I suggest that a story needs suspense, dissonance, and strong emotional reactions. These need not necessarily be pain. Some stories are interesting because they provoke wonder—ideas clicking together, strange worlds being explored. A lot of science fiction and fantasy stories accomplish this.
I’ve been mulling this over for a while. I’m posting this now because I just thought of a concrete example of a story which is popular and contains no pain or conflict:
What makes the story work is the “mind-blown” effect. It’s fun to imagine the implications if the story were true. It invokes a sense of awe and wonder. it implicitly implies hundreds of additional possible storylines.
I suggest that a story needs suspense, dissonance, and strong emotional reactions. These need not necessarily be pain. Some stories are interesting because they provoke wonder—ideas clicking together, strange worlds being explored. A lot of science fiction and fantasy stories accomplish this.
I’ve been mulling this over for a while. I’m posting this now because I just thought of a concrete example of a story which is popular and contains no pain or conflict:
http://www.galactanet.com/oneoff/theegg_mod.html
What makes the story work is the “mind-blown” effect. It’s fun to imagine the implications if the story were true. It invokes a sense of awe and wonder. it implicitly implies hundreds of additional possible storylines.
Granted, it’s a very short story.
Idea cross post