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Overview

We all love a good story. Writers have tried to create stories that intrigue, shock, and excite us for generations. In today’s times, writers have an advantage because they can use brain science to write better stories.

Neuroscience studies can explain why we like stories, and what types of stories we pay attention to. The key points here are that these findings outline the need for writers to create narratives that grab our attention.

In this article, you will learn why Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a timeless story that continues to be relevant even after 400 years. You will also get an idea of how much information our brains can process in one second and the importance of first drafts.

Big Idea #1: Humanity’s love for stories evolved out of our need to survive.

Stories are an important part of our culture. We love to read them, watch them in movies and TV shows, and even tell them to one another. Why is this the case? Stories have been around since before we could write or record anything, so they’re deeply embedded into our brains. They allow us to visualize the future and prepare for it by paying attention to stories that will help us avoid danger — like red berries that can make you sick if you eat too many of them.

Modern neuroscience shows that when we listen to a story, our brains process it just like they would in real life. This tells us that stories developed as a way of learning about danger without having to actually experience it.

For example, if you wanted to know why a saber-tooth tiger is dangerous, it would be better to hear about it from someone else and not experience the danger yourself. Both methods will teach you the lesson but your death isn’t likely with one method over another.

In our modern world, the likelihood of facing a saber-tooth tiger is low. However, stories have power to engage and educate us.

It’s wonderful that writers can take advantage of this. However, the story alone is not enough to engage readers. What makes a story engaging are particular characteristics which we will discover in the following key points.

Big Idea #2: A good story needs a focus which filters out unnecessary information.

A good story needs a well-developed plot. The plot is the central point of any story and it consists of three major elements: an issue, a theme, and a protagonist. The issue is what your main character wants to accomplish. In Hamlet, that would be finding out who killed his father and taking revenge on him/her. A theme communicates something about life through the context of your story’s plot; in this case, sanity vs madness or depression might be one such theme.

The last factor is the plot, which consists of unexpected events that occur to the protagonist. In Hamlet, this would be everything that happens after Claudius kills Hamlet’s father and takes his place on the throne.

Once you know what your focus is, the information in your story should be focused around that. There shouldn’t be any unnecessary information!

So what’s the biggest benefit of focus? It helps us filter out irrelevant information and select only the most important pieces. If we’re not focused, our brains can’t process all that info. We also lose interest in what we’re doing. All this happens because our brain releases less dopamine when it’s overwhelmed with too much info.

Without focus, Hamlet becomes a rather boring story of random events.

Big Idea #3: Empathizing with the protagonist’s emotions engages the reader with the story.

We tend to think of our personalities as being made up of two separate parts. One part is responsible for making rational decisions, while the other makes emotional and instinctive choices.