Ten years ago I read A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller. The book had a big influence on my life as I better understood two things: 1. How stories were constructed; and 2. How I was living a story. Knowing how stories were constructed has helped me better understand movies that I watch and stories I read. I have always liked movies and stories but by learning more about the elements of a good story I began to appreciate subtleties that I had missed before.
However, the larger impact of the book was the perspective I have on the life I live every day. Miller showed me how every day I am living a story. Every day I am alive, all the elements of a story are present: A narrative arc,
The Narrative Arc, a protagonist, an antagonist, and a setting. The question I ask now, almost every day is, “Am I living a good story, a bad story, or a story which is boring?”
This week Willy Nelson and I had the opportunity to teach the elements of a good story to high school students at South High School. I began the class by asking the students, “What is the best movie you have ever seen, and why did you like it so much?” The students did not have trouble naming a favorite movie; however, they did have trouble identifying why they liked the movie. I suggested that in our brief time together I could help them appreciate the movies they watch better as well as better evaluate the life they are living.
Teaching this class was deeply enjoyable for me. Although I was paid to teach the class I would have gladly paid for the opportunity. I love being with young people and thinking with them about how they can live a life that they love. During the class the students asked good questions and had good insight into what I was teaching. The class had a LOT of energy which I really enjoyed.
Of course, the reason I love teaching the elements of a good story is it leads to, and is part of, asking the most basic of philosophical questions: what is the good life and how do I live it? (If there was a high school that invited me to teach philosophy to high school students, and gave me the freedom to write the curriculum, I doubt I could say no. But I do not know of any high school that would do that, so I am off the hook and get to keep living here in Cheyenne.)
Elements of a Story-The Narrative Arc
I began by teaching about the narrative arc of a story. Every good story has rising action where things are going well and then an event occurs where it looks like all is lost. I shared how my life has had raising action (I made the basketball team in 8th grade) and then there was an event where it looked like everything was lost (the coach humiliated in front of the entire school, and I never wanted to go to school again). My story had raising action when I my career was going well and then everything changed when I was unexpectedly fired and had no idea what I would do next.
I used this idea to talk about how often people fear the negative events and try to smooth out the rising action of their lives so they never have to face the possibility of negative events. We had a great discussion about the stories they were living and where they saw rising action and the negative events they feared.
Elements of a Story-The Protagonist
This led to talking about the protagonist. The protagonist is the main character who wants something and must overcome negative events to obtain what he/she wants. I asked the student s to think about our class as story and asked, “who is the protagonist in our class?” Their first response was that it was me. I then asked them to guess what it was that I wanted and what obstacles I would have to overcome to get what I wanted. This was a good conversation about the difficulties faced by teachers every day and how good teachers work hard to overcome those obstructions.
I then asked if there any other possibilities of who might be today’s protagonist. They quickly answered that they were possibly the hero of today’s story. I asked what it was that they wanted and what obstacles they would have to overcome to get it. This led to a very animated conversation about what they wanted out of school and what would be required of them if they were to get what they wanted.
I was surprised when then bell ring. I felt like I had just gotten started. I did not get to talk about the antagonist, the sidekick, the theme, and the setting. There was so much I wanted to discuss, and the 90 minutes went way too fast.
My Great Love
I love teaching I am grateful for every opportunity I have to teach, both high school students and Airmen. I am excited about the story I have lived and continue to live. I am thankful that I get to do what I love. I pray that you are living a good story and are doing what you love. If you are not in that place, I pray you will find the courage to talk to others and find a way to re-organize your life so that you are. Life is too short to spend a lot of time doing what you don’t love.
