The Art of Persuasion or That Art of or Writing Well
Storytelling and the Art of Persuasion
Narrative structure can hijack the human brain and this gives writers a powerful tool of persuasion
The storytelling ape
What makes united states human?
The more we learn most our animal cousins, the harder that question becomes to answer. The differences we (call back we) see are more than in degree than in kind.
Except for stories, perchance.
The scholar and writer Jonathan Gottschall, for example, argues that what sets united states of america apart from other animals is our storytelling. We are the storytelling animal. Or, in his words¹:
Nosotros are, equally a species, fond to story. Even when the torso goes to sleep, the mind stays up all night, telling itself stories.
Whether you concord or not, humans respond well to stories.
"What is the story?". That uncomplicated question can markedly better your writing, even (particularly?) in contexts where storytelling might not always be considered the priority. Marketing, business copy, even scientific papers, tin can all benefit from more narrative. (Unfortunately, storytelling has non yet constitute its way into things such as contracts, legal documents, etc. No wonder no one likes to read those…) But why is that? Why do nosotros like stories and then much? At that place are many potential evolutionary explanations, from managing circuitous social relationships to framing environmental changes into a (fake) narrative that we can sympathize. The real reasons (yeah, likely plural) will remain hidden in the shadow of time, but whatsoever they are, they accept endowed us with the chapters and inclination to see patterns and structure everywhere. Even when there is neither. Wind rustling in a shrub? Aah, a lion. An unexpected death? The will of whatever deity yous believe in. You lot become the idea.
That's the development of narrative's importance. What about the actual brain stuff, though? If we motility from the why (evolutionary or ultimate questions) to the how (mechanistic or proximate questions), our respond has to change.
Relatability vs processing
The how question too has several potential answers about how narratives wield their persuasive power. Many of these answers fall into two full general categories:
Relatability
When you chronicle to one or more of the characters in the narrative, you are more likely to be persuaded by the narrative.
Processing
In that location is something well-nigh narrative construction* (commencement, middle, terminate; conflict and resolution…) that switches our brains to heuristic processing. That's a fancy way to say that a narrative tin can carry us along and make us more amenable to its message. (*Of course, this structure doesn't take to be rigid. There are many means to play with narrative structure, but that is worth a full postal service in itself.)
Processing > relatability
Both of these factors will play a role, but is at that place one that is more than important for the persuasiveness of a narrative?
A new study² tried to detect out.The researchers divided over 500 participants into half dozen groups so that they could cover all possible combinations of narrative vs non-narrative, relatable vs non-relatable, and structured vs non-structured. (The message in question was about the health risks of consuming too much caffeine.) Long story short (hey look, a story. Persuaded all the same?), the effect of narrative structure (aka processing fluency) seems to exist larger than the outcome of relatability for the persuasive ability of a message.
Human brains are wired for stories and the owners of those brains are easily persuaded past them. We are swept up in our own narratives. Makes y'all wonder who's boss, huh? The story or the storyteller?
The takeaway
What tin can you, equally a writer (if you lot're reading this, I'm assuming there'due south an above average take a chance y'all are) take away from this?
Find the story
Obvious for fiction, but even in dry non-fiction, endeavour to find a story, a narrative you lot tin develop to glaze your message.
Internal consistency over relatability
Your characters tin be relatable, but they don't have to be overly and so. They do accept to be internally consequent, though. Feel free to dream upward crazy not-human characters in a magical/future globe, but make sure their deportment align with their backstory and circumstance regardless of whether one or both are weird. (This links really nicely with the overall break of disbelief. Find simply the correct corporeality of crazy.)
Flow along
Construction your story. That doesn't mean you have to stick to the proficient old beginning, center, terminate, but the events in the story have to link in a manner that makes sense, that warrants their inclusion at that particular betoken. Keep the story flowing. (Interestingly, breaking the menstruation can be used for a specific jarring effect. A stupor, a big reveal… But you can't pull that off more than a few times.)
Find the story. Notice your story.
And then tell me.
References:
¹Jonathan Gotschall (2012). The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make us Human.
²Olivia Bullock, Hillary Shulman, and Richard Huskey (2021). Narratives are Persuasive Because They are Easier to Understand: Examining Processing Fluency as a Mechanism of Narrative Persuasion. Frontiers in Communication.
Source: https://writingcooperative.com/storytelling-and-the-art-of-persuasion-7a919b41ce8d
0 Response to "The Art of Persuasion or That Art of or Writing Well"
Post a Comment