Narrative Notes

Every Piece in Its Place — The Craft of Selecting Narrative Events

Less is more in storytelling. How to select and link events for maximum impact.

Photo by OPPO Find X5 Pro on Unsplash

Here we are at what is, for now, the fifth post in this series of reflections born from reading Luca Aimeri’s Manuale di Sceneggiatura Cinematografica (Screenwriting Manual). I must admit, to write these articles, I had to make choices: the book is a true goldmine, and the material available was (and is) vast.

I had to decide what to focus on, and I chose to prioritize the more theoretical and foundational aspects of narration. Perhaps, in the not-too-distant future, I will return to discuss the different narrative structures Aimeri explores. But not today.

Today, in fact, I want to focus precisely on this concept: the choice of what to tell is an integral and fundamental part of the story itself. Indeed, we could say it’s the final piece we were missing to fully define what a story is.

Let’s Recap the (Narrative) Journey So Far

Let’s take a step back and retrace together the stages of our exploratory journey into the heart of narration:

1. We started with an idea (Anatomy of an Idea).