Human Writes: Losing the Story
Between the lines and against the current | Non-Fiction | Fresh Soup
For Adam
Lately, I’ve been worried I might be in the wrong profession. Or rather, the right profession at the wrong time. It’s frustrating to be a storyteller in a world that’s losing the plot. It feels a bit like being a royal advisor to a king who’s going deaf. He often disagreed with you even when he could still hear, but at least he was listening. Now whatever insight or advice you offer is met with a glazed look.
One of my favorite definitions of a story is that it is the sum total of every decision made by its characters. If Raskolnikov kills a pawnbroker and then confesses to the crime, we find ourselves with Crime and Punishment. But if he were to take a person’s life and then decide to step out for some delicious Saint Petersburg ice cream, the story would instantly transform into Crime and Ice Cream.