3 ms·

This is called storytelling. It is one of the great gifts of being alive and human that we are able to create or enjoy a well told story. While it’s not approp

by CPLX 7y ago

This is called storytelling. It is one of the great gifts of being alive and human that we are able to create or enjoy a well told story. While it’s not appropriate for every subject, or every hour of ones day, it is really a lovely thing and we should cherish those who expend the effort to create long and detailed narrative works. If you’re not in the mood for a story of this kind and just want to know what happened, the headline is a pretty accurate summary.

heavenlyblue 7y ago
Sadly it’s often needlessly superficial.
arkades 7y ago
No, it's not just "storytelling", and your answer is pretentious in the extreme, painting an aesthetic preference as some fundamental appreciation for human life, and the opposite by implication as crass. Storytelling is about narrative. It's about conveying a sequence of ideas in such a way as to make an impression. One can achieve storytelling without an abundance of irrelevant details ("Sometimes a travelling circus unfolds itself on the hard-packed sand of the heath’s carpark" does nothing to further establish our sense of setting, nor to characterize anything at all) and just being over-dramatic (leading with an inset quote about little at all, but making sure to lead with the title 'Counter-Terrorism Command'). Just because it's storytelling doesn't mean it's /good/ storytelling. The whole thing stays just one shade shy of purple. That is annoying as hell for a lot of people, and not at all "a great gift of being alive" that is "a really lovely thing." On the contrary: that's something a lot of even-literary editors would take a hacksaw to.
- b3kart 7y ago
  Couldn’t agree more. Know someone in the art history field, and all their academic texts are insufferable. People aren’t trying to deliver a point in the simplest way possible, instead they engage in some sort of linguistic masturbation. Obscure words, lengthy sentences, intricate syntactic constructions, etc. I assume this is some sort of a signalling method: “You can barely understand what I am taking about, and you don’t know half of the words, so I must be smart and this text must be important.”
  - kick 7y ago
    all their academic texts are insufferable [...] linguistic masturbation. Obscure words, lengthy sentences, intricate syntactic constructions, etc. You mean, "Every CS/Engineering Textbook Since Carver A. Mead stopped writing them"? I don't think you're wrong: academics are insufferable. But it's unfair to blame this solely on art folk: STEM is just as bad, if not worse. Mathematics is a thousand times guiltier of this than any other field.
- jschwartzi 7y ago
  Well I liked it.
- namdnay 7y ago
  It's funny that you criticise the parent for being pretentious, and then go on to explain to them what storytelling really is
  - zaroth 7y ago
    It’s funny how you... </s>
- CPLX 7y ago
  This comment probably could have been reduced to one paragraph, with fewer parentheticals and italics. Nonetheless I’m glad you posted it. I think it’s a positive thing when people expound at length on subjects that interest them.
  - arkades 7y ago
    Bah, humbug.
phreack 7y ago
I think the main problem is not that it's told like a story, it's that it's told badly. The non-linear structure is incredibly confusing, you can absolutely tell the story chronologically and keep it interesting, but it's sort of in fashion to meander about the timeline without reason. I've found these types of stories much more engaging by simply skipping whole paragraphs that diverge from the main thread.
- bena 7y ago
  Yeah, someone did it well one time and everyone thought it was the structure alone that was good and not the person doing the writing.
- TeMPOraL 7y ago
  > it's sort of in fashion to meander about the timeline without reason There is a reason. A modern paper wants articles that are long, with the meat of the matter spread out thoroughly throughout, because this maximizes the amount of ads you can fit in between paragraphs, and maximizes the chances a reader will view them. In general: if you're wondering why some aspect of journalism is rotten, it's most likely because it needs to accommodate advertising.
  - CPLX 7y ago
    Has it occurred to you that the reader might like something that is long, because they see reading content of this type as primarily a form of entertainment? It's not like there's a prize at the end, or some secret promo code hidden within the words. It's created for the purpose of idle consumption.
    - yetihehe 7y ago
      If readers didn't want long articles, there would be less long articles, but it's about inflating short articles to look longer (and stuff some ads).
bryanrasmussen 7y ago
non-linear stories written with an excruciating abundance of adjectives are called storytelling? I had been of the mistaken opinion that the term covered far greater ground.
_carl_jung 7y ago
I really enjoyed it too. Some HN commenters could do well to learn about opinions!

by CPLX 7y ago

heavenlyblue 7y ago

Sadly it’s often needlessly superficial.

arkades 7y ago

No, it's not just "storytelling", and your answer is pretentious in the extreme, painting an aesthetic preference as some fundamental appreciation for human life, and the opposite by implication as crass. Storytelling is about narrative. It's about conveying a sequence of ideas in such a way as to make an impression. One can achieve storytelling without an abundance of irrelevant details ("Sometimes a travelling circus unfolds itself on the hard-packed sand of the heath’s carpark" does nothing to further establish our sense of setting, nor to characterize anything at all) and just being over-dramatic (leading with an inset quote about little at all, but making sure to lead with the title 'Counter-Terrorism Command'). Just because it's storytelling doesn't mean it's /good/ storytelling. The whole thing stays just one shade shy of purple. That is annoying as hell for a lot of people, and not at all "a great gift of being alive" that is "a really lovely thing." On the contrary: that's something a lot of even-literary editors would take a hacksaw to.

b3kart 7y ago
Couldn’t agree more. Know someone in the art history field, and all their academic texts are insufferable. People aren’t trying to deliver a point in the simplest way possible, instead they engage in some sort of linguistic masturbation. Obscure words, lengthy sentences, intricate syntactic constructions, etc. I assume this is some sort of a signalling method: “You can barely understand what I am taking about, and you don’t know half of the words, so I must be smart and this text must be important.”
- kick 7y ago
  all their academic texts are insufferable [...] linguistic masturbation. Obscure words, lengthy sentences, intricate syntactic constructions, etc. You mean, "Every CS/Engineering Textbook Since Carver A. Mead stopped writing them"? I don't think you're wrong: academics are insufferable. But it's unfair to blame this solely on art folk: STEM is just as bad, if not worse. Mathematics is a thousand times guiltier of this than any other field.
jschwartzi 7y ago
Well I liked it.
namdnay 7y ago
It's funny that you criticise the parent for being pretentious, and then go on to explain to them what storytelling really is
- zaroth 7y ago
  It’s funny how you... </s>
CPLX 7y ago
This comment probably could have been reduced to one paragraph, with fewer parentheticals and italics. Nonetheless I’m glad you posted it. I think it’s a positive thing when people expound at length on subjects that interest them.
- arkades 7y ago
  Bah, humbug.

phreack 7y ago

I think the main problem is not that it's told like a story, it's that it's told badly. The non-linear structure is incredibly confusing, you can absolutely tell the story chronologically and keep it interesting, but it's sort of in fashion to meander about the timeline without reason. I've found these types of stories much more engaging by simply skipping whole paragraphs that diverge from the main thread.

bena 7y ago
Yeah, someone did it well one time and everyone thought it was the structure alone that was good and not the person doing the writing.
TeMPOraL 7y ago
> it's sort of in fashion to meander about the timeline without reason There is a reason. A modern paper wants articles that are long, with the meat of the matter spread out thoroughly throughout, because this maximizes the amount of ads you can fit in between paragraphs, and maximizes the chances a reader will view them. In general: if you're wondering why some aspect of journalism is rotten, it's most likely because it needs to accommodate advertising.
- CPLX 7y ago
  Has it occurred to you that the reader might like something that is long, because they see reading content of this type as primarily a form of entertainment? It's not like there's a prize at the end, or some secret promo code hidden within the words. It's created for the purpose of idle consumption.
  - yetihehe 7y ago
    If readers didn't want long articles, there would be less long articles, but it's about inflating short articles to look longer (and stuff some ads).

bryanrasmussen 7y ago

non-linear stories written with an excruciating abundance of adjectives are called storytelling? I had been of the mistaken opinion that the term covered far greater ground.

_carl_jung 7y ago

I really enjoyed it too. Some HN commenters could do well to learn about opinions!