That’s a great question!! I have a LOT of thoughts so I will try to restrain myself! I think the long answer has to do with the fact that the church turned from the arts a few generations ago, as well as widespread Gnosticism among Christians.
The short answer is that I think that artists - both Christian and non- think that you can’t talk about the “science” of storytelling. That story structure itself puts artists in a box. I can find Christian storytelling books like L’Engle’s, Andrew Peterson’s and others who’s books are fantastic but seem to hale from the same school of thought - blending memoir with a more poetic approach to stories.
I don’t know whether they specifically feel/felt that way but I know many Christian artists do. I get it because I used to think that way too. The really helpful practical storytelling books tend to come from the screenwriting world, a mostly non-christian world. The movie business had to figure it out cause there’s so much money on the line. But in the process of reading these kinds of books, I realized that the same story patterns are universal going back to the Bible. what resonates in movies is what always resonates, time immemorial. That convinced me that we need to recover storytelling as more of a practical science without losing the artistry. I would LOVE one day to write a more practical book on storytelling for Christians. Ok that was not a very short answer!
Hey, not all answers need to be short. I appreciated you taking the time to give me an answer!
"The really helpful practical storytelling books tend to come from the screenwriting world, a mostly non-christian world." <-- YES. Many of my best practices come from Robert McKee's *Story*. My thesis advisor introduced that book to me in my senior year, as I was embarking upon a collection of short stories. Changed my life, not to mention the way I write and interact with stories. Fantastic stuff.
I'm looking forward to reading more of your thoughts about "recover[ing] storytelling as more of a practical science without losing the artistry."
Your essay made me wonder WHY Christians aren't writing these books (ie the science of storytelling, etc). Do you have any thoughts on that?
That’s a great question!! I have a LOT of thoughts so I will try to restrain myself! I think the long answer has to do with the fact that the church turned from the arts a few generations ago, as well as widespread Gnosticism among Christians.
The short answer is that I think that artists - both Christian and non- think that you can’t talk about the “science” of storytelling. That story structure itself puts artists in a box. I can find Christian storytelling books like L’Engle’s, Andrew Peterson’s and others who’s books are fantastic but seem to hale from the same school of thought - blending memoir with a more poetic approach to stories.
I don’t know whether they specifically feel/felt that way but I know many Christian artists do. I get it because I used to think that way too. The really helpful practical storytelling books tend to come from the screenwriting world, a mostly non-christian world. The movie business had to figure it out cause there’s so much money on the line. But in the process of reading these kinds of books, I realized that the same story patterns are universal going back to the Bible. what resonates in movies is what always resonates, time immemorial. That convinced me that we need to recover storytelling as more of a practical science without losing the artistry. I would LOVE one day to write a more practical book on storytelling for Christians. Ok that was not a very short answer!
Hey, not all answers need to be short. I appreciated you taking the time to give me an answer!
"The really helpful practical storytelling books tend to come from the screenwriting world, a mostly non-christian world." <-- YES. Many of my best practices come from Robert McKee's *Story*. My thesis advisor introduced that book to me in my senior year, as I was embarking upon a collection of short stories. Changed my life, not to mention the way I write and interact with stories. Fantastic stuff.
I'm looking forward to reading more of your thoughts about "recover[ing] storytelling as more of a practical science without losing the artistry."