The theme of love runs through all great storytelling, writes Dr Erin O’Dwyer
A friend sent me a message this morning about a Japanese woman who fell into a coma. The woman’s husband visited her every day for 20 years.
“Can you believe that?” my friend said. “What a love story!”
I don’t have any more details about the Japanese woman. I don’t know how old she was when she fell into the coma, or how old she was when she died, or whether her husband remarried. I don’t know what part of Japan they were from, what they did for work, or how many children they had.
None of those details matters. What prompted my friend to remember the story after it was shared with her by the couple’s son – and to share it with me in a simple text message – is because of what’s at the heart of the story: Love.
“Novel: A small tale, generally of love.”
Love and the art of storytelling
Love is one of the universal drivers of storytelling. Shakespeare’s enduring classic Romeo and Juliet is a tale of star-crossed lovers. Even in a grisly tale like Shakespeare’s MacBeth we see love – the way the love between MacBeth and Lady MacBeth is corroded because of their blind ambition. Forrest Gump is a transformative movie – mostly because of the love between Tom Hanks’ and Robin Wright’s characters. In the Bible – which is filled with thousands of stories that continue to influence our culture two centuries after it was written down – the most powerful story is of a God who sent his only son to die on a cross because “he loved the world so much”.
In his 1746 Dictionary of the English Language, Samuel Johnson defined the novel as “a small tale, generally of love.”
Love can manifest in many forms – romantic love, familial love, friendship, or even love for a cause or passion. It provides characters with a deeply personal reason to act. By tapping into the universal experience of love, storytellers create narratives that are not only relatable but also emotionally impactful, forging a strong connection between the audience and the story. Love adds depth and vulnerability to characters, showing their humanity.
Love can manifest in many forms – romantic love, familial love, friendship, or even love for a cause or passion.
Writing tips
If you have a story which is not working, ask yourself: where is the love in my story? If not between two people, is it between a person and an object? Or a person and a beloved animal? What is thwarting the love? What does the character need to do to find love, or retain love, or atone for lost love? What actions are they taking that is keeping love from finding them?
Love in storytelling doesn’t define the project as a love story. But love must be present for every story to succeed.
