Making Stories: Law, Literature, Life
Jerome Bruner.
2002.
Harvard University Press. Cambridge, MA.
Why do we naturally portray ourselves through story, so naturally indeed that selfhood itself seems a product of our own story making? ... Why narrative? (Bruner, 2002. P. 70)
Bruner compiled a list from research volumes edited together by Ulric Neisser addressing this question and came up with the following reminders of what is needed to tell or write a good story (Bruner, 2002. P. 72):
A story needs a plot.
Plots need obstacles to goals.
Obstacles make people reconsider.
Tell only about the story-relevant past.
Give your characters allies and connections.
Let your characters grow.
But keep their identities intact.
And also keep their continuities evident.
Locate your characters in the world of people.
Let your characters explain themselves as needed.
Let your characters have moods.
Worry when your characters are not making sense -and have them worry too.
Thoughts and questions to myself:
How am I employing narrative in the formation of my tools (the personas)?
How or what narrative is present in the paintings each of us creates or re-creates?
Which of the above points listed apply to what part of the work (the personas, the paintings)?