Storytelling gets easier when you realize it’s all about transferring your reader to a desirable scene.
Let me explain.
When you tell a story, you make your reader, listener, or consumer the hero. They don’t just listen to your story, they imagine themselves as the protagonist.
When you watch a YouTuber hiking in the mountains, he isn’t just showing you how much fun he is having.
He’s transferring you to that scene through a story, so you can experience it too.
Lately, YouTube has been recommending videos of people cooking delicious meals in beautiful places, like in a riverbed, in a lush meadow, or in a wooded hill.
Those videos go viral because they make you believe as if you are cooking a delicious meal in a beautiful place. Who wouldn’t want that?
When you read a Sherlock Holmes story, you become a detective.
When you play Grand Theft Auto, you become a criminal who rises to the top through bank robberies and murders.
When you buy Nike, you become a great athlete. When you buy Louis Vuitton, you gain status in the eyes of other people.
Sherlock Holmes fulfills your fantasy for adventure. Video games fulfill your fantasy for power and wealth. Branded clothes fulfill your fantasy for respect.
Because stories are all about living out your fantasies.
You see what I mean by transferring to a desirable scene?
George R.R. Martin once said:
“A reader lives a thousand lives. Those who don’t read live only once.”
Our job as a storyteller is to provide those fictional lives for people.
But how do you figure out what kind of life people would want to live through a story?
Stories fill a hole in our lives.
People who lack intimacy read romance novels or watch TV shows about relationships. Young men who lack companionship play online video games where they can team up with other men.
Kids who don’t go out watch YouTube videos featuring children and lots of toys.
People who lack adventure watch horror and action movies, where they can feel their heart beat faster.
By understanding what people lack in their lives, you can frame your story to serve this lack.
Whether you tell your story through words, pictures, videos, or products, the concept is pretty simple: take your consumer and transfer him to a desirable scene.
What’s a desirable scene? Whatever they lack in their lives.
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Your friend,
Ali
