<< What makes a great story

Brilliant authors are capable of copying reality in their work. It’s one of the reasons why masterpieces of literature become such; they speak to us on a deeper level and show us society in a way we recognize as true.

Don Quijote, despite having more than 400 years of age, belongs to that category of book, an in depth analysis of people and the motivations that move us to act. 

Many are the examples given to us by the novel, and yet; you needn’t go beyond the prologue before taking important lessons. In this short introduction, Cervantes, introduces us to (a maybe fictive) conversation with a friend who counsels him as to what constitutes good literature.

The formula, he expresses, begins with the praise of a famous individual to the work; a character who doesn’t even have to be real but might as well be quoted, like a fictitious emperor or a king; who few will question  and many are unlikely to uncover as a lie. 

Often public opinion (and our own) is swayed by irrelevant comments of so-called experts and renowned figures. We might not even be sure of who these characters are, but their approval turns works and opinions of third parties into gospel. This rather weird fact remains true four centuries later.

Second, says this friend; it’s of importance to quote classical languages as a way to look more educated. Some phrases in Latin, he adds, will make the person look cult and educated. 

Academia of our time still abides by this rule: It’s hard not to get a bad taste in the mouth from scholars who add foreign descriptions into texts offering no translation, as some sort of cultural high ground; arrogance cheaply disguised as a simple “quotation” from a foreign book or another more recognized author.

These comments as well can be seasoned with maybe not so relevant but well known stories, taken from religious texts or even famous heroes; perhaps in hope that some of their class will rub into an otherwise mediocre idea.

And lastly citations and quotes to other great works that reinforce whatever it is you’re trying to say.

Up to this point it’s quite impossible not to notice the sarcastic tone with which these tips are given (almost a list of cliches, a countdown of the typical…); and then the real advice shows it’s way by means of a single phrase:

Try as well, that, by reading your story, the melancholic moves to laughter, the one who laughs does it even harder, the simpleton does not become angry, the discrete admires at your invention, the serious does not ignore iit, neither the brilliant avoids praising it.*

In this, lies the real heart of a good story: In connecting to our humanity, in a way that it lifts that which takes out the best of us.

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Notes:

* Own translation from Spanish: Procurad tambien que, leyendo vuestra historia, el melancólico se mueva a risa, el risueño la acreciente, el simple no se enfade, el discreto se admire de la invención, el grave no la desprecie, ni el prudente deje de alabarla.  (El Quijote Pt. 1-Prologue, Commemorative IV anniversary edition)