The Science Behind Storytelling
What if I told you that the art of storytelling is actually science? That’s right, our brains are literally hard-wired for story. As humans, we’ve told stories since the beginning of our existence. This form of storytelling was a way to pass down wisdom and traditions.
Remember being a kid and your parents told you not to do something such as running through the house? You might have followed the rule for an hour or so only for your parents to be yelling at you again the following day to stop running through the house. Facts and rules when presented at face value don’t always stick. Now, if you’ve ever had a parent tell a story about a kid who did run through the house and tripped and how to go to the doctor and got a broken arm, you’re less likely to keep running through the house. The tale of the kid with the broken arm will create a mental image every time you want to kick it up to top speed to run into the kitchen for ice cream. That extra minute it takes to walk to the ice cream seems worth it.
The wild part is that our brains can’t decipher what is really happening to what is being told to us. In other words, our brain activity lights the same way when listening to a story in the same way it would if we were currently experiencing the story.
Throughout our evolution–and especially during the caveman days–stories were a way to share ways of survival. If you encountered a bear in the wild, everyone shared their stories as a way for others to create a strategy to survive if that bear were to ever approach them. The same goes for how to survive a long winter. Our brains are constantly scanning for information to store in the event that we may be faced with the same or similar scenario in the future.
It's similar to walking down a street at night taking a peek into houses with illuminated windows. We’re curious to see how other people live their lives or at least set up their living rooms. (Don’t judge. I know I’m not the only one who does this!) This could be valuable information that we might want to keep in mind for our homes.
This concept still applies to novels or works of fiction. One of the reasons we get so engrossed in novels is because we can relate to the main character on some level. Our brain is searching for information it can store in the event that we encountered a similar situation to the protagonist.
Why Are Stories Powerful?
We’ve established that your brain experiences stories on the page the same way it does in real life. Your brain doesn’t know the difference between a written or actual experience. The part of our brains called the amygdala is the navigator of our emotions if you will. This part of our brain helps us respond to the world around us. So when your main character decides to enter the abandoned building at midnight on Halloween, the hairs on our arms stand up, and fear begins to course through our veins. The primitive brain and body fire up ready to maintain your safety.
Our brains and bodies are driven by emotion, not logic. (As much as we’d like to think that’s the case!) That is why stories are so powerful. The way to our logical brains is through our emotions. Stories have the power to evoke emotion that creates a physiological response and information our brains need for survival.
This applies to modern life as much as it did when lions, tigers, and bears were our biggest worry. Perhaps the story you are reading is about a breakup or a character overcoming social anxiety to attend a large social event. While we’re reading to relax, our brain is also gathering information for the future just in case we end up in the same situation, we’ll know how to respond. Reading helps us survive by providing roadmaps for how to act and respond to various situations in life. Does that mean we’re all going to turn into the fictional characters we read about? No, but it does mean that we need to be mindful of what we consume. I can’t read or watch horror stories because it puts me in such a fight-or-flight state that it takes me days to recover from the fear-inducing hormones to literally flood my body. The brain is powerful, that's why what we feed it, is just as important as entering the right address into our GPS to arrive at the correct destination.
The Impact of Storytelling
Stories are powerful because they have a direct impact on helping our brain navigate social interactions and physical survival. In fact, the number one reason a reader stops reading is that the story doesn’t meet this expectation for helping our brain navigate and survive further events. Isn’t that amazing! That means that your thousandth plot edit isn’t the detail to be focused on. It’s making sure that as a reader we care about the main character who has to confront an issue and overcome it so that our brains can prepare for the unknown or unexpected.
I hope at this point if you’ve ever doubted the power of the story you have to tell, it now becomes clear that you have a responsibility as a writer to share in an impactful way. And if this is all new information for you, don’t let it scare you! Let it help better inform the story you desire to tell. If you’re looking to go deeper into structuring your story around brain science, I can not recommend enough Lisa Cron’s books Wired For Story and Story Genius to help you better hook readers using brain science.
Just as hearing our favorite song, stories evoke emotion. Some stories make us cry, laugh, make us feel seen, inspire, or prompt action. Stories, or emotions, are what can become a seed for an idea that can become action that can become change. Stories connect all of us to a part of ourselves. What we do with that information can greatly impact our individual lives as well as the world around us.
This is why I say that your story matters. No matter if you are writing a love story, a YA novel, a blog post, or a fantasy, the science of storytelling means there are lessons and takeaways directly impacting your reader and making a difference in the world.
