INDEX

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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