There’s a new video from Verizon making the Internet rounds:
To me, it’s a great example of what the best stories do: combine truth, beauty, and conflict in order to evoke emotion. In other words, the video is a truth about the world (young girls are often treated differently than boys) plus beauty (the girl’s curiosity about the world) plus conflict (the tragic, repeated dampening of her curiosity). As the father of two young girls, I can’t help but feel a deeply emotional response to the 60-second narrative.
Truth plus beauty plus conflict equals emotion.
If there’s no truth, the narrative rings false and doesn’t change the way I see the world. If there’s no beauty, I don’t care if conflict enters the picture. If there’s no conflict, I’m not motivated to respond or act differently because nothing is at stake.
Truth plus beauty plus conflict equals emotion. That’s what the best stories do.
