Games and Storytelling Series – the elements of storytelling Part Three

Long time no write about this subject. So here I’m back and this time about Story. What is story in storytelling? an emotional arch that rises in the presence of a theme. This arch deals with what the story is about for the listener. It can be one thing for the teller and another thing for each member of the audience. When you ask someone “what is this story really about?” the answer they will give you is the story. So everything that happens in the inner world of a listener as the plot unravels in the narrative world is measured according to the theme and that determines the story for the listener. Complicated? not really. All you have to make sure is that there is a story there for you – the creator of the story. If you are connected emotionally – so will be the listener.

I think this is one of the crucial elements of storytelling that is not yet well enough internalized in the gaming world. From what I can see right now some of the reasons could be age and life-style, some have to do with what I’ve previously called un-time which games create. Time is important when in comes to emotions. You cannot sustain a meaningful emotional inner world around an issue in a game if you can repeat a scene again and again in order to excell a skill or pass on to the next level. The emotional part of the story changes into the emotion that accompanies the will to excell, to win etc. The story changes into something rather thin and repetative.