What Makes a Good Story?

 

What do the most successful songs, movies, television shows, novels, short stories, essays, sermons, journalistic writing, and the Bible have in common?What they have in common is this: A common narrative structure.Let me explain. We humans are storytellers. Our communication with each other is nothing more than telling each other stories. Now some of our stories are fables. And some are truth. And some are a mixture.The point is – we talk to each other in stories. When Kim Collins and I see each other Monday morning we will often ask, “How was your weekend?” If one of us responds, “Fine” and leaves it at that – that is an unsatisfying answer – it sends a certain signal. If Kim asks about my weekend, she wants a narrative from me. She wants a story about my life over the last couple of days. Put me there, she says, where you were.The best journalists are the best story-tellers. Every introductory journalism text begins by telling the young journalists that he/she is in the story-telling business. Story telling celebrates the human condition. The well-reported and written story makes us feel as though we were there, experiencing what the people in the story were experiencing. The goal of every story is transportation – transport the reader (listener, viewer) to a particular place at a particular time. All effective communication does that transporting. The trick, of course, is to tell the story in such a way that people ARE transported. A well-reported and written story leaves us outraged or elated or inspired or frustrated. A well reported and written story moves us emotionally.And it doesn’t make any difference if the place you are transporting the reader to is New Orleans, a senate hearing room, Torino, Italy or a school board meeting. The reader can’t be there and so you are the sensory organs of the reader. The journalistic adage, “show, don’t tell” is the only way story-telling works. The most compelling stories put us right in the driver’s seat – whether it is the plane with no wheels coming in for a landing or a car chase on a major highway or a United States Supreme Court nominee hearing. Good story telling will transfix us.I want to suggest a universal narrative or structure to ALL effective story–telling, including all journalistic writing. Here is the 3 part structure: creation – fall – redemption.I plan to show where this narrative structure comes from, why it is universal and therefore effective, and how this narrative structure applies to all journalistic writing.1) Where does this narrative structure (creation-fall-redemption) comes from, why it is universal and therefore effective, and how does this narrative structure apply to all journalistic writing?In a word, the structure comes from the Bible. The meta-narrative structure of the Bible is creation–fall–redemption. God has told us a marvelous story, and the story can be summarized into three strands: creation – fall – redemption.The elucidation of this universal story as told to all creation by a Creator God is well known in Christian circles:A) Creation1) God is the creator of all things.2) God rules that which He created.B) Fall1) The created world was universally corrupted by the fall of Adam and Eve.2) Human beings are thoroughly corrupted by the fallC) Redemption1) Jesus Christ redeems creation from sin and death into a new creation.2) Through God’s self-disclosing revelation, human beings can understand and know God.These bullet points on Christian doctrine are fleshed out in every systematic and dogmatic theology text.This creation-fall-redemption theme is innate in all humans since we are created in God’s image in order to think our thoughts after Him (sensus deitatus). This innate theme or narrative has been played out in literature, art and communications for all recorded history because this is the way we humans were created to look at the world. This is the way we are hardwired. So every creative human communication has these three elements in it if it is to be satisfying to the human mind and soul. This is important for us to understand. This narrative is as simple and as wonderful, as, “Boy meets girl (creation), boy loses girl (fall), boy finds girl (redemption).” If a story doesn’t end with redemption, it is nihilistic and not satisfying to the human soul because it is not hopeful and not reality.[1] Jesus uses this narrative structure in His parables (Matt. 13, Luke 12; etc).[2][3]Do we journalists use these theological terms of “creation-fall-redemption” in OUR story-telling, in OUR reporting? Of course not. We use words for “creation”“inauguration,” “honeymoon,” “began,” “started,” “opened,” “born,” “organized,” “commenced,” “created,” “made,” “met.”We use words for “fall”“problem,” “lapse,” “violence,” “war,” “disaster,” “crises,” “tragedy,” “failure,” “”sickness,” “pain,” “evil,” “disappointment,” “loses.”And we use words for “redemption”“success,” “victory,” “healing,” “peace,” “save,” “solution,” “win,” “prosperity,” “happiness,” “joy”, “love,” “finds.”Regardless of the terminology, it is still the same structure that is being told: a nice beginning, a lousy middle and a happy ending.
A) CreationLet me talk a bit about the creation strand of the Bible and how that might apply to the Christian journalist in her reporting.1) CultureWhen we speak of creation we usually think of the physical world around us – mountains, oceans, sunsets, clouds, waterfalls, etc. Those things ARE created, but as journalists we observe and report on other created things as well – human civilization and culture. Human culture – the cultivating of the physical world and ourselves – is governed by God’s ordinances just as surely as the sun and the moon. Even the leftist French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu stated that culture is the “present incarnation of the sacred.” What a wonderful phrase. So you need to be self-conscous about the divine in the world around you.Cultural institutions such as marriage/family, commerce, politics, economics, international relations, esthetics, sociology, education, of course ecclesiology – all of these human activities (and more) are grounded in God’s created ordinances and direction. In short, there are godly rules and boundaries that apply to all human endeavors because everything is created out of the mind of a sovereign God. Human culture is grand and good and beautiful, despite the pockets of ugliness caused by our sin.And so is the American newsroom. It can be an ugly, yet wondrous place for the Christian journalist to fulfill the cultural mandate by reporting reality.So the journalist of faith needs to report and write on the beauty, achievement, and failure of human culture in the midst of an ambiguous workplace.2) HistoryAnother idea to come from the creation theme is that human history is a history of the management of God’s will and work. The history of human culture is a history of God acting in the human race. What I am saying is that human history and the unfolding of human culture and society are a manifestation of creation and its development and cultivation by humans. Human history is not outside of God’s sovereign working in the world.So the journalist of faith needs to look for the hand of God in today’s current events. Sometimes that’s tough, but we need to have eyes that see.3) AnthropologyThere is a connection between creation and fall, but not identification. The fall did not abolish the creation characteristics. That is, I am created as an image bearer of God and sin doesn’t change that. I will never be identified in His eyes by my sin. This anthropological understanding of the creation vis-à-vis the fallen person has enormous consequences on how we Christian journalists treat other people whose worldview, lifestyle and actions we have strong disagreements with. Everyone is created in God’s image and thus to be treated with divine affection. Francis Schaeffer taught that the “final apologetic” for Christianity is that we Christians love those around us with a demonstrable love.So the journalist of faith needs to treat everyone in his/her story with accuracy, respect, dignity and radical fairness and kindness (Eph. 4:25-32).
B) FallLet me talk briefly about the fall and how that might apply to the Christian journalist in his reporting. In looking at the narrative structure of the Bible as a whole have you noticed that vast majority of the Bible is devoted to the fall and its effects on creation? We have the first two chapters of Genesis dealing with creation. Actually less than that. And the rest of the Scriptures are a chronicle of how the human race deals with the effects of the fall.Given the extraordinary importance of creation and a correct understanding of creation, why does God devote the overwhelming majority of His revelation to our struggle with our fallenness, including our need for redemption? There are many theological answers, but I am looking at the story line. Let me suggest that God spends so much of His revelation speaking of our ruination because that is what captures our attention and causes us to focus on our need for repair. You journalists should listen. If all God talked about was the beginning, the creation, we wouldn’t be interested because creation isn’t our problem. But when the story introduces Satan and the weakness and fall of Adam and Eve, we are captivated because Adam and Eve are us. One of the journalism texts we use at the institute is William Zinsser’s On Writing Well. At the very beginning of this book, Zinsser has a chapter called “The Transaction” which he says is at the heart of every good story,Ultimately the product that any writer has to sell is not the subject being written about, but who he or she is….This is the personal transaction that’s at the heart of good nonfiction writing. Out of this transaction come two of the most important qualities…humanity and warmth. Good writing has an aliveness that keeps the reader reading from one paragraph to the next. The narrative of the middle theme – our fall – explains our lives and it conditions us to understand the past creation and prepares us to accept future redemption.Concerning human history, of which I just spoke, have there been, are there now sinful aberrations and distortions from a fruitful and edifying historical direction, a diversion from the way history should play out? Of course. Do we Christians always understand and interpret human events correctly? Do we always comprehend what God is doing in His world around us? Of course not. Human sin makes our stories interesting and compelling, but also tentative. We report with humility because we know we report with eyes and minds clouded by our sin.All other worldviews conflate creation and fall into one point. These worldviews say that we are as we have always been or evolved to be. We have always been beastly and materialistic and only through education, enlightenment, environmental change, etc. will the human predicament (weakness, ignorance, evil) be redeemed. In this view, we have only two strands: creation/fall and redemption.Only in Christianity is the human not defined by his/her sin. And we understand this because creation and fall are separate events in time and space. And only in Christianity is the human not able to redeem or repair (educate, enlighten, heal, change) himself. Only a power outside of the individual can return the human nature to its creation state.So the journalist of faith should be accurate, fair, kind but skeptical when reporting human efforts to redeem itself through political, economic or social endeavors.
C) RedemptionFinally, let me talk briefly about redemption and how that applies to the Christian journalist in his reporting. The journalism text that the institute used for several years was a wonderful introductory text by Carole Rich (University of Alaska) entitled, Writing and Reporting New: A Coaching Method. In a chapter that is found in typical introductory text, Prof. Rich states that “most hard news stories are about a conflict or a problem and the attempts to resolve the conflict.” Or to put it another way, most stories are about problems created and then being resolved by the people who are in the story. The question the reader will ask is: “So what? How does this relate to me?”When journalism teachers and editors talk about story structure usually what is mentioned are story forms such as:1) The inverted pyramid formThe most important information to the least important information.2) Modified chronology (hourglass, funnel) formMost important information then a chronology of events to the end.3) Time contrast form4) Question and Answer form5) List formSummary lead first then an itemized list of highlights6) Pyramid formBegin at the beginning and continue with a chronology of events until the end.7) Sections/segmentation formSeparate the story into paragraphs dealing with separate leads and endings. Non-linear (web stories) formWeb stories with interactive and hyperlinks allowing the reader to choose the story structure.These story structure forms are all fine ways to marshal the facts of a story but they don’t address the human need for context and closure, and that is what the journalistic narrative of creation-fall-redemption provides.As aspiring journalists who are Christian, your stories should be framed in such a way that the reader will see that the world is not chaotic or random, but is purposeful, designed and coherent. The world is headed for a conclusion. You don’t have to mention God or heaven or hell, but every story should contain, either explicitly or implicitly, the reality of a solution or resolution or closure (redemption). Readers will flock to your writing because it will connect to the deeper aspirations of the human soul for hope and significance.
ConclusionLet me begin my conclusion by stating this three-strand reporting and writing is not hard to do. In fact, it is wonderfully simple and helpful in guiding your reporting and writing because it pictures reality. It is the way things really are. There is a direction toward redemption in every story. This may sound Aristotelian, but it is very Biblical.Don’t misunderstand me. As Christian journalists we are not prophets. We are not evangelists. We are purveyors of reality. So the story we tell may not have the outcome, the solution, the redemption that we as the story tellers want. But there is redemption or solution or outcome that some of the participants in the story want and are working towards. And that’s the story we report.What I am arguing for us that all journalistic reporting and writing should be organized around the structure or theme of creation-fall-redemption or beginning-problem-solution. If you report and write this way your editors will rise up and call you blessed because your readers will devour your stuff.Let me give you several practical applications out of what I am talking about:1) Read the great journalists when they report. You will see this narrative theme in their reporting.2) When you read tomorrow’s newspaper, be self-conscious about looking for the creation-fall-redemption theme in every article.For instance, in an article about a school board meeting, note that the board meets at a certain time in a certain place with certain people in attendance (creation). Then note the agenda designed to solve a particular school district problem (fall). Finally, note what solution the board is proposing (redemption). It is as simple as that – but without those three fundamental elements there is no story telling going on.3) Spend the bulk of your article telling of the fall, that is, the problem that needs to be solved. Flesh it out. Don’t spend the space on creation or redemption because the reader won’t care. What the reader want to know is, “What is the problem”? If it bleeds, it leads. 4) During your early creation narrative, give hint of the upcoming fall and how the creation narrative flows into the fall: What is the understanding of the school board members of the impending problem? Do the members have any vested interest in solving the problem? Do any of the members have any expertise in solving the problem?5) As you narrate the fall or problem, note how the fall flows into redemption or solution: Are there different redemptive solutions or is there only one? How is that redemptive solution being treated by the participants in the story?These three strands of creation-fall-redemption are not air tight compartments. They flow into each other, influencing each other: relying on what went on previously and telegraphing what will happen in the future.Final cautionary wordsAs you hurriedly craft your story under deadline pressure remember to shape the story around the universal theme of creation-fall-redemption. Your story will hang together and make sense to the reader if you do. Every story needs all three strands to make any sense.If you only have creation and fall there will be no hope for the reader. And we know that reality offers hope.If you only have creation or redemption the reader will ask, “What is the relevance to me”?And if you only have the fall the reader will ask, “What is the context or meaning for me”?Only all three (creation-fall-redemption) will provide an accurate picture of reality and satisfy the yearnings of the reader. As Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes in a different context, “A cord of three strands is not quickly broken” (4:12).

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[1] This three-fold narrative structure is not an arbitrary arrangement – something the Church just made up. It is taught in the first three chapters of Geneses. From the very beginning of the Bible we know the story line of reality. It is so basic that is needs no qualification. Any other Biblical theme (i.e., “God is with us,” God is love,” etc) is a sub-theme to this Meta narrative and must deal with pre-fall, post-fall and redeemed fall themes. Only narrative of creation fall redemption encapsulates all of revelation.

[2] Simon Kistemaker refers to the triadic form of the parables. One of those forms is creation-fall-redemption.

[3] This is not new stuff. Every English department at every Christian college in the world will be teaching this to its students. Indeed every English department in the world will be teaching these themes, because they ultimately can’t help themselves but teach these themes. And as an old college philosophy teacher, I can make the same point about philosophy departments. Every philosopher, even Richard Rorty, frames his/her philosophy around these basic strands. It is impossible not to frame the story this way and still reflect reality. The easiest example to think of is Hegel: thesis- antithesis-synthesis. Francis Schaeffer argued this position throughout his writings.