Narrative

In Scene 78 of The Storyteller, Pierre confesses to Michel that he has been barking up the wrong tree in his approach to narrative.
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Pierre: I was trying to tell the story using only conversation. No names. No description.

Michel: And could you?

Pierre: I could not.

Michel: What was the problem?

Pierre: Names signify something. Do you know just today I found that Wanda means to wander in Wendish. And people have personalities. They are in a location. Timing is important.

Michel: You are learning. That’s context.

Pierre: I thought snatches of believable speech would be enough to build the story and run up to a climax.

Michel: A story is not just a tale told through dialogue. Walter Fisher’s narrative paradigm includes a lot more. You need characters, plot, motivation, action.

Pierre: Plot.

Michel: As E.M. Forster put it. The king died and then the queen died. That’s a story. But when you say the king died and then the queen died of grief, that’s a plot.

Pierre: However unlikely.

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