Electronic book Electronic reproduction. New York ABRAMS 2020 Available via World Wide Web
Contents:
Chapter 1: Creating a world. Where does a story begin? Moments of change; the control-seeking brain Curiosity The model-making brain; how we read; grammar; filmic word order; simplicity; active versus passive language; specific detail; show-not-tell World-making in fantasy and science fiction The domesticated brain; theory of mind in animism and religion; how theory-of-mind mistakes create drama Salience; creating tension with detail Neural models; poetry; metaphor Cause and effect; literary versus mass-market storytelling Change is not enough Chapter 2: The flawed self. The flawed self; the theory of control Personality and plot Personality and setting Personality and point of view Cuture and character; western versus eastern story Anatomy of a flawed self; the ignition point Fictional memories; moral delusions; antagoinsts and moral idealism; antagonists and toxic self-esteem; the hero-maker narrative David and Goliath How flawed characters create meaning Chapter 3: The dramatic questions. Confabulation and the deluded character The two levels of story; how subconscious character struggle creates plot Modernist stories Wanting and needing Dialogue The roots of the dramatic question; social emotions; heroes and villains; moral outrage Status play King Lear; humiliation Stories as tribal propaganda Antiheroes; empathy Origin damage Chapter 4: Plots, endings and meaning. Goal directedness; video games; personal projects; eudaemonia; plots Plot as recipe versus plot as symphony of change The final battle Endings; control; the God moment Story as a simulacrum of consciousness; transportation The power of story The lesson of story The consolation of story Appendix: The sacred flaw approach
