A The first stories were probably narrated to people crouching around a bonfire.These included tales of mighty adventures, like near-death encounters, hunting excursions, or an escape from mortal peril, or perhaps a mystery or divine anecdotes. However, irrespective of the subject, there was one principal objective behind all these tales: to keep the listener intrigued and engaged, to make them overlook their worries or fatigue, and only one query must prevail in their mind — what happens next?
B Finding the initial stories ever told in human history is like herding cats, as these were preserved in the minds of the storytellers. This kind of storage or memorisation, however, shall not be deemed as ineffective. Several documented oral traditions of Australia, Balkans, and other parts of the world apprise us of master storytellers and poets of the time that could recite thousands of verses and proses from their memory, word to word! However, while such memorisation seems like art or sorcery, the essential idea of creating symbols is to have a system of reminders or mnemonics that helps one recall specific information in one's mind.
C In a few Polynesian societies, the storytellers used a notched memory stick for assistance in successive stages of recitation. However, among many other global communities, the art of storytelling led to the invention or development of writing systems.For instance, the onset of literacy in ancient Greece is attributed to the fact that the epic tales of the Trojan War and the Voyage of Odysseus were so captivating that there was a need to preserve them. Thus, the Greeks, in 750 B.C. — 700 B.C. borrowed the alphabet system from their east Mediterranean neighbours, the Phoenicians.
D The pristine practice of documenting stories on parchment and other materials can be traced to many ancient civilisations. The priestly papyrus archives of ancient Egypt and the birch-bark scrolls used by North American Ojibway Indians are excellent examples. It has emerged as a tried and tested practice, thanks to which stories are today synonymous with words on paper. Even the practice of oral storytelling is believed to have been taken over by journals, novels, comic strips, etc. However, written texts are not the primary source for humans to access stories. But then, what is it?
E Each year, over seven billion people head towards the silver screens to watch the latest offerings of national and international cinema. Yes, the chief storyteller of the day is none other than the Cinema! The movies encompass storytelling in the form of motion pictures, which is a contemporary phenomenon in comparison to reading information on paper or still photography. It is more so an illusion that was originally accepted by the method of sequencing images in a particular order. Even so, it is imperative to acknowledge that the art of visual storytelling must hold a profoundly atavistic vibe to it. In spite of the advantage, the conventional patterns of storyline and characterisation that have been instilled in storytelling for ages are indispensable for a good story.
F While thousands of scripts land dust on the desks of major film studios,all an aspiring screenwriter needs to look up to is the fourth-century Greek philosopher, Aristotle. In his incomplete work, The Poetics, he left several lecture notes describing the art of storytelling in multiple literary and dramatic mediums. Though it is highly unlikely that he envisaged the popcorn-fuelled atmosphere of today's multiplexes, he had ample perception of how to gather and retain large crowds to such creative centres. Aristotle examined the process with impressive rationalism. He states that when a story fascinates us, we lose the sense of where we are, our fears, and accept fiction. This is one of Aristotle's principles of theatre, which he calls —‘the suspension of disbelief.’
G The audience know the feeling! They might have experienced episodes of horror, grief, astonishment or ecstasy, sitting on the theatre seats or even days after the show, knowing that it is all fiction yet letting it impact their state of mind. They seldom think through why they are caught in the web of the storyteller.
H Aristotle taught at Athens, the city where theatre emerged as a prime mode of public's leisure and entertainment. So it is evident that he might have observed suspended disbelief in action. Two theatrical storytelling types, tragedy and comedy, made Athenians immerse themselves in gloom and glee, respectively. Of which, Aristotle explicitly acknowledged tragedy as a potent weapon to trigger the most heartfelt emotions of the spectators, so he explored over the factors in the storyteller's art that brought about such a subconscious commotion. For this, he studied the masterpieces of classical Greek tragedies by Euripides, Aeschylus, Sophocles, and even that of Homer. Even at that time, Homer's stories commanded the same awe as today. His Iliad and the Odyssey were considered literary landmarks and used as a scale to measure all other stories.
I So what is the mystery behind Homer's captivating narratives? Homer conceived credible heroes that were powerful and majestic but did not turn into fantasy figures in the end. He made them sulk, quarrel, cheat, and whine. They were the characteristics that an audience could relate to, or wish to follow. This naturally intrigued them to know what happens next. As Aristotle observed, the heroes with a human side, a mix of flaws and vulnerability to which humans are inclined, are aptly dramatic.