Download or read book The Science of Storytelling written by Will Storr and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2020-03-10 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The compelling, groundbreaking guide to creative writing that reveals how the brain responds to storytelling Stories shape who we are. They drive us to act out our dreams and ambitions and mold our beliefs. Storytelling is an essential part of what makes us human. So, how do master storytellers compel us? In The Science of Storytelling, award-winning writer and acclaimed teacher of creative writing Will Storr applies dazzling psychological research and cutting-edge neuroscience to our myths and archetypes to show how we can write better stories, revealing, among other things, how storytellers—and also our brains—create worlds by being attuned to moments of unexpected change. Will Storr’s superbly chosen examples range from Harry Potter to Jane Austen to Alice Walker, Greek drama to Russian novels to Native American folk tales, King Lear to Breaking Bad to children’s stories. With sections such as “The Dramatic Question,” “Creating a World,” and “Plot, Endings, and Meaning,” as well as a practical, step-by-step appendix dedicated to “The Sacred Flaw Approach,” The Science of Storytelling reveals just what makes stories work, placing it alongside such creative writing classics as John Yorke’s Into the Woods: A Five-Act Journey into Story and Lajos Egri’s The Art of Dramatic Writing. Enlightening and empowering, The Science of Storytelling is destined to become an invaluable resource for writers of all stripes, whether novelist, screenwriter, playwright, or writer of creative or traditional nonfiction.
Download or read book The Story book of Science written by Jean-Henri Fabre and published by . This book was released on 1917 with total page 426 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A book about metals, plants, animals, and planets.
Download or read book The Science of Story written by Adam Fridman and published by . This book was released on 2018-02-02 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When you think about an impactful story, what comes to mind? Is it a novel on a rainy afternoon, or a magical fairytale to your imaginative children before bed? Can you think of a story you were told along your path and how it has shaped your perception or values still to this moment? The reality is that we tell stories everyday. They are the vehicles of soulful information. They emotionalize the information and create connection. They show our commonalities, humanity, and identify our shared beliefs. Ultimately guiding how we conduct ourselves in every interaction and decision. The Science of Story is the field guide for every business leader, marketer, HR professional, and every individual that is looking to transform and grow their organization. Not only are these conversations impactful to businesses of any size or industry, but they have also guided the subsequent research that followed. Learn more about how to take your career or company to the next level with this modern handbook full of ways to implement best practices from top business leaders across the globe. From behind the scenes purpose transformations to practical examples and everything in between, this book uncovers what it takes to build a purpose-driven, enlightened workforce.
Download or read book Wired for Story written by Lisa Cron and published by Ten Speed Press. This book was released on 2012-07-10 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This guide reveals how writers can utilize cognitive storytelling strategies to craft stories that ignite readers’ brains and captivate them through each plot element. Imagine knowing what the brain craves from every tale it encounters, what fuels the success of any great story, and what keeps readers transfixed. Wired for Story reveals these cognitive secrets—and it’s a game-changer for anyone who has ever set pen to paper. The vast majority of writing advice focuses on “writing well” as if it were the same as telling a great story. This is exactly where many aspiring writers fail—they strive for beautiful metaphors, authentic dialogue, and interesting characters, losing sight of the one thing that every engaging story must do: ignite the brain’s hardwired desire to learn what happens next. When writers tap into the evolutionary purpose of story and electrify our curiosity, it triggers a delicious dopamine rush that tells us to pay attention. Without it, even the most perfect prose won’t hold anyone’s interest. Backed by recent breakthroughs in neuroscience as well as examples from novels, screenplays, and short stories, Wired for Story offers a revolutionary look at story as the brain experiences it. Each chapter zeroes in on an aspect of the brain, its corresponding revelation about story, and the way to apply it to your storytelling right now.
Download or read book Story Smart written by Kendall Haven and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2014-10-14 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This one-of-a-kind book reveals the secrets of a story's power to persuade, inspire, influence, and to teach. Our brains have been evolutionarily hardwired to think, to make sense, and to understand in simple—but hidden—story terms. You'll discover the Neural Story Net, the Make Sense Mandate, Motive Matching, and the Story Influence Line—and understand how these powerful concepts control listener/reader engagement, attention, and the impact your communications will exert. You'll learn that what reaches the conscious mind of your target audience is significantly different from what first reached their eyes and ears—and that you can control that internal, neural process. This easy to use guide is organized into four parts: the neuroscience of narrative; your story tools; how narratives exert influence (changing beliefs, attitudes, values, etc.); and the straightforward process of creating "Story Smart" stories.
Download or read book Story Proof written by Kendall Haven and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2007-10-30 with total page 165 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Like Stephen Krashen's important work in The Power of Reading, Story Proof collects and analyzes the research that validates the importance of story, story reading, and storytelling to the brain development and education of children and adults. Accomplished researcher and storyteller Kendall Haven, establishes the need for understanding the research findings in neural psychology and brain development and the value of a common definition of story if one is to fully grasp the importance and necessity of story to the development of the human mind. To support his case, he reviews a wealth of research from storytellers, teachers, and others who have experienced the power of story firsthand. The author has collected anecdotal experiences from over 100 performing storytellers and from 1,800 story practitioners (mostly teachers) who have made extensive use of stories. He has read more than 150 qualitative and quantitative research studies that discuss the effectiveness of stories and/or storytelling for one or more specific applications (education, organizational management, knowledge management, medical and narrative therapy, etc.). Forty of these studies were literature reviews and comparative studies including analysis of over 1,000 studies and descriptive articles. He has also gathered research evidence from his own story performances for total audiences of over 4 million and from conducting story writing workshops with 200,000 students and 40,000 teachers.
Download or read book Houston We Have a Narrative written by Randy Olson and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2015-09-15 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Communicate more effectively about science—by taking a page from Hollywood and improving your storytelling skills. Ask a scientist about Hollywood, and you’ll probably get eye rolls. But ask someone in Hollywood about science, and they’ll see dollar signs: Moviemakers know that science can be the source of great stories, with all the drama and action that blockbusters require. That’s a huge mistake, says Randy Olson: Hollywood has a lot to teach scientists about how to tell a story—and, ultimately, how to do science better. With Houston, We Have a Narrative, he lays out a stunningly simple method for turning the dull into the dramatic. Drawing on his unique background, which saw him leave his job as a working scientist to launch a career as a filmmaker, Olson first diagnoses the problem: When scientists tell us about their work, they pile one moment and one detail atop another moment and another detail—a stultifying procession of “and, and, and.” What we need instead is an understanding of the basic elements of story, the narrative structures that our brains are all but hardwired to look for—which Olson boils down, brilliantly, to “And, But, Therefore,” or ABT. At a stroke, the ABT approach introduces momentum (“And”), conflict (“But”), and resolution (“Therefore”)—the fundamental building blocks of story. As Olson has shown by leading countless workshops worldwide, when scientists’ eyes are opened to ABT, the effect is staggering: suddenly, they’re not just talking about their work—they’re telling stories about it. And audiences are captivated. Written with an uncommon verve and enthusiasm, and built on principles that are applicable to fields far beyond science, Houston, We Have a Narrative has the power to transform the way science is understood and appreciated, and ultimately how it’s done.
Download or read book The Science of Story written by Sean Prentiss and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2020-01-09 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bringing together a diverse range of writers, The Science of Story is the first book to ask the question: what can contemporary brain science teach us about the art and craft of creative nonfiction writing? Drawing on the latest developments in cognitive neuroscience the book sheds new light on some of the most important elements of the writer's craft, from perspective and truth to emotion and metaphor. The Science of Story explores such questions as: · Why do humans tell stories? · How do we remember and misremember our lives - and what does this mean for storytelling? · What is the value of writing about trauma? · How do stories make us laugh, or cry, make us angry or triumphant? Contributors: Nancer Ballard, Mike Branch, Frank Bures, J.T. Bushnell, Katharine Coles, Christopher Cokinos, Alison Hawthorne Deming, David Lazar, Lawrence Lenhart, Alan Lightman, Dave Madden, Jessica Hendry Nelson, Richard Powers, Sean Prentiss, Julie Wittes Schlack, Valerie Sweeney Prince, Ira Sukrungruang, Nicole Walker, Wendy S. Walters, Marco Wilkinson, Amy Wright.
Download or read book The Story of Western Science From the Writings of Aristotle to the Big Bang Theory written by Susan Wise Bauer and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2015-05-11 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A riveting road map to the development of modern scientific thought. In the tradition of her perennial bestseller The Well-Educated Mind, Susan Wise Bauer delivers an accessible, entertaining, and illuminating springboard into the scientific education you never had. Far too often, public discussion of science is carried out by journalists, voters, and politicians who have received their science secondhand. The Story of Western Science shows us the joy and importance of reading groundbreaking science writing for ourselves and guides us back to the masterpieces that have changed the way we think about our world, our cosmos, and ourselves. Able to be referenced individually, or read together as the narrative of Western scientific development, the book's twenty-eight succinct chapters lead readers from the first science texts by Hippocrates, Plato, and Aristotle through twentieth-century classics in biology, physics, and cosmology. The Story of Western Science illuminates everything from mankind's earliest inquiries to the butterfly effect, from the birth of the scientific method to the rise of earth science and the flowering of modern biology. Each chapter recommends one or more classic books and provides entertaining accounts of crucial contributions to science, vivid sketches of the scientist-writers, and clear explanations of the mechanics underlying each concept. The Story of Western Science reveals science to be a dramatic undertaking practiced by some of history's most memorable characters. It reminds us that scientific inquiry is a human pursuit—an essential, often deeply personal, sometimes flawed, frequently brilliant way of understanding the world. The Story of Western Science is an "entertaining and unique synthesis" (Times Higher Education), a "fluidly written" narrative that "celebrates the inexorable force of human curiosity" (Wall Street Journal), and a "bright, informative resource for readers seeking to understand science through the eyes of the men and women who shaped its history" (Kirkus). Previously published as The Story of Science.
Download or read book The Storytelling Animal written by Jonathan Gottschall and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2012 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A provocative scholar delivers the first book on the new science of storytelling: the latest thinking on why we tell stories and what stories reveal about human nature.
Download or read book Storytelling with Data written by Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2015-10-09 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Don't simply show your data—tell a story with it! Storytelling with Data teaches you the fundamentals of data visualization and how to communicate effectively with data. You'll discover the power of storytelling and the way to make data a pivotal point in your story. The lessons in this illuminative text are grounded in theory, but made accessible through numerous real-world examples—ready for immediate application to your next graph or presentation. Storytelling is not an inherent skill, especially when it comes to data visualization, and the tools at our disposal don't make it any easier. This book demonstrates how to go beyond conventional tools to reach the root of your data, and how to use your data to create an engaging, informative, compelling story. Specifically, you'll learn how to: Understand the importance of context and audience Determine the appropriate type of graph for your situation Recognize and eliminate the clutter clouding your information Direct your audience's attention to the most important parts of your data Think like a designer and utilize concepts of design in data visualization Leverage the power of storytelling to help your message resonate with your audience Together, the lessons in this book will help you turn your data into high impact visual stories that stick with your audience. Rid your world of ineffective graphs, one exploding 3D pie chart at a time. There is a story in your data—Storytelling with Data will give you the skills and power to tell it!
Download or read book The Story of Snow written by Mark Cassino and published by Chronicle Books. This book was released on 2011-10-21 with total page 75 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Breathtaking photography and fascinating facts about snow crystals “will instill appreciation for these tiny, cool objects” in both children and adults (The Washington Post). How do snow crystals form? What shapes can they take? Is it true that there are no two snow crystals alike? These questions and more are answered in this visually stunning exploration of the science of snow. Perfect for reading on winter days, the book features photos of real snow crystals in all their beautiful diversity. Snowflake-catching instructions are also included! “Settle down in a comfy chair. . . . By the end, you’ll be hoping there’s a day when you can follow the careful directions for catching and viewing snow crystals.” —Chicago Tribune “The clear and direct narrative takes readers into the clouds to explain snow-crystal formation...and then zooms in on the actual crystals. Sure to get young scientists outside in the cold.” —Kirkus Reviews “Nature photographer Cassino’s gallery of snow crystals is [a] riveting exhibition.” —Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)
Download or read book Story Genius written by Lisa Cron and published by Ten Speed Press. This book was released on 2016-08-09 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following on the heels of Lisa Cron's breakout first book, Wired for Story, this writing guide reveals how to use cognitive storytelling strategies to build a scene-by-scene blueprint for a riveting story. It’s every novelist’s greatest fear: pouring their blood, sweat, and tears into writing hundreds of pages only to realize that their story has no sense of urgency, no internal logic, and so is a page one rewrite. The prevailing wisdom in the writing community is that there are just two ways around this problem: pantsing (winging it) and plotting (focusing on the external plot). Story coach Lisa Cron has spent her career discovering why these methods don’t work and coming up with a powerful alternative, based on the science behind what our brains are wired to crave in every story we read (and it’s not what you think). In Story Genius Cron takes you, step-by-step, through the creation of a novel from the first glimmer of an idea, to a complete multilayered blueprint—including fully realized scenes—that evolves into a first draft with the authority, richness, and command of a riveting sixth or seventh draft.
Download or read book Bat Count A Citizen Science Story written by Anna Forrester and published by Arbordale Publishing. This book was released on 2017-02-10 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jojo is prepping for an exciting night; it’s time for the bat count! Bats have always been a welcome presence during the summers in the family barn. But over the years, the numbers have dwindled as many bats in the area caught white-nose syndrome. Jojo and her family count the bats and send the numbers to scientists who study bats, to see if the bat population can recover. On a summer evening, the family quietly makes their way to the lawn to watch the sky and count the visitors to their farm. This fictional story includes a 4-page For Creative Minds section in the back of the book and a 65-page cross-curricular Teaching Activity Guide online. Bat Count is vetted by experts and designed to encourage parental engagement. Its extensive back matter helps teachers with time-saving lesson ideas, provides extensions for science, math, and social studies units, and uses inquiry-based learning to help build critical thinking skills in young readers. The Spanish translation supports ELL and dual-language programs. The interactive ebook reads aloud in both English and Spanish with word highlighting and audio speed control to promote oral language skills, fluency, pronunciation, text engagement, and reading comprehension. Tap animals and other things that make noise to hear their sounds.
Download or read book Toms River written by Dan Fagin and published by Bantam. This book was released on 2013-03-19 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE • Winner of The New York Public Library’s Helen Bernstein Book Award • “A new classic of science reporting.”—The New York Times The riveting true story of a small town ravaged by industrial pollution, Toms River melds hard-hitting investigative reporting, a fascinating scientific detective story, and an unforgettable cast of characters into a sweeping narrative in the tradition of A Civil Action, The Emperor of All Maladies, and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. One of New Jersey’s seemingly innumerable quiet seaside towns, Toms River became the unlikely setting for a decades-long drama that culminated in 2001 with one of the largest legal settlements in the annals of toxic dumping. A town that would rather have been known for its Little League World Series champions ended up making history for an entirely different reason: a notorious cluster of childhood cancers scientifically linked to local air and water pollution. For years, large chemical companies had been using Toms River as their private dumping ground, burying tens of thousands of leaky drums in open pits and discharging billions of gallons of acid-laced wastewater into the town’s namesake river. In an astonishing feat of investigative reporting, prize-winning journalist Dan Fagin recounts the sixty-year saga of rampant pollution and inadequate oversight that made Toms River a cautionary example for fast-growing industrial towns from South Jersey to South China. He tells the stories of the pioneering scientists and physicians who first identified pollutants as a cause of cancer, and brings to life the everyday heroes in Toms River who struggled for justice: a young boy whose cherubic smile belied the fast-growing tumors that had decimated his body from birth; a nurse who fought to bring the alarming incidence of childhood cancers to the attention of authorities who didn’t want to listen; and a mother whose love for her stricken child transformed her into a tenacious advocate for change. A gripping human drama rooted in a centuries-old scientific quest, Toms River is a tale of dumpers at midnight and deceptions in broad daylight, of corporate avarice and government neglect, and of a few brave individuals who refused to keep silent until the truth was exposed. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR AND KIRKUS REVIEWS “A thrilling journey full of twists and turns, Toms River is essential reading for our times. Dan Fagin handles topics of great complexity with the dexterity of a scholar, the honesty of a journalist, and the dramatic skill of a novelist.”—Siddhartha Mukherjee, M.D., author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning The Emperor of All Maladies “A complex tale of powerful industry, local politics, water rights, epidemiology, public health and cancer in a gripping, page-turning environmental thriller.”—NPR “Unstoppable reading.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer “Meticulously researched and compellingly recounted . . . It’s every bit as important—and as well-written—as A Civil Action and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.”—The Star-Ledger “Fascinating . . . a gripping environmental thriller.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “An honest, thoroughly researched, intelligently written book.”—Slate “[A] hard-hitting account . . . a triumph.”—Nature “Absorbing and thoughtful.”—USA Today
Download or read book One Story a Day written by Leonard Judge and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 63 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The stories, written by Canadian authors, are inspired by life lessons, fables from around the world, nature, science, and history. The One Story A Day series is designed to foster the reader's total development — linguistic, intellectual, social, and cultural — through the joy of reading.--DC Canada Education Publishing website.
Download or read book Dear Science and Other Stories written by Katherine McKittrick and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 2020-12-14 with total page 149 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Dear Science and Other Stories Katherine McKittrick presents a creative and rigorous study of black and anticolonial methodologies. Drawing on black studies, studies of race, cultural geography, and black feminism as well as a mix of methods, citational practices, and theoretical frameworks, she positions black storytelling and stories as strategies of invention and collaboration. She analyzes a number of texts from intellectuals and artists ranging from Sylvia Wynter to the electronica band Drexciya to explore how narratives of imprecision and relationality interrupt knowledge systems that seek to observe, index, know, and discipline blackness. Throughout, McKittrick offers curiosity, wonder, citations, numbers, playlists, friendship, poetry, inquiry, song, grooves, and anticolonial chronologies as interdisciplinary codes that entwine with the academic form. Suggesting that black life and black livingness are, in themselves, rebellious methodologies, McKittrick imagines without totally disclosing the ways in which black intellectuals invent ways of living outside prevailing knowledge systems.
