The art of storytelling as expressed through playlisting
A declaratory statement: no matter who you are, one of your key motivators in life is likely to be inspired by some sort of personal weakness. For example, one may be guided by three drivers: one, a sense of purpose, two, a sense of responsibility towards the ones you love, and three, a sense of how you’re perceived by others. The third driver is certainly less desirable than the other two, but it’s a key motivator nonetheless. If you believe this assertion doesn’t apply to you and you’re only driven by positive motivations, you may be right, and more power to you; it’s just that I’ve found the above assertion to hold true generally. Consequently, success, in my opinion, is driven just as much by playing to one’s weaknesses as it is by playing to one’s strengths. Of course, the longview must also accommodate self-improvement: shifting the balance in favour of one’s strengths.
My professional dilemmas have led me to an introspective phase of life, a space I’m likely to occupy for the next week. Don’t worry, I won’t bore you with the details. I also won’t write any further about my exercises in mental masturbation. There’s some fascinating music and cinema I want to discuss in the coming days, so it’ll be back to that right away. However, just today, allow me to share two mini-playlists I was listening to as I arrived at the above conclusion, and talk a little about Freytag’s pyramid and the art of storytelling.
Freytag’s pyramid for dramatic structure
Playlist one consists of eight hits from the world after punk. It’s the soundtrack to my pacing around a room and worrying about the future. It’s a bunch of men like me stressing about the ‘kind of men’ they are and the ‘kind of world’ they inhabit. This transitions to playlist two, consisting mainly of hip-hop hits about bouncing back and ‘showing them’. Between the two playlists, a single dramatic arc – Aristotle’s storytelling structure, Freytag’s pyramid, the basis of every good story. Conflict – rising action – epiphany – falling action – catharsis. Stressing out – bouncing off the walls of my room – realisation of a deeper truth – sitting back down – being at peace with what comes next. At the centre of this arc, a guy – me – traversing this all-too-common crisis.
Enjoy the playlists, please.
