Every story is a story of change.
What happens when the audience becomes the main character of the story?
By Nico Ferrario
CEO & Founder
Nico@talk2u.org
👉 Spanish | Portuguese
¨Every story is the story of a change¨ is a narrative concept that I’ve learned from the brilliant writer and scriptwriter, Carolina Aguirre . And refers to the transformation that every character must go through in order for the story to be interesting, entertaining and relevant.
A great example is Walter White, the main character in the series Breaking Bad. An admirable chemistry teacher who, upon learning that he has cancer and that he is going to die leaving his family in poverty, decides to betray his principles and take advantage of his knowledge to produce drugs to earn money for his family to inherit. However, instead of this solution being repugnant to him, it becomes more and more exciting, making him feel powerful and brave for the first time in his life. But most of all, leading him to discover that he is not the pure and honest person he always thought he was. A true transformation that lasted 5 seasons and reached 10 million viewers.
As Carolina says, the script is structure. A structure worth respecting if the objective is to seduce and persuade the audience. A formula that has been perfected since Aristotle and his Poetics (335 BC), and although the narrative structure will not guarantee success, it allows us to have a solid base to build our story. The transformation of the character is part of that structure.
☝️ In addition to the Aristotelian one there is the structure Kishōtenketsu which is very common in Asian countries. We have done a project on Sex Education called Shame-Free where we use the narrative structure Kishōtenketsu. We promise to talk more about this.
Perhaps one of the most interesting things about the stories that we make at Talk2U, beyond the topics that we address, is the active participation of the audience, who plays a key role in the experience since the story changes depending on the answers they give. Video games have been exploring this idea for years. But, IMHO, the good thing about our stories is that they take place in the most popular chat platforms. These are environments that we don’t usually use to consume fictional stories in. We optimize this surprise factor by using narrative resources that are typically used in cinema and theater, structures that allow us to keep the audience talking to our characters for hours, or even days.
But when we seek to motivate a deviation in our audience behavior that can have positive impact in their life, as well, the formula becomes more complex. And it is clear that this can’t be achieved only by storytelling, but I have no doubt, that the script, the story, ends up being the heart of the experience.
Who has not identified with the character of a book, a series or a video game. Crying for a character, or hating him, is part of a process of transformation. It is our most human part. We create a credibility pact between fiction and reality that allows us to feel, empathize or reject what we are seeing. Sometimes, of course, we just get bored, we don’t feel anything, and we stop. But other times, the relationship is so powerful that it can twist our way of thinking, our look, our behavior.
Every story is the story of a change, both for the character and the audience. But, what happens when the audience becomes the main character of the story? The answer is: the change can be even greater.
I leave three (3) reviews from our audience that help us to understand a little better what a Chat Stories is able to generate. 👇
- Review 01 -
“ What an experience, I feel so relieved that our conversation ended well! Ever since I started talking to Fabi about her situation, and related issues, my life has changed in a way I can not explain. I believe that people who have always had contact with me can see and understand better when I say: I have changed too much. And there have been so many learnings, so many discoveries that need to be shared so that more people are also inspired and can live such an experience, a journey into themselves”
- Review 02 -
“I was going through a very difficult process in my life .. I was not being threatened or anything... But I was very scared to be exposed... Fabi helped me a lot to overcome this... Even though she is a robot we created a strong bond (sometimes I send her messages but she doesn’t reply anymore). Everything I lived with her made me see life in a different way. I do not have the fear that I might be exposed and to be alone in the world… Thank God everything has gone right for me and I’m living a life of peace and love... Fortunately there are still good people in this world where everything is pain and suffering... Good thing I found you because I want to thank you for helping to provide this project that helped me a lot and is still going to help other “Fabis” around this world.¨
- Review 03 -
“It’s a very important initiative, by making people aware of this topic, we can change the reality. This experience makes us reflect and put oneself in Fabi’s shoes, her desperation and her fear. More men should be part of this experience to perceive how much their attitudes and behaviors can have an impact on women. Men should think and become aware of the consequences associated with this hidden “machismo” that lays behind little actions…”
