technically, there\u2019s no comparison.\u00a0 \u201c2001\u201d is astonishingly beautiful and seems like a documentary shot in space.\u00a0 \u201cDestination Moon\u201d appears woefully primitive in its special effects and graphics.\u00a0 But the story has engaging characters and a plot that creates emotional interest.\u00a0 The characters are placed in danger and the audience wants to see how the characters respond to this crisis.\u00a0 Now surely, this isn\u2019t some great work of art.\u00a0 It\u2019s melodrama and adventure.\u00a0 But it works.\u00a0 There\u2019s enough there to make the characters real enough for us to care if they live or die.\u00a0 Compare this to Dave Bowman at the end of \u201c2001\u201d travelling to the end of the universe through some kind of acid dream followed by him getting very old and then becoming some kind of \u201cspace embryo.\u201d\u00a0 To me all of that was meaningless from an emotional point of view.\u00a0 It was boring.<\/p>\n
So, the lesson is humans like stories that make them feel human.\u00a0 Because it makes them feel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
What makes a good story?\u00a0 And by story I\u2019m including books, movies, songs, even a story being told by word of mouth.\u00a0 What makes it<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[239,237,4,243],"tags":[4439,5087,5088],"class_list":["post-35277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movie-reviews","category-reviews","category-sff","category-sff-movie-reviews","tag-2001-a-space-odyssey","tag-destination-moon","tag-storytelling"],"yoast_head":"\n