“Story” is self-evident in fiction – I mean, that is what fiction is after all: a story.  But I find it interesting to think about WHY story is so prominent and important to us. Story spans cultures and comes in different forms: short fiction, epic novels, poems, plays, film, art and music.

Story has existed for a long time. The Epic of Gilgamesh, circa 2100 BCE, is a collection of poems about the adventures of Sumerian king of Uruk and is commonly recognized to be the earliest written story.  We could also argue that cave paintings and relief carvings depicting animal hunts are a form of story and much older.

So why is story so important to us?

Story could have been a way to pass valuable information. Tales of close calls with lions helped others understand dangerous areas of the forest. Stories of successful animal kills helped others in the tribe understand methods of hunting. I can even imagine that fictional tales about monsters roaming outside at night helped parents ensure their kids stayed in bed and didn’t wander off.

But why does that information need to take the form of a story?

Give yourself 30 seconds to memorize these 10 words, and then look away and see how many you can recall:

Wallet, coffee, dog, newspaper, bicycle, flowers, rain, bakery, phone, birthday.

Now read this story a couple of times and see if you can recall more words:

Ben grabbed his wallet and went out for coffee. Outside the café, a dog was chewing on his owner’s newspaper. While the owner was distracted, the dog’s leash caught a parked bicycle, knocking it into a display of flowers. As Ben helped the owner clean up, rain began to fall, so they ducked into a bakery. His phone buzzed, and he saw a text from his wife: “Did you remember your mother’s birthday?” Ben looked at the cakes and smiled. “Of course.”

When information is put into the form of a story, we tend to remember it more easily. Before the development of writing, oral stories were a way to pass down information about history and culture.

Exaggeration & Emotion

If the story becomes exaggerated to where the seriousness of the events is highlighted, it becomes emotional, resonating with us and making it more memorable. Have you ever had the experience of seeing someone you know you’ve met before and you can’t remember their name, but you know you don’t like them? That is emotion binding to memory.

Exaggeration helps to make the events more severe to the point that we feel them, this makes them stick with us. When that exaggeration passes beyond facts and reality, we have fiction.

Escapism

When a story is told well, we have the ability to relate to the events in a way that makes us feel like we are living them.  This escapism becomes an experience and was likely one of the earliest forms of entertainment. The ancient Greek tragedies were thought to allow the audience to experience catharsis. Catharsis was thought to be a way of releasing pent-up emotions as a sort of cleansing relief.

So, the next time you sit down to work on your story, know that you are taking part in a practice that has a long history and spans every culture. Know that, if done well, the words you craft will resonate within every reader who sees them.

… but that all assumes you can find an editor who feels the same way.

-James