I purchased the book Million Dollar Outlines by David Farland as part of a book-bundle a few years back, however, until today I hadn’t read it.
Why?
A couple of reasons.
I love discovery writing so much that I thought a book about outlines wouldn’t be applicable to me. (The lesson here, kiddos, is never disregard the chance to learn something new, even if you don’t think it will work for you.)
And, because making millions of dollars writing fiction isn’t a motivation for me.
Anyway, I am enjoying the book so far and wanted to share something I came across.
David (Dave?) was talking about why we love story…what motivates us to want to read.
And he shared this little scientific tidbit that was very interesting:
“You see, as we live through our daily lives, we constantly are faced with minor pains.
“Cells age and die, we get minor cuts and abrasions, and to fight the pain that comes with these cellular deaths, our body creates a certain low level of endorphins.
“In essence, our body is constantly drugging us. If not, we would literally feel ourselves dying, wasting away, from moment to moment.“
So what he’s saying – or at least what I think he is saying – is that when we read a great story we’re experiencing controlled stress along with the characters in the story.
Then, when the story problem is resolved, our bodies release endorphins just as they would after exercising or any other activity wherein we release our stress and feel better.
In other words, when we’re immersed in a great story we’re escaping from the stress in our lives and exercising simultaneously.
Hmmm…I wonder if I could stop riding the recumbent bike and just pick up a good mystery?? 🙂
