‘A missed moment’ at the Australian Open grand slam offers a powerful insight into storytelling technique, writes Dr Erin O’Dwyer
At the Australian Open semifinals World Number 1 Jannik Sinner defeated World Number 21 Ben Shelton in straight sets. Sinner went on to win the championship, also in three sets against World Number 2 Sascha Zverev.
The Sinner v Shelton scoreline – 7-6(2), 6-2, 6-2 – makes it look like a wipeout, to Sinner, apart from the heroic first set tiebreak.
But what Shelton didn’t know – and which could have changed the championship outcome – was that Sinner was suffering leg cramps in the third set.
If Shelton had known Sinner was cramping, he could have pounced – firing heavy, high-speed balls down the line and pushing Sinner around the court. That would have put pressure on the injured Sinner, and could have delivered Shelton the match. He could have gone on to win the AO championship, against Zverev.
Instead, young Shelton kept playing his game. He listened to the voices in his head which said ‘you are losing’, and didn’t look out for the opportunity to mix things up.
“Playing the number one in the world, the chances are really small and sometimes you miss your window,” Shelton said in the post-match interview.
Shelton nailed it: he missed his chance. Sinner went on to win his second AO title.
“Playing the Number One in the world, the chances are really small and sometimes you miss your window” – Ben Shelton, World Number 21
The ‘meaningless thing’ in storytelling
What has this got to do with storytelling? This is what I call ‘the meaningless thing’.
Often not obvious until the story is over, the meaningless thing nonetheless reveals something significant about the characters or the overarching themes of the story.
The meaningless thing reveals something significant about the characters or the overarching themes of the story
Build storytelling techniques around the missed opportunity
In the Sinner v Shelton match, the cramp was not the issue. The cramp was not the story. It was the ‘meaningless thing’. The story – the meaningful thing – was that Shelton did not see what was really going on, and thus failed to capitalise on the opportunity.
The power of storytelling and ‘the meaningless thing’
If you have a story which is not working, ask yourself: where is the meaningless thing? What is it? Can your characters see it? If they can’t see it, why not? If they could see it, how might it change their actions or the outcome of the story?
The meaningless thing in storytelling helps storytellers to better understand their characters, and thus the narrative arc. For the audience, it asks us to look deeper, to find meaning beyond what is only obvious at first glance.
