EVERYTHING IS STORY. STORY IS EVERYTHING

I think this story and story making is a big part our humanity. From a film to a book to even the stories you overhear fourteen year old girls telling each other on the train, stories help us to relate to one another as humans. From a young age, stories become a vital part of our lives and even the stories that were so important to us as children have resonated into adult life. Our whole life is surrounded by stories and storytelling and, as Dan said, it’s what really separated humans from animals.

CAUSALITY = CAUSE & EFFECT

This is how  Narrative progresses.
Through causality, the characters and the plot develops and a resolution is met. Dan points out that these (character development, plot and resolution) are the three key elements of causality.
1. Character Development: here we are introduced to a person, a blank canvas, someone we know very little about. Throughout the story, the audience discovers who this person is, what their motives are, how they see the world and why they have an importance to the story. Good characters and properly developed characters become what we, as an audience, find most relatable. For example, the introduction of the character Dolores Umbridge into the Harry Potter books had left the readers hating her more than they hated Lord Voldemort. Why? Because everyone knows a person as sinister as Umbridge and related to Harry’s hatred for her. Character development can also cause shifts in how people see characters. In the start of a television series, you might feel as if you really like a particular character, but by the end of season two, you can do nothing but hate them.

2. Plot: the skeleton of a story. Every intrinsic aspect of a story revolves around the plot. According to Dan, the plot revolves around action; a person carrying out an action, the action itself and the person that the action is done to.

3. Resolution: Is it always a happy ending? This is the last point in a sequence of cause and effect. It is where the action ends and, usually, most plots and sub plots are resolved. A resolution can leave the audience satisfied, hungry for more, or just plain confused.

“The stuff of story is alive, but intangible” (R Mckee, Story. Page 135)

In the end, stories are just thoughts. They are created from memories and experiences that the human story-teller develops in their brain. However, in saying that, they are still very much alive, because, although it may just be a story, it has the ability to touch your heart and your soul.