Studying Storytelling in Depth
Right before I began writing this article, I checked my email and saw a post from one of my favorite authors and thinkers, Austin Kleon. In his post (which you can find here), he talks about studying something you love in-depth. Which is actually very aligned with the topic of this article. Synchronicity for the win!
In the article, Kleon is referencing cartoonist Paul Karasik and the talk he gave about studying something you love in-depth. Karasik says,
“Here’s the only thing you need to remember from this talk: ‘Study something you love to death’—I mean ‘depth’! [laughter] ‘Study something you love in-depth.’ I just gave you an hour, so tonight give me 45 minutes. Spend 45 minutes tonight studying something you love. Watch the first five minutes of your favorite movie 7 times. You will notice new things.”
What does this have to do with the article I planned to write?
Everything. It has everything to do with it.
Because my assertion for this article is that the more you study storytelling — the better you become at telling stories, yourself. The more you consume great works of art, the more primed you are to create something of your own. The more you study nuance in media, the more likely you are to add it into your own work.
So you see, I’m a big fan of studying something you love in-depth.
How do you “study” storytelling?
Once you know what you’re looking for in storytelling, it’s actually quite easy to study how others are doing it. Now, before we get into it, I want to make a disclaimer here. I’m selecting only a few shows to explore this topic with today. There are so many amazing books, movies and tv shows out there that can illustrate the point. These are just the ones I’m choosing to go with for this article.
Characters
The most obvious thing to study in storytelling is the characters. If you start asking yourself questions about the characters from the beginning, you’ll start to see answers revealed (usually), and often, you’ll start to see the story behind the story. Here are some questions I ask myself whenever I’m studying storytelling with characters:
How is the character introduced to the audience? What are the first impressions of the character?
How is the character’s backstory being revealed? Through flashbacks? Through dialogue? Through behaviors and actions? Is there any indication of why the character acts or speaks a certain way?
What is the character’s central wound/misbelief/challenge? Is it internal? External? What are they fighting for and what are they fighting against?
How is the character different when they are around other people versus when they are alone? Does this give any insight into them as a character or motivation for their actions/behaviors?
What isn’t being said by or around the character? What is hiding behind dialogue, action or the story?
Mini Case Studies
I’ve already talked about two characters who totally embody “nuance” and “depth” in my article Writing Unlikeable Characters — so take a minute or two to read that first. Then come back to this article.
There have been several shows that have both inspired and astounded me with the level of character development and depth. These are shows that have given me a solid foundation of characters to study. While these shows and characters have appealed to me, they may not appeal to you. And that’s okay! I encourage you to use the questions outlined above for shows that may be more suited to your tastes if you want to study characters.
Yellowstone: The characters in this show are incredibly complex and nuanced but that’s what makes them so rich for studying. They have backstories and histories that are slowly revealed throughout the seasons allowing the viewer to make connections to certain behaviors and life outlooks. The show also does a fantastic job of giving a voice to marginalized populations such as Native Americans.
Breaking Bad: Walter White is the ultimate character to study here as the writers did a profoundly amazing job of creating someone with a lot of complexity and nuance. But he’s not the only character worth studying. Jesse, Hank, Mike, Saul, and Skyler are also important characters to study as they each show their own progression and nuance in the show.
This is Us: While each individual character deserves time spent studying their character, this show also offers audiences a chance to study characters through the lens of others and as connective tissue. Though we get to see glimpses of Jack in the show, by and large, his character comes through in the stories the other characters tell about him. The “Family Unit” becomes its own kind of character in a way and it’s fascinating to see how the characters develop individually but also collectively within their unit. Also, highly underrated is the character of Nicky who offers a lot of depth if you’re willing to look deeper into his character development.
Haunting of Hill House & Haunting of Bly Manor & Midnight Mass: Mike Flanagan is a master storyteller and his recent Netflix series are evidence. While the story of each series is fantastic, it’s the characters who really shine. Flanagan has a way of using the horror/suspense genre to bring out the character depth and nuance that is often absent from the genre. His exploration into familial trauma in the Haunting of Hill House does wonders for studying the characters as they fall apart and come together as a family. (I have a blog post on both Haunting of Hill House and Haunting of Bly Manor if you’re interested).
Better Call Saul: A prequel to Breaking Bad, but also a beautifully rich example of character development and nuance. It’s rare that we get to see a cross-over character explored so fully as we get to see with Bob Oberdink’s character, Saul (or Jimmy McGill as he’s known for most of the show). The show’s strength is in showing us, scene by scene how Jimmy McGill’s backstory, conflicts, and external forces come together as he evolves into Saul Goodman.
Stranger Things: It’s no accident that this Netflix series is at the top of people’s list of favorite shows. The character development is superb and honestly? That’s hard to do with such a young cast. But it’s because of the character depth and nuance that we come to fall in love with the characters.
Yellowjackets: A newcomer to the television landscape (there’s only one season so far) but a huge contender for character development. The writers for Yellowjackets were incredibly smart to include a dual timeline strategy for enhancing character development as we get to see some of the characters as young adults and then later as grown adults. And it’s because of this unique timeline that we get the advantage of connecting the characters’ behaviors, nuances, and mindsets to their external world. We can very clearly see how the trajectory of these characters’ lives has influenced who they are in the present.
Conflict
Another big part of studying storytelling is confronting the conflict of the story. It’s my opinion that the best storytelling includes both internal and external conflict for the characters because it forces the audience/viewer to reconcile the paradox the character is facing. Conflict can tell us a lot about the story, the characters, and the message the creator is trying to send. Here are some questions I ask myself whenever I’m studying storytelling with conflict:
Is the conflict internal or external? Are both present? Which is the more complex conflict? What makes the conflict so fascinating to watch/read/listen to?
Is the conflict believable? Relatable? Understandable?
Is the conflict central to the story? Does it matter to me that the conflict is there?
Does the conflict force the characters to change?
How does the conflict influence the story as a whole?
Mini Case Studies
Some of these examples will be pulled from the same shows I talked about character depth in (there’s a reason why I think they are great for studying storytelling in general!). The truth is — usually whenever there are examples of good character development, there are examples of good conflict. The two go hand-in-hand.
Yellowstone: It’s easy to notice the surface-level conflict in this show. Someone(s) are trying to take something that doesn’t belong to them. But the actual conflict is in how the characters internally deal with it. Time and time again in this show, the characters are confronted with decisions that test and shake them to the core because of the external conflict of someone(s) trying to take their land. The true conflicts come in terms of identity, power, loyalty, and a whole host of other internal conflicts. While the external conflict is the “threat” — the internal conflicts are what makes the show compelling to watch.
Breaking Bad: The genius of this show is that the external conflicts change and evolve, but that only serves to reinforce the internal conflicts the characters have to face along the way. There is also a progression to the conflicts — starting out from very basic to more and more complex. When the series starts out, it’s very clear what the external conflict is for Walter White — he’s been diagnosed with cancer and needs money for his treatments and to leave his family. From there, though, the conflicts become more and more complex and life-altering, as does the internal conflicts Walter (and other characters) face because of those external conflicts.
Stranger Things: The beauty of this show is that the external conflict stays mostly the same but affects every single character. It’s a tale-as-old-as-time conflict too — an evil “entity” is emerging and threatening life as we know it. But within that landscape, there are interconnected conflicts like Eleven’s origin story and being caught in the “upside-down” world. As the external conflict gets more and more life-threatening, the internal conflicts the characters face force another layer to the show and the characters themselves.
Yellowjackets: This show embraces one of the oldest conflicts known to the human race — nature vs. humans. This is one of the most electrifying sources of conflict because we can all relate. And what this show excels at is showcasing just how high-stakes that external conflict can become when you add in internal conflict, too. Being forced into a survival situation is a helluva conflict to begin with, but then when you bring in trauma, hormones, fear, abandonment, etc., the internal conflicts that clash with the external conflicts become explosive.
Emotion
It seems kind of obvious that one should be studying emotion in storytelling, but we often get so wrapped up in the story and the characters that we forget what is pulling us toward the story in the first place. I think every story has the capacity to show emotion, but what good storytelling does is show you the nuances in emotion. It showcases characters coming to terms with the good and bad emotions that spring up in life. Emotion is what keeps us watching, reading or listening to the story.
Here are some questions I ask myself whenever I’m studying storytelling with emotion:
How is the emotion being shown through the characters? Does it feel one-dimensional or three-dimensional?
Do the emotions of a scene/character/conflict make sense? Is the emotion genuine or does it feel like it’s being exploited?
Do the emotions feel relatable or understandable?
Mini Case Studies
The shows used for these case studies often have viewers that label them “emotionally charged” and for good reason. The writers and/or creators of the shows know how to massage emotions into every aspect of their storytelling which keeps us hooked on knowing what comes next.
This is Us: Almost everything I’ve ever read or watched about this show mentions the “emotional” potency of the show and I agree. One of the biggest draws to the show is the way emotions are handled. We see characters struggling with very real and very relevant issues that we, as humans, are also facing. Grief and loss of a loved one. Growing up black in a white family. Addiction and recovery. Adoption. There are so many emotional ties to the real world that it allows viewers into the lives of characters that feel real to us.
Yellowjackets: There’s nothing quite like being stranded in the wilderness to fend for yourself when it comes to eliciting emotion. The very basis of this show screams emotion — and it’s the emotion I think we all can slightly relate to. I don’t know about you, but I can’t imagine being stranded in the wilderness and forced to figure out how to survive. To say I would be emotional would be an understatement.
Orange Is the New Black: It’s almost too obvious of a show to use, but c’mon. Living life inside of a women’s prison is ripe for emotion. But I don’t think fans expected the level of emotion to pour out of them once they grew to love the characters and were confronted with some of their deaths. The show also plays off contentious real-life situations and events and the emotions that come with it.
The Handmaid’s Tale: I think everyone can agree that The Handmaid’s Tale is steeped in emotion. I mean, the entire show is predicated on the most primal of our emotions. The outrage, sorrow, disgust, and horror of the show grips the audience... and it should! That’s part of what makes it good storytelling. In many ways, through the show, women are able to identify with and relate to the characters because even though it’s not the exact society we live in — so many of the same attitudes reign supreme in our society. This show is such a great example of how deep emotion can take a storyline and its characters.
The TL;DR Version:
Studying storytelling is easy once you commit to using both sides of your brain while consuming it. The audience/viewer part of yourself is consuming for entertainment, while the other part of your brain (logistical and curious) is sussing out why you enjoy it. Naturally, as you begin to practice these concepts more, the easier it’ll become to do both simultaneously. Whenever I’m watching a show, I always have something to write with nearby to jot down notes and thoughts. That’s how “second nature” it has become to me. More than just “studying” storytelling though is the ability to take what you’re learning and use it for your own creative works. Once I started studying storytelling, I found my writing to be deeper, more nuanced, and more fun to write, to be honest. So give it a try and see what you think. You may just find yourself rolling in knowledge nuggets all because you decided to give it a whirl.
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