{"id":101343,"date":"2023-05-06T14:59:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-06T18:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=101343"},"modified":"2023-05-08T14:07:25","modified_gmt":"2023-05-08T18:07:25","slug":"what-makes-a-story-interesting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-makes-a-story-interesting\/","title":{"rendered":"What Makes a Story Interesting? The 4 Things a Narrative Needs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What makes a story interesting? How can you, as the storyteller, humanize yourself to your audience? How can you communicate a message that transcends the plot?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can think of a character, a goal, and an obstacle as the basic requirements for a story. But, even with those elements in place, not every story holds a listener\u2019s attention. Rob Biesenbach says a story needs four additional characteristics to make it engaging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more to discover the power of these four elements that keep your audience tuned in to your story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

#1: An Emotional Appeal<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What makes a story interesting? First, an interesting story appeals to the listener\u2019s emotions<\/strong>. An emotionally relevant story feels more compelling in the moment and remains more memorable later on. Biesenbach points to research findings that memories of emotional events tend to be stronger (and stick around longer) than memories of events that don\u2019t have strong emotions attached. So we remember a story that engages our emotions\u2014for example, one where we felt happy for the character\u2019s success\u2014more clearly than one that doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: A growing body of research confirms that an emotional story engages us by activating a wide range of processes in the brain. Brain regions<\/a> that process language, emotion, and complex information activate in response to stories<\/a>, as do parts of the brain involved in prediction. The brain waves of the listener also synchronize with those of the storyteller. That might be why Will Storr, author of The Science of Storytelling<\/em><\/a>, says that storytelling is a way of \u201ccommunicating with emotions rather than facts<\/a>.\u201d He explains that the most engaging stories appeal to emotions like hope and tap into narratives that people want to be a part of.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#2: An Accessible Theme<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Next, a good story has a theme that people relate to<\/strong>: Even though listeners might have never experienced the situation you\u2019re talking about, the story should call on a universally relatable experience to create common ground. For example, you don\u2019t have to live in Brooklyn or own a bookstore to know what novelist Emma Straub is talking about when she says that she hopes her bookstore will appear on \u201cchildren\u2019s internal maps of their neighborhood<\/a>.\u201d Her story about opening Books Are Magic appeals to themes of community and belonging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Though Biesenbach is primarily talking about telling a story rather than writing one, writers tend to agree with his advice to find a theme that will resonate with your audience. In On Writing Well<\/em><\/a>, William Zinsser explains that you need to find humanity<\/a> in your story: a shared experience or a deeper truth that lies beneath the specific situation. Zinsser thinks that humanity is why we read books about people who find themselves in circumstances we\u2019ve never experienced ourselves: Their resilience in the face of challenges or their persistence in their search for meaning<\/a> feels relatable to us.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

#3: A Point of View<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In addition to telling your listeners something about themselves, a good story tells them something about you<\/strong>. Biesenbach explains that by revealing something about who you are<\/a>, the right story humanizes you. It illustrates how you see the world, communicates how you\u2019re unique, and makes you memorable. For example, a childhood story about how you accidentally caused a neighborhood blackout could either reveal how your love of electrical engineering began or illustrate why you never do electrical work: It all depends on your point of view. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Your point of view isn\u2019t incidental to the story you tell: Experts agree that it\u2019s a crucial part of how you tell the story and why you tell it. In On the Origin of Stories<\/em><\/a>, Brian Boyd argues that evolutionarily, fictional narratives serve the crucial purpose of helping us understand how other people experience the world<\/a>. This helps us increase our capacity for empathy, a skill that\u2019s necessary for cooperation and thus survival. Some social animals, like honeybees, even have a rudimentary form of narrative that helps them understand each other.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#4: An Appeal to Values<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Finally, a good story transcends its particular details to convey a larger message, <\/strong>often about values you share with your listeners. People who feel involved in your story because of those shared values will remember that story. For example, a story about how your neighborhood banded together to replant a vegetable garden that was washed out in a storm will appeal to listeners who value collaboration, resilience, and mutual aid.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: A story that illuminates your values can connect those values to the actions you want people to take, which proves helpful when you want to convince people to get behind a cause. One public policy lecturer explains that in these situations, you can use a \u201cpublic narrative<\/a>\u201d that combines three kinds of stories<\/a>: a \u201cstory of self,\u201d which explains how you were called to a given cause; a \u201cstory of us,\u201d which illustrates your goals; and a \u201cstory of now,\u201d which presents an urgent challenge to your community\u2019s values. A public narrative draws on these stories to unite people behind actions they can take to uphold shared values in their community.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though many of us think we instinctively know how to tell a good story<\/a>, we often miss the mark<\/strong>. Biesenbach says that much of the time, that happens because the story is missing one of its essential characteristics. He explains some of the ways that things tend to go wrong: <\/p>\n\n\n\n