Our brain has one fundamental goal: to ensure our survival. It is constantly seeking external input to help it ascertain if we are safe or not, and is always careful to decode any information it receives, to determine what is relevant and what is unimportant.
Stories are the language of experience, which makes them very important. Regardless of whether we experience them first-hand or not, they provide us with clues on how to survive and thrive in the world.
With the help of neuroscience, writers have been given the opportunity to better understand what people expect from stories and, consequently, make sure that their books are not only chosen from amongst the many others that line the shelves in the bookstores, but that they are then actually read, and enjoyed, until the very last page.
But with everything that we have on our plates as it is, why on earth should we care about other people's stories? Why does our brain waste time on narratives?
It's very simple: without stories, we would be done for. Stories help us to evolve and allow us to have indirect experiences, thus acquiring knowledge, just as if we had been through it firsthand.
Not only do stories help us to survive in the physical world, but they also contribute to our lives both at a social level and within our community, because they offer us perspectives and insights into the consequences of our behaviours. We love them because they give us information on how to juggle the adventure that we call life, and they give us guidance about how best to manage ourselves.
But what is a story, exactly?
A story is the telling of how a person (the main character) changes when faced with difficult situations that prevent them from getting what they want. Every story speaks of a change, a journey, the most important of which is internal, that readers are able to embark upon alongside the protagonist.
