Comments on: Can a Game be a Story?

By: Highlights from 2009

Highlights from 2009 — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 12:33:22 +0000

[...] Can a Game be a Story? Can an event that’s happening in front of you be defined as a story? [...]

By: Do Stories need Puzzles?

Do Stories need Puzzles? — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:26:42 +0000

[...] the other thing about my Dad that confuses me. (Well, there’s more than two, but I’m trying to focus, [...]

By: --Deb

--Deb — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:34:50 +0000

I’m laughing … in my opinion, a soap opera–since it’s scripted and someone is telling me what happens (whether it’s being acted out or not)–is definitely a story. A cheesy, melodramatic story. But the point is that someone chose to write it, chose the direction the story went and made it happen. In live events, like sports, wars, or even just a plan of “What to do today,” the plans radically change upon events.

Professional wrestling, though? Well, that one, I don’t know. It’s kind of scripted, but it plays out like a real sporting event … I’d suppose that it’s still not actually a story, though, because, um, there’s no script. No words = no story … how’s that for a seat-of-the-pants rule-of-thumb?

By: Kelvin Kao

Kelvin Kao — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:05:41 +0000

I can agree with what you are saying here about the difference between events and stories, but I’ll need some clarifications: Would you call soap opera a story? I mean, it’s happening before your eyes. You are watching the events. So is it not yet a story until you tell other people about it? Or is it already a story because it was based on a script that a writer somewhere already wrote?

And if that’s a story and a baseball game is not a story, then what about professional wrestling?
Kelvin Kao´s last blog ..TV Puppetry Workshop (Intermediate): Week 4

By: --Deb

--Deb — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:29:27 +0000

I agree that sports can BECOME stories, but they’re not actually stories while they’re happening. Stories have to be told–before that, they’re just events (no matter how exciting).
–Deb´s last blog ..Can a Game be a Story?

By: Brad Shorr

Brad Shorr — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:32:41 +0000

Hi Deb, If sporting events aren’t stories, then thousands of sportswriters are going to be out of work very soon. To some extent I’ve got to side with your father here. Some games are so dramatic that the story line can be seen even as the game is unfolding – with the added excitement of not knowing the ending. In fact, after the game, when fans of the winners are singing their team’s praises and fans of the losers are performing autopsies, many different stories are told. So in the end you are very, very right in saying the story is in the telling. One reasons sports are so popular is because fans can swap stories and argue story lines all the way up until the next game!
Brad Shorr´s last blog ..How to Use Twitter Lists

By: Iain Broome - Write for Your Life

Iain Broome - Write for Your Life — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:43:51 +0000

Isn’t your Dad’s point though that part of the reason he watches sport is for the stories. The anticipation of another tale to tell down the local watering hole and all the individual stories that make up something like a game of football.

Also, in every individual, every team, every sport there is a wider context – a history, a back story. So to continue the analogy (loosely), the game that you’re watching is indeed an event, and you only know the full story when it’s over. But in sport, that game comes on the back of many, many other games and seasons. It’s part of a much wider story.

Interesting subject!
Iain Broome – Write for Your Life´s last blog ..You should watch this video