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Abrams, J.J., 20
addictions and cravings, 114–15, 186–7
Akutagawa, Ryunosuke, ‘In A Bamboo Grove,’ 82–3
Alien Hand Syndrome, 115–16, 119
American Beauty (film, 1999), 131–2
animal behaviour, 25, 33, 34–5, 79, 144–6, 159–60, 162
animism, 36–7, 52
Archer, Jodie, 195–6
The Archers (BBC radio soap), 191
Aristotle, 82, 188–9, 191; ‘peripeteia,’ 13
Aronson, Professor Elliot, 93–4
Austen, Jane: Emma, 15, 148; Mansfield Park, 148–9
Babylon, Ancient, 153
Baldwin, James, Another Country, 77–8, 236
Ball, Alan, 131–2
Barber, Lynn, 75
Barnes, Julian, A History of the World in 10½ Chapters, 211
Bartlett, Frederic, 48
Baumeister, Professor Roy, 206
beliefs: bolstering sense of moral superiority, 92–3, 94–100, 210–11; as building blocks of neural realm, 63–8, 85–92; and hero-maker stories, 3–4, 92–100, 108–9, 163, 169, 174, 178–9, 185–6; identity-forming, 89–92, 98–9, 109, 149, 150, 153–9, 169–79, 198, 199; psychology of, 3–4, 63–4; shifting of, 98–9, 151, 203–5; and state of ‘transportation,’ 206–8
Beowulf, 162
Bergen, Professor Benjamin, 28, 29, 48
Bettelheim, Professor Bruno, The Uses of Enchantment, 116–17, 163–4
‘big data,’ 195–6, 198
The Birth of a Nation (film, 1915), 161
Blade Runner (film, 1982), 32
Blake, William, 37
Blick, Hugo, 134–5
Bloom, Professor Paul, 140
Bolt, Robert, 123
Booker, Christopher, 140, 145–6, 186, 249; The Seven Basic Plots, 192, 195, 245
Bortolotti, Professor Lisa, 109–10
Bower, Tom, 146–7
Boyd, Professor Brian, 139, 144
the brain and mind: anatomy and physiology of, 12, 49–50, 109–11, 112; associative thinking, 42–8; beliefs as building blocks of neural realm, 63–8, 85–92, 149; cognitive mirages of rightness, 85–92; complex thought, 50–1; and confirmation bias (model-defending behaviour), 85–92, 159, 161–3, 202–3, 234–6; control as mission of, 12–13, 17, 48–9, 65–8, 79, 90–2, 100–1, 149–52, 160–3, 173, 201–6, 236–9; damage to senses, 24–5; detection of change, 11–12, 13, 17, 22–3, 26–7, 39, 53–6, 196–7; genetic factors, 69; as hyper-social, 33–7, 57, 68, 195, 212–13; left hemisphere, 109, 110; limits to information processing, 23–6; malfunctioning of, 61–2; model defending responses, 85–92, 150–1, 234–6; ‘model’ of the world (hallucinated reconstruction of reality), 20–33, 39–49, 61–8, 77–9, 84–92, 102–3, 109–17, 173–9, 184–6, 206–8; multiple models of self, 114–19; neocortex, 49–51; neural processes and storytelling, 6, 26, 30, 31–2, 41–8, 140–1, 168; neurochemicals, 207; and pain, 25; processing of peak moments of stress, 40–1; and reading, 27–8; and salient details, 39–41, 49; self-domestication of, 33–5, 57; senses as information sources, 21–6, 27, 30–1; Stone Age, 136–8; as ‘story processor,’ 3–4, 48–51; subconscious, 8, 85, 90, 94, 103, 119–22, 124–8, 129–32, 134, 160–9, 178, 190, 196, 199; and touch receptors, 176; two levels of consciousness, 119–30, 131–2, 134–5, 199; use of stories as distraction, 1–2 see also flaws (distortions in cognition)
Bransford, Professor John, 185–6
Breaking Bad (TV drama), 191
‘Brexit’ process, 224–6
Brown, Dan, The Da Vinci Code, 196
Bruner, Professor Jerome, 120
Brunetière, Ferdinand, 183, 189
Brydon, Rob, 134–5
Bukowski, Charles, Post Office, 76–7
Callis, Jamie, 187
Campbell, Joseph, ‘Monomyth,’ 5, 6, 63, 68, 140, 191
Camus, Albert, The Outsider, 15
Capote, Truman, 138
Carson, L.M. Kit, 199
cause and effect: created by brain, 26, 49, 51–6, 63, 110–13, 159; and Eastern fiction, 82–4; and individual personalities, 71; in modernist stories, 129; and multiple models of self, 119; and origin damage, 177; of other people, 57, 68; plot structures, 52–6, 63, 189, 190, 191, 192, 196; and Shakespeare, 170–1; tribal master-stories, 153–9, 160–3; and two levels of consciousness, 120–30; and Western individualism, 81, 82, 83 see also beliefs; the ignition point
Chandler, Raymond, The Big Sleep, 45
change: brain’s detection of, 11–12, 13, 17, 22–3, 26–7, 39, 53–6, 63, 196–7; cultural understandings of, 81–4; and dreams, 26–7; significance in storytelling, 11–12, 13–17, 53–8, 63, 68, 193–5, 196–7, 220–1, 223
characters, fictional: antiheroes, 164–9; in fairytales, 117; and the final battle, 194–5, 198–9; and five domains of personality, 69–72, 73–4, 234; and goal-direction, 186, 189; hard and clear decisions about, 217; heroes in archetypal stories, 142–3, 145–6, 155–6, 186, 198–9; kind people as boring, 163; need for focus on, 5–6, 7, 76–7, 101–3, 122–3, 216–20; our feelings towards our own, 216–17; plot as there to support, 6, 101–3, 190, 193; resistance to focus on, 216–20; Shakespeare’s innovations, 169–71; story endings, 198–206, 244, 252, 254–5; transformation, 192, 194, 203–5 see also the dramatic question; flawed protagonists
Charles, Prince, 146–7
Chazelle, Damien, 203
childhood: adolescent narrative-making process, 84, 157–8, 164, 176–8; affectionate touch from parents, 176; and cultural norms, 79–80, 82, 84; gossip, 138–9; origin damage, 171–9, 230–3; play and stories, 79–80, 84, 164; and shifts in selfhood, 116–17; thirst for knowledge, 17, 57
chimpanzees, 144–6, 159–60, 162
China, Ancient, 81, 82–3
Christie, Agatha, 19
cinema: famous lines of dialogue, 133–4; The Godfather, 245–55; Hitchcock on, 14; Hollywood movies, 198–9, 203; David Lynch’s art-house films, 54; Pixar animation studio, 191–2; predefined plot structures, 5; and saccadic behaviour, 22, 40; Soviet, 52; use of salient detail, 40
Citizen Kane (fim, 1941), 56–8, 72, 99–100, 107–9, 149, 173–4, 175, 222, 223, 238
Cole, Professor Steve, 188
Collins, Suzanne, The Hunger Games, 14
colour, 21, 25–6
comedy, 38, 190, 192, 203, 221
Confucius, 81
Conrad, Joseph, 37
control: brain’s ‘theory of,’ 65–8, 70, 85–92, 123, 124–30, 131–2, 149–52, 173, 201–6, 236–9; collective theory of, 81, 82–4, 138–43; and flawed protagonists, 68, 90–2, 190, 193–5; and human sociality, 35–6, 57, 212–13; individualistic notion of, 80–2, 83; as mission of the brain, 12–13, 17, 48–9, 65–8, 79, 90–2, 100–1, 149–52, 160–3, 173, 201–6, 236–9; and sacred flaw approach, 224, 225–39, 240, 242–55; and tribal stories, 156–8, 160–3; and untrue beliefs, 92–3
Cook, William Wallace, Plotto, 240
‘Cosmic Hunt’ myth, 50–1
cultural appropriation arguments, 210
culture, 78–9, 91; and childhood, 79–80, 82, 84; collective ideal of self, 81, 82–4, 138–43; individualism in Ancient Greece, 80–2
Cunningham, Michael, A Home at the End of the World, 44–5
curiosity, 17–19, 52–3; about human behaviour, 33, 35, 57–8, 68, 171–3; and information gaps, 18, 19–20
Dahl, Roald, The Twits, 163
Dancer in the Dark (film, 2000), 142, 202–3
Davies, Russell T., 86–7
detective stories, 19, 102, 197
The Devil Wears Prada (film, 2006), 54
dialogue, 86–7, 132–5
Dickens, Charles, 37; A Christmas Carol, 46–7, 128; Oliver Twist, 147
Diderot, Denis, 46
the dramatic question: answered in closing scenes, 128–9, 174, 202, 203–5; characters as surprise to themselves, 112–14, 117–19, 120–3; in Fifty Shades of Grey, 195–6; and the final battle, 194–5, 198–9, 254; and goal-direction, 189; as key secret to storytelling, 108–9, 143, 169, 197; origin and purpose of, 136–43; and our inner voice/narrator, 109–12; and sacred flaw approach, 217, 242, 246, 249, 254–5; and Shakespeare, 169–71; and soap operas, 191; triggering of, 179; and two levels of consciousness, 120–30, 131–2, 190
dreams, 26–7, 50, 54
drives, human: connect and dominate drives, 143–9; desire for status, 143–53, 154–5, 156–63; goal-direction, 84, 183–90, 196–7; as products of evolution, 136–40, 183–4
Eagleman, Professor David, 21, 115
Earth First, 98–9
empathy, 62, 146–7, 164–9
Engel, Professor Susan, 138
The Epic of Gilgamesh, 156–7
epileptics (‘split-brain’ patients), 110–11
Epley, Professor Nicholas, 36, 94, 111
ethics and morality: and beliefs, 92–3, 94–100, 210–11; childhood play as critical, 79–80; ‘costly signalling,’ 142–3, 152; and culture, 78–9, 91, 136; moral outrage as lifeblood of storytelling, 2, 137–9, 142–3, 148–9, 155–6, 161–3; selfless–selfish axis, 139–43
evolutionary science, 12, 33–5, 86, 136–40, 143, 183–4
existence, meaninglessness of, 1–2
eyesight and vision, 21–4, 25–6; saccades, 22, 27, 39, 40, 41, 177
Ezra (Old Testament scribe), 154–5, 156, 161
faces, 13, 35, 52, 163
fairytales, 36, 116–17, 164, 198–9
fantasy and science-fiction stories, 31–2
Fante, John, Ask the Dust, 118
feelings and impulses: connect and dominate drives, 143–9; disgust, 162–3; humiliation, 152–3, 161, 162; moral outrage, 137–9, 142–3, 148–9, 155–6, 161–3; and moral self-justification, 94–100; and neural activations, 41–4; our inner voice/narrator, 21, 77, 109–12, 114–16, 206–7, 208–9; towards our fictional characters, 216–17; tribal emotions, 136–43, 209–11; and two levels of consciousness, 119–22
Feinberg, Dr Todd, 24, 116
Fernyhough, Professor Charles, 37
Field, Syd, 193
Figgis, Mike, The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations, 240
Flaubert, Gustave, Madame Bovary, 102, 238
flawed protagonists, 62, 71, 76, 148, 157, 216; antiheroes, 164–9; Charles Foster ‘Citizen’ Kane, 72, 99–100, 107–9, 173–4, 175, 222, 223, 238; confabulation, 113–14, 130; and confirmation bias (model-defending behaviour), 89–92, 150–1, 202–3, 234–6; contradiction and multiplicity, 117–19, 120–30, 131–2, 134–5; delusions, 107–8, 109–14, 149–52, 205–6; and the final battle, 194–5, 198–9, 254; healing process, 128, 221, 244; and home environments, 73–5; in King Lear, 149–52; Lawrence of Arabia, 123–9, 221, 222–3, 233, 239; model of the world breaking apart, 100, 103, 122, 125–7, 150–2, 202–3, 222–3; obstacles and breakthroughs, 89–90; origin damage, 171–9, 230–3; point of view, 76–8, 236; and ‘rampant irrationality,’ 222–3; Stevens in The Remains of the Day, 65–8, 72, 91–2, 98, 100–1, 173, 197, 203–5, 222, 238, 239, 252–3; as surprise to themselves, 112–14, 117–19, 120–3; and theory of control, 68, 90–2, 190, 193–5 see also sacred flaw approach
flaws (distortions in cognition), 131–2, 148, 157; confabulation, 109–12; and confirmation bias (model-defending behaviour), 85–92, 159, 161–3; consolation of story, 212–13; internalised, 178–9; as largely invisible to us, 63, 64–5, 169, 178–9, 224; lesson of story, 212; ‘makes sense stopping rule,’ 86; multiple models of self, 114–19; ‘naive realism,’ 64–5; and origin damage, 169–79, 230–3; our inner voice/narrator, 21, 77, 109–12, 114–16, 206–7, 208–9; as part of our perception, 62–3, 84
Flesch, Professor William, 142, 153
Flynn, Gillian, Gone Girl, 96–7, 152–3, 238
Franzen, Jonathan, The Corrections, 15–16
Freytag, Gustav, 192–3
Frith, Professor Chris, 206
Gardner, John, 7, 236
Gazzaniga, Professor Michael, 61, 110–11, 116
genocide and massacres, 96, 159, 161
ghostwriting, 230–1
Gimbel, Professor Sarah, 87
Giraldi, Giambattista, 170
Gladwell, Malcolm, ‘The Ketchup Conundrum,’ 20
goal-direction, 84, 183–90, 196–7
The Godfather (film, 1972), 245–55
Goldman, Bo, 128
Goldstein, Dr Kurt, 115–16
Gosling, Professor Sam, 73
gossip, 2, 137–9, 140, 141, 144
Gottschall, Professor Jonathan, 26–7
grammar, 28–9
grandparents, 2
Greece, Ancient, 80–2, 149
Greenblatt, Professor Stephen, 169
Greene, Graham: The Power and the Glory, 97–8; The Quiet American, 45–6
Greenpeace, 99
Grenville, Kate, The Idea of Perfection, 113–14
Hadid, Zaha, 75
Haidt, Professor Jonathan, 3, 158, 222
hallucinations, 23, 24
Hamsun, Knut, Hunger, 130
Hargeaves, Roger, Mr Nosey, 157
Harris, Professor Paul, 53
Heller, Zoë, Notes on a Scandal, 73–4
hero-maker narratives: and Aristotle’s eudaemonia, 188–9; and beliefs, 3–4, 92–100, 108–9, 163, 169, 174, 178–9, 185–6; clash of competing narratives, 98; and control, 201–6; and ‘costly signalling,’ 142–3, 152; David and Goliath stories, 98–100; and delusions, 96, 109–12, 178–9; and the dramatic question, 108–9; and goal-direction, 84, 183–90; lesson of story, 212; and moral self-justification, 94–100, 109, 178–9; and online gaming, 186–7; personality, 174; re-scripting of past, 93–4, 178–9; and sacred flaw approach, 234–6; selfless–selfish axis, 139–43; and status play, 145–9; tribal master-stories, 154–5; and tribal warfare, 163; and two levels of consciousness, 120
hierarchies, human, 144–5, 161
Highsmith, Patricia, Ripley’s Game, 168
Hill, Eric, Where’s Spot? 14, 15, 18
Hitchcock, Alfred, 14
Hitler, Adolf, 96, 208
Hoffman, Professor Donald, 25
Holocaust, 96
Homer, The Iliad, 16
Hood, Professor Bruce, 33, 34, 35
human rights, 207–8
Hunt, Professor Lynn, 207–8
identity: adolescent narrative-making process, 84, 157–8, 164, 176–8; beliefs forming, 89–92, 98–9, 109, 149, 150, 153–9, 169–79, 198, 199; group’s collective status, 153–63; ‘identity claims,’ 73; multiple in-groups, 157–8; ‘personal projects,’ 187–8; sacred flaw as part of, 235–6; war state against other tribes, 160–3
the ignition point, 90–2, 124, 149, 183, 194; in Citizen Kane, 99–100, 149, 174; and the dramatic question, 108; and goal-direction, 189; in Hamlet, 170; in King Lear, 149–51; in Lolita, 165; and sacred flaw approach, 220–1, 235–6, 242–3, 247–8, 251; and two levels of consciousness, 122
individualism, culture of, 80–2, 83
information gaps, 18, 19–20, 54–7, 102, 174, 197
Ishiguro, Kazuo, The Remains of the Day, 65–8, 91–2, 98, 100–1, 173, 197, 203–5, 222, 238, 239, 252–3
James, E.L., Fifty Shades of Grey, 195–6
Jew Süss (antisemitic film, 1940), 162
Jockers, Matthew, 195–6
Johnson, Professor Marcia, 185–6
Judaism, 153–5, 162
Kafka, Franz, ‘The Passenger,’ 129
Kahneman, Professor Daniel, 51–2
Kesey, Ken, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, 205–6
Kim, Professor Uichol, 82–3
Kishõtenketsu (Japanese story form), 83, 129
Knausgaard, Karl Ove, A Death in the Family, 46
Ku Klux Klan, 161
Kuleshov, Lev, 52
Kureishi, Hanif, Intimacy, 15
La La Land (film, 2016), 203
language: evolution of, 2, 137; metaphor, 43–8; rules of grammar, 28–9
Lawrence of Arabia (film, 1962), 123–9, 190, 221, 222–3, 233, 239
Lee, Harper, To Kill a Mockingbird, 210
Lewis, C.S., 29
literary fiction, 15, 54–5, 171–3, 196
Little, Professor Brian, 122, 187–8
Loewenstein, Professor George, 17–18; ‘The Psychology of Curiosity,’ 19
Lost (TV series), 20
Lotto, Professor Beau, 198
Lynas, Mark, 98–9
Lynch, David, 54
Mackendrick, Alexander, 38
Madison, Austin, 192
Mamet, David, 53
Mankiewicz, Herman J., 56
Mao Zedong, 96
Marion and Geoff (TV series), 134–5
Marx, Karl, The Communist Manifesto, 16
May, Theresa, 224–6
Mazzoni, Professor Giuliana, 93
McAdams, Professor Dan, 84
McEwan, Ian, On Chesil Beach, 171–3, 190
McGlone, Professor Francis, 178
McKee, Robert, 131
McKenna, Aline Brosh, 54
McNab, Andy, Bravo Two Zero, 178
memory, 41, 48, 178, 206; as ‘episodic’ and ‘autobiographical,’ 49; as major source of self-justification, 93–4, 97; as malleable and selective, 93–4
metaphorical thinking, 43–8
Middleton, Ant, 230–1
Miller, Arthur, Death of a Salesman, 135
mind, theory of, 35–7; errors about what others are thinking, 37–9, 40; and neocortex, 49
Mitchell, Margaret, Gone with the Wind, 45
Mlodinow, Professor Leonard, 111, 157
modernist stories, 129–30, 141, 196, 254
Morales, Professor Helen, 188
Morrison, Toni, Song of Solomon, 209
Mr Nosey (children’s book), 237
mythology, 81–3, 153–4, 198–9; Campbell’s ‘Monomyth,’ 5, 6, 63, 68, 140, 191; ‘Cosmic Hunt’ myth, 50; sacred myth, 155–7; selfless–selfish axis, 140; stories as tribal propaganda, 153–4, 156–9, 160–2, 210; and story theorists, 5, 191, 200–1
Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita, 164–7, 202, 245
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, 208
nation states, 2–3, 156
Nebuchadnezzar II, King, 153
Nettle, Professor Daniel, 72–3, 186
Niccol, Andrew, 65
Oatley, Professor Keith, 71
Old Testament, 153–5
Orwell, George, Nineteen Eighty-Four, 47
Paris, Texas (film, 1984), 199–201
Parker (author’s dog), 34
pathetic fallacy, 37
personality: ‘behavioural residue,’ 73–5; beliefs as building blocks of neural realm, 63–8, 85–92; confabulation, 115–16, 130; consistent patterns of, 72–3; core, 69, 117; and culture, 78–9, 91; and environment, 76; five domains of, 69–72, 73–4, 234; gender differences, 71–2; ‘naive realism,’ 89; problem of self-control, 114–15; selective memories, 93, 97; as significantly heritable, 72; tiny differences in brain structure, 71 see also flaws (distortions in cognition)
Peterson, Professor Jordan, 200–1
Pinochet, Augusto, 208
Pixar animation studio, 191–2
plot structures: analysis using ‘big data,’ 195–6, 198; the argument, 220–1; basic three acts of Western storytelling, 82, 187, 188, 193–6; Booker’s seven recurring plots, 192, 195, 245; the milieu, 217–19, 220–1; obstacles and breakthroughs, 89–90, 191, 192; overarching story events, 191; point just prior to resolution, 198–9; position of story events, 190; predefined, 5–6, 191–2; preoccupation with, 5–6, 191; ‘refuse the call’ of the story moment, 63; sacred flaw approach, 241–55; standard five-act plot, 192, 193–5, 241–55; the story event, 220–1, 240–1; as symphony of change, 196–7; as there to support character, 6, 101–3, 190, 193; tragic, 128, 149–52, 202–3, 222–3, 244–5; ‘two realms’ of, 120–30, 131–2, 134–5; the what if? 219–20; Yorke’s essential ‘midpoint,’ 192–3
poetry, 42–3, 45
Pol Pot, 96
police-procedural drama, 19, 102, 197
political ideology, 87–8, 95, 156, 158–9
Prime Suspect (TV series), 19
Prinstein, Professor Mitch, 176–7
Proust, Marcel, Swann’s Way, 54
Puchner, Professor Martin, 155
Pudovkin, Vsevolod, 52
Puzo, Mario, The Godfather, 245– 55
racism, 94, 161–2, 203
Ray, Billy, 227
reading, 27–9, 54–6
religion, 2, 51; animistic, 36; imagined other minds, 36; and ready-made theories of control, 156, 202; visitations and visions, 24
reproduction, 12, 34
Richardson, Samuel, 207–8
Robinson, Professor David, 198
Rowling, J.K.: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, 14–15; Lord Voldemort (Harry Potter character), 162
Roy, Arundhati, The God of Small Things, 46
Rushdie, Salman, 68
sacred flaw approach, 215–16; and confirmation bias (model-defending behaviour), 85–92, 150–1, 234–6; creating a characteristic world, 236–9; the dramatic question, 217, 242, 246, 249, 254–5; flawed belief becomes sacred, 236; focus on character, 215, 216–17; and ‘the God moment,’ 244, 254; The Godfather (film), 245–55; and hero-maker brain, 234–6; and ignition point, 220–1, 235–6, 242–3, 247–8, 251; and Theresa May, 224–6; mimicking of brain’s processes, 7; and multiple protagonists, 221; and origin damage, 230–3, 234, 238, 239, 246; plotting, 241–55; and point of view, 236; and ‘rampant irrationality,’ 222–3; resistance to from writers, 216–20; the sacred flaw, 221–3; sacred flaw takes over, 235–6; starting with absolute specificity, 218–20, 227–9; the story event, 220–1, 240–1; and theory of control, 224, 225–39, 240, 242–55; tragic plots, 222–3, 244–5; the unsacred flaw, 223–4
Scent of a Woman (film, 1992), 128
Scott, Professor Sophie, 11
senses, 21–6, 27; evocation of in writing, 30–1; as specific to our needs, 33
Shakespeare, William, 169–71, 175; Hamlet, 169–70; Julius Caesar, 152; King Lear, 149–52, 170–1, 190; Othello, 170, 171
Shanley, John Patrick, Doubt, 20
Shattered Glass (film, 2003), 227
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, 29–30
Shepard, Sam, 199
slave narratives, 208
Smith, Zadie, White Teeth, 77
soap operas, 191
social genomics, 188–9
social instincts and traits: brain as hyper-social, 33–7, 57, 68, 195, 212–13; collective theory of control, 81, 82–4, 138–43; and control, 35–6, 57, 212; errors about what others are thinking, 37–9, 40; human domestication, 33–5, 57; and theory of mind, 35–9
Soloway, Jill, 120–2
Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, 208
The Sopranos (TV series), 167
Sorkin, Aaron, A Few Good Men, 235
sound, 21, 23, 25
Sperry, Professor Roger, 110–11
Spielberg, Stephen, Jurassic Park, 40
Sri Lanka, anti-Tamil pogrom (1981), 208
Stalin, Joseph, 96
Star Wars: A New Hope (film, 1977), 32
status play, 145–53, 154–5, 156–63
Steinbeck, John, The Grapes of Wrath, 141
stories: Abrams’ ‘mystery boxes,’ 20; analysis using ‘big data,’ 195–6, 198; ancient roots of, 136–9; archetypal storytelling, 128, 142–3, 145–6, 155–6, 187, 198–9, 202, 205–6; basic shapes, 6, 191–5, 245; brain as ‘story processor,’ 3–4, 48–51; crisis-struggle-resolution, 82, 187, 188, 193–6; David and Goliath, 98–100; as distraction from the void, 1–2; dramatic turning points, 13–14; Eastern fiction, 82–3, 129; endings, 198–206, 244, 252, 254–5; episodic storytelling, 190; explanatory, 50–1; first sentences, 14–17; formulaic final ‘battles,’ 199; ‘the God moment,’ 206, 244, 254; good dialogue as ‘two monologues clashing, 86–7; as hallucinated models, 3, 27–8, 29–32, 37, 64–8, 77, 206–8; hidden symmetry in, 192–3; information gaps, 19–20, 54–7, 102, 174, 197; Kishõtenketsu (Japanese form), 83, 129; modernist, 129–30, 141, 196, 254; moments of unexpected change, 11–12, 13–17, 56, 83, 183, 189, 194, 220–1, 242–3; openings of, 11, 14–17, 56–7, 76–7; perceptions of tribal ‘others,’ 154, 209–11; significance of change in, 11–12, 13–17, 53–8, 63, 68, 83, 193–5, 196–7, 220–1, 223; simulacrum of human consciousness, 206–8; state of ‘transportation,’ 206–8; and status play, 145–53, 154–5, 156–8, 161–3; time as compressed time, 132–5; tribal master-stories, 153–9, 160–3; truth as consolation of, 212–13; and two levels of consciousness, 119–30, 190, 199; use of salient detail, 39–41; wisdom as gift of, 211 see also plot structures; sacred flaw approach; writing
Storr, Will: The Heretics, 3–4; science-based course for writers, 4
story theorists, 4, 13, 131, 140, 145–6, 163–4, 186, 200–1; importance of, 6–7, 8, 245; preoccupation with structure, 5–6, 192; pursuit of the perfect plot, 191
Stowe, Harriet Beecher, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, 208
Stretcher, Professor Victor, 81
Süskind, Patrick, Perfume, 30–1
Synder, Blake, 193
Tartt, Donna, The Secret History, 15, 18
Tavris, Professor Carol, 93–4
television, 5, 20, 53, 134–5, 167; contemporary long-form, 120–1, 191; and episodic storytelling, 190–1
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (film, 1974), 162–3
theatre, 20, 135, 149–52, 183
Tolkien, J.R.R., The Hobbit, 31–2
Tolstoy, Leo: Anna Karenina, 11, 16–17; on works of art, 27
Transparent (TV drama), 120–2, 191
‘transportation,’ state of, 206–8
trees, solitary, 119–20
tribes, 136–43, 155–6; hunter-gatherer, 2–3, 36, 136–8, 144, 155–7; master-stories, 153–9, 160–3; perceptions of tribal ‘others,’ 154, 160–3, 209–11; stories as tribal propaganda, 156–8, 160–3, 210; tribal conflict, 159, 160–3; tribal emotions, 2, 136–43, 209–11
Trier, Lars von, 142, 202–3
Trudy, John, 193
The Truman Show (film, 1998), 65
video games, 186–7
Voldemort, Lord (Harry Potter character), 162
Waal, Professor Frans de, 145, 159–60
Walker, Alice, ‘Burial,’ 43
Welles, Orson, 56–8
Wexler, Professor Bruce, 85, 87
White, E.B., Charlotte’s Web, 14
Wilson, Michael, 123
Wilson, Professor Timothy, 50, 202
Woolf, Virginia, Mrs Dalloway, 129–30, 141
Woolf, Virginia, ‘Street Haunting,’ 44
writing: birth of the novel, 207–8; books by people like us, 209; embracing the rewind, 216–17; evocation of the senses, 30–1; ‘show not tell,’ 29–30, 55; simulacrum of consciousness, 206–8; traditional ‘how-to’ guides, 4, 7; use of specific detail, 29–30, 31–2, 175, 218–20, 227–9; word order and grammatical style, 28–30 see also plot structures; sacred flaw approach; stories
Yates, Richard, Revolutionary Road, 38–9, 40
Yorke, John, 13, 193; Into the Woods, 192–3, 245