I was excited to read this. Having always loved reading and also having an interest in social science and neuroscience, the idea of what a story means to a reader and why, the measurable and unmeasurable impact of a good story. The focus was therefore slightly disappointing in that it is more about the *how" of storytelling rather than the what and the why. This was interesting but is more of a how-to guide to writing and not quite the science of storytelling suggested by the title. It is also quite narrow in what it understands stories to be, and what worthwhile stories are with a dull fixation on hero-narratives and the western canon and some gendered assertions that deal poorly with the experience of women and some discomfiting opinions about the storytelling traditions of cultures outside the white male.

This book was fascinating!
There are many books that talk about how humans are wired for story. This books goes into the science (particularly the neuroscience) of WHY this is. Written in a clear and accessible style, it was easy to follow and genuinely interesting.
If you're a storyteller and you want to know why people get hooked on stories, you definitely need to read this book.

Essential resource for writers of fiction.

Storr writes in an engaging and informative way, effectively interpreting the science for the layperson. He draws on research by story theorists, mythologists, anthropologists, sociologists, psychologists, neuroscientists, biologists and social genomicists to explain how stories work. Each point is amply demonstrated with examples from literature, film, TV and computer games.

Just some of the topics covered by The Science of Storytelling include:
How to construct sentences for greater impact;
The importance of metaphor and simile
The writer-reader relation
Character motivation
Dialogue
The beginning, middle and end.

Appendices give exercises to help draft your manuscript.

I highlighted so many passages and will come back to this book again and again.

A fascinating read.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher HarperCollins for the ARC.

With an entire industry of books dedicated to creating the perfect story, Will Storr’s ‘Science of Storytelling’ aims to use psychology to break apart the elements of a good story.

Storr explores why stories matter so much to the human race and deep dives into how well known narratives became successful with plenty of examples from film and TV (although this does mean that spoilers occur throughout the book).

Ultimately, a valuable book for any budding author to read, with a novel view on how we can combine learnings from science with literary theory in order to write the best stories.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a different take on how to write a great story and it's always good to see an idea from many different viewpoints. This book suggests that characters form the plot and the story will develop from character flaws, goals, actions, etc. I haven't put this very well but the book certainly did. It made me think and consider and it gave me ideas and a different approach. I'm glad I read it and I will apply the ideas to my own writing.

It is well written, complicated in parts but still easy to understand and humorous, which I appreciated. Well worth a read.

Pretty interesting both regarding the science part (how our brains work) and the writing part (how this translated into fiction, and more specifically creating compelling characters with a ‘fatal flaw’). The author illustrates those points with examples from a few well-known books, like ‘Lolita’ and ‘The Remains of the Day’, an approach that could easily be problematic. On the one hand, illustrating the theory with examples is always better. On the other hand, if one hasn’t read those books…spoilers! (I had read those in the past, so I was good here.) At any rates, these examples were good ones in my opinion, especially where ‘Lolita’ is concerned: Humbert Humbert is clearly not the kind of character one is supposed to root for, so for Nabokov to make him and the story compelling, specific techniques had to be used. And once analysed the way they are in “The Science of Storytelling”, they do make a lot of sense. (Please note that this has likely been explored in studies about ‘Lolita’ as well, but I haven’t read them, so I can’t tell whether there’s anything original in here, or not at all.)

Having plenty of examples, though, was perhaps a little overkill in places, in that it left less room to explore more in terms of neuroscience / how the human brain works. I chose to take this book as one I can go back to for ‘writing advice’, but I admit that I felt a little down regarding the science part (I expected more, in a more scientific way). So best is to approach this book as one about writing rather than as a bona fide ‘science’ book’.

(I also didn’t care much for the few moments when the author went more into political opinions. This I found jarring, and it pulled me out of my funk.)

Probably my favourite section was actually the last one (as in, the appendix), which gives good pointers into creating and fleshing out characters based on what the author developed throughout the book. In hindsight, it’s probably ‘logical’ advice, and I suppose that there are quite a few authors out there who’re doing that (consciously or not) as something that is completely obvious and/or logical to them; for me, it was definitely interesting, and I need to keep it in mind when developing my own characters. Which isn’t necessarily easy when you have more than one main character to focus on, but that’s a whole other conundrum.

Conclusion: 3.5 stars

A really fascinating exploration of stories, how they not only contribute to our culture but form who we are throughout our lives.

Any rapacious reader will find plenty to take from Will Storr’s witty, arresting exploration of the art of the novel. Using wide ranging examples, Storr taps into his love of long form writing to inform and entertain.

Tapping into cognitive psychology could make for a dry read, but the book is never heavy or dull. Lively and engaging, ‘The Science of Storytelling’ may well find a niche as a text for students just as much as for the general reader. It will succeed at both with aplomb.

The title of this book really does not do justice to its content. Using science in the title might imply a cold, clinical examination of story construction and very dry reading. The reality is that in The Science of Storytelling, Will Storr has created something that is both fascinating and an invaluable sourcebook for both writers and readers.

The Science of Storytelling brings together scientific research from many different angles, weaving it into a narrative which delves deep into a reader’s psyche in order to better understand what makes them tick and how a writer can connect with their audience in the most effective way. In doing so Will Storr crafts a masterclass in storytelling which is an enthralling story to both writers and even the most casual reader, as well as telling us a great deal about ourselves and our relationship with the world.

As well as presenting research, he brings in examples of great writing (resulting in an unexpected expansion of my library), which really work brilliantly with the science in cementing the principles of storytelling related to how we engage with a story.

This book is very different from many others I have read which seek to unpick stories and explain why they appeal to readers, because The Science of Storytelling gets to the heart of who we humans really are.

As well as being informative, The Science of Storytelling is also highly entertaining and, although a non-fiction book, is a wonderful example of how a writer draws in their audience.

Because of the way The Science of Storytelling is written it is likely I will buy it as an audiobook, because of the quality of the writing and the tale it tells of story-making. The whole book feels like an anthology of gripping short stories forming part of an unputdownable epic that no matter how many times you read you never get bored of because it is so entertaining, and you keep seeing something new each time. It will also make you think about your writing or your reading in a very different way, encouraging you to stretch yourself just that bit further while engaging in these activities to discover a whole new plane of creativity or enjoyment.

Definitely a book which should be on the list of any creative writing course and in the library of any writer or avid reader.

As a budding author, this book was right up my street! Storr is great at unpicking narrative ideas and dissecting the concept of storytelling in all mediums. Good one to dip in and out of!

People have long tried to deduce exactly what makes a great book or a bestseller and most have failed miserably with so many theories doing the rounds that it's almost impossible to know which, if any, have hit the nail on the head. The Science of Storytelling looks at the art of creating a compelling narrative in an entirely different way by using science to break everything down and analyse it. This is an accessible, fascinating and thought-provoking book which is a fantastic resource for writers to help them understand how to craft an engaging story.

There are plenty of examples from books, movies and TV shows to illustrate the points being made and the fact that Storr primarily looks at the neurological and psychological facets of storycraft makes this a wholly unique read. I feel anyone who writes or is planning to write a novel of any genre would find this helpful. Knowing some of the reasons behind why certain books I've enjoyed have become so critically acclaimed helps a reader to understand different aspects of the plot. Because of this book, I will never think about a novel in the same way again.

Many thanks to William Collins for an ARC.

I have always been fascinated with narration and stories. The holding of a person's attention and them actually enjoying the experience of being the audience is something that is vital to storytelling and I thought this might be related to those things and therefore requested it when I noticed it.

This book focuses primarily on the neurological and psychological aspects of building a story.It deals with examples from a lot of books, which for the most part were very interesting but I did not know a lot of the books the author uses which did not help in the actual reading experience. It did give me a whole new picture to focus on and a very different angle to think of how we view the world. The first instance was basically to show that our daily experiences in our lives is also a constantly running narrative by our senses to our brain. This one thing had me thrilled enough to proceed with the rest of the book.

I am not a writer in any form and I requested this solely out of curiosity. I am not sure if someone who reads this with a purpose in mind would be able to derive what they want from it specifically, but it is a fascinating read.

The Science of Storytelling is aimed at anyone who is writing or interested in writing stories and to anyone in general who loves to know more about storytelling and the human mind. The well-selected examples from famous books, films and TV series make the author's arguments even more clear. The book provides some useful guidelines on how to build great characters so at a first level I think it is an inspiring read for future authors.

As I work in L&D I have to read material about the topic I'm working on and I was preparing a course on storytelling.
This was the right book to read, full of idea and techniques. It was really helpful for understanding the topic and what is to be expected by a course on this matter.
I recommend to anybody who want to approach storytelling and its techniques.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to HarperCollins UK and Netgalley for this ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book, all opinions are mine.

I tried for days to get through but ended up giving up. The theory and ideas that Storr present ARE interesting but the writing did nothing for me. I like how Store discussed what makes a story however this book was not for me and I could probably read the same arguments but in a more accessible way.

Will Storr breaks down the tropes of storytelling through an accessible, informative and thought-provoking prose; not only is modern experience put on display, but also the tools are provided to authors in order for them to improve the craft.

The Science of Storytelling is a fascinating look at stories, our relationship with them, and how this can be used to tell better stories. Aimed at both storytellers and those interested in how humans tell stories, Storr combines examples from literature and screen stories with psychological research and experiments to make points about the importance of character, change, and other aspects of gripping stories. Myths and archetypes come up, but so do Mr Men and famous lines from Hollywood films. It doesn't necessarily change the world in what it says, but it tries to compare how people have created famous stories with how humans use stories to justify their actions and to make sense of their own self.

Accessible and interesting, this book can help bring inspiration to those who are trying to tell stories in some format or another, or allow people to think more about how people tell stories about themselves and their lives to make sense of the world.

This book is about the techniques used by certain famous authors and how to incorporate them into your own stories.