“The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think, but to give you questions to think upon”
– Brandon Sanderson –
Introduction:
Have you ever read War and Peace? I have. It’s a massive novel. Or rather, a massive piece of fiction. Tolstoy didn’t consider War and Peace an actual “novel,” but that is a moot point. The important point is that it’s a big book about fictional characters. I have read it once, and fully intend to read it again someday, as a lot of it went over my head.
Why do I bring War and Peace up? Well, could you imagine a book like that being published today? I certainly can’t. Why not? Because societally, we have become much more focused on entertainment. And War and Peace isn’t really entertaining by most of our standards. It’s not quick, to-the-point, and sensual. We want fast moving stories, because we want a dopamine hit, and quickly. You don’t get one through slow-burning novels like War and Peace.
But it isn’t just books that have changed over time. Ever watched Lawrence of Arabia? 2001: A Space Odyssey? Both massive, sprawling stories but also slow-burning. While critics praise them, no studio would fund a slow-burning movie such as those today. They are too long and there is not nearly enough action to keep people engaged.
We’ve opted for flashy, fast paced stories that keep us stimulated. While there are some flashy, fast paced stories that that are genuinely good stories, there is a bigger problem… The focus on this style of storytelling is a result of an algorithm. Studios, publishers, and video-game companies recognize this is what keeps people engaged the longest, so instead of creating compelling stories, they follow a formula that keeps people hooked, even if the story is just a repeat. We don’t have a culture of intentional storytelling anymore – just one of entertaining storytelling. And whose fault is that? Well – I blame social media. Let’s delve into why:
What is Intentional StorytellinG?
Before we talk about how social media has ruined intentional storytelling – let’s make we understand what intentional storytelling is.
Intentional storytelling isn’t about making conscious decisions for your story. Anyone can make conscious decisions for a story and it not be intentional. It’s about telling a story with the desired purpose of leaving the world a better place. And of course, conscious decisions do play into that.
You must first understand what you are trying to say with your story. What sort of idea are you trying to convey to your audience? How are the settings and the characters going to embody this? How is the action going to support this? What sort of conflicts will arise from the message within the story? I am definitely not saying you have to be preachy with your story – because nobody likes that (me least of all) – but all good stories do have a through-line… an idea, or several, they want you to ponder. The best stories are subtle with how they present these ideas.
Intentional storytelling needs to be thought-provoking to your audience. Most stores are focused on getting a certain emotional reaction out of people, such as nostalgia, joy, rage, sadness… but emotions are not enough. These emotions should be the catalyst for getting your audience to sympathize with your characters and then ponder why they felt the way they did. If your audience can’t come away truly reflecting on life because of the story, then you’ve merely entertained (or bored!) them.
And of course, intentional storytelling should be entertaining. Let’s be honest, there are some stories that try to be thought-provoking but are downright boring. An intentional storyteller has to understand the craft of keeping their audience hooked with the story while delivering the “intellectual goods.” Most studios and publishers have figured out how to keep people entertained without providing them the goods. We all come away from those stories having enjoyed ourselves, but feeling hollow on the inside.
How Social Media Transformed Storytelling
Now, while I do have some major gripes with the machine that is social media, I won’t say that it is all bad (though I do believe it has probably done more damage than good during its existence). And one of those bad-things it has done we will be discussing here.
The big brains that work behind the social media algorithms have learned how to keep us entertained through short and quick dopamine hits. While some content creators do use their social media platforms to create thought-provoking content, the algorithm of social media does not prefer to serve you this content. Instead, it has rewired our brains to prefer less thought-provoking content and more passive entertainment. And because our attention spans have shrunk and we need faster, flashier, and sensual content, storytelling media elsewhere has had to join the game.
This isn’t to say all content put into the world falls into this trap, but most does. The intention is to keep you, the viewer, entertained and hooked as long as possible.
This is why we have also shifted away from movie theaters culturally and to streaming services. Studios have recognized that because they are directly competing with social media for your attention, they have to change the game. They are trying to get you to binge-watch their content. Instead of crafting well-made media, they create media to get the most dopamine out of the audience.
Over-all, we just see less thought being put into stories because, why put more thought into a story if it won’t sell as well? Big studios and publishers don’t encourage intentional stories so much as what will make them money. But the ironic part about this? People still crave intentional stories. They know when they are watching something well thought out vs something that is made for pure entertainment purposes. Their soul feels it. There will always be an ache, deep down, for better stories.
How to be More Intentional In Your Storytelling
The first place I’ll start with encouraging you, the reader, is to be mindful about what sort of content you are consuming on a regular basis. Are you defaulting to just be entertained, or are you seeking out well crafted stories through music, books, and film? If you are not consuming thought-provoking material, then how can you hope to create something better? That’s not to say you can’t ever enjoy “vegging” to some pure entertainment, but I would suggest that there is a lot more entertaining and intentional stories out there if you look for them.
Another suggestion would be to review the media you consume. Write an essay on it. Did anything stand out to you? What did you like or not like? Was there a theme? How did the world-building support the theme? Was the dialogue thoughtful? Was it entertaining? How could it have been more entertaining? This gets your head into a space of being an active consumer instead of a passive consumer of stories. Spark up conversations with people about the stories you’ve been enjoying and see what they think. Ask about their interpretations. Discuss your disagreement. This will help you keep an open mind about stories in general and how different people can perceive the same story differently.
Last point I’ll make is to create a story from a place of authenticity. The temptation, because of social media, is to create things that fit a mold – create things that are trendy and call them “authentic.” An authentic story should be one from your direct experience in life and not what the social media algorithm encourages. Sometimes, an authentic story won’t be as popular as what is trendy; however, it will resonate with far more people. And that’s what stories are meant to do after all. If they don’t connect us as humans, they are failing at their job.
Conclusion:
It’s hard to say where the future of mainstream storytelling lies. With the rise of A.I. it definitely could continue to go in the direction of entertainment over intentionality. But I’m also curious to know how long people will tolerate mind-numbing entertainment before they want something else.
I think the good-news in all of this is that storytellers (and artists) have to reassess the importance of stories and why they matter and why we create them in the first place. We have to get back to the roots of storytelling. Is it to produce content, or is it to make meaningful connections with people? I liken it to exercise – exercising is pretty artificial when you think about the millenniums our species spent as farmers and getting natural strength from it. But in a world where farming now isn’t every man’s job, we’ve had to evaluate the importance of our physical health and decide if the hard work of exercise is important. For some people, it is.
My encouragement to all is to continue to consume good content – support authentic and intentional storytellers – review content to stimulate your imagination and have conversations with others – and then, last but not least, create your own entertaining but intentional stories to build that meaningful connection.
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