Meta-Story
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Meta-story, as a whole, is a catch-all concept for any part of a story that the audience understands to be outside of the logic of the world of the story and yet is significant to understanding it. The meta-story is communicated to the audience usually as a means of helping them focus on what the author feels is important to tell the story, such as a monologue to better understand a character's thoughts. This article details on the elements of story that the meta-story aids in telling as well as the effects of exposing the meta-story, which is traditionally the source of interest when mentioning the concept.
Contents |
Theory
What is it?
Excerpt due.
Elements of Story
Excerpt due.
Choice
With any story, there is usually at least one character, if not more. These characters, while potentially engaging for many reasons, are uniquely defined by choice. In Star Wars, will Luke Skywalker use his targeting systems, or will he "trust his instincts?" In The Lord of the Rings, will Frodo throw the One Ring into Mount Doom? In The Matrix, will Neo pick the red pill or the blue pill? When we look at who is in a story, we may be hooked by their physical appearance or talents, but we stay engaged for the choices they make, don't make, and can't make.
Chance
In most stories, there can also be found some level of plot. If choice is the moment where a character has control, chance is the cause and effect that surround it, the elements NOT in their control. In Star Wars, Anakin is born on the planet Tatooine, where Qui-Gon and the others make an emergency landing, discovering Anakin's presence. In The Lord of the Rings, Aragorn is a descendant of a "broken line of kings" and leads Gondor into helping Middle Earth fight Sauron. In The Matrix, Neo is The One who is destined to save humanity from the Machine control. Plot and chance need not be limited to birth circumstances, but at this point, it is easiest to distinguish what a story involves with elements not determined by choice.
Conflict
What would a story be without conflict or challenge? Perhaps through different points-of-view do characters argue with themselves, or overcoming an obstacle that by chance stands in their way -- how a story is told and how choice and chance play on each other. In Star Wars, the Rebellion is trying to overcome the Empire, and Luke Skywalker tries to cope with discovering that Darth Vader is his father. In The Lord of the Rings, Middle Earth fights against Sauron's attempt for world domination, and Frodo and Sam fight hunger as they march their way through Mordor. In The Matrix, Neo fights Agent Smith one final time while fighting the inevitable sacrifice he must make to destroy Agent Smith. While this conflict need not necessarily be a negative thing (a challenge can be positive, such as Neo's training with Morpheus), "drama" is usually the norm.
Context
The context of a story acts often as the setting for the choices made, the chance events, and the conflicts that arise, providing a chain between these story elements. Star Wars takes place "a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away..." spanning a multitude of planets over the birth and death of Anakin Skywalker. The Lord of the Rings is set in Middle Earth, suggested as a past place and time in our history. The Matrix, by contrast, is set in our future, within a computer "prison" designed to appear as our own present. The where and when of a story give us a background that help define everything else.
Convention
"Convention? Ew!" Yes, convention is as important as any other story element, for it gives us something familiar to latch onto, a theme which we understand on some level, that which answers why we invest in a story. In Star Wars, the underdog Rebellion fights the evil Empire, and will ultimately win because they fight for a higher cause or power. In The Lord of the Rings, the One Ring is a device of evil and the symbol of absolute power that corrupts absolutely. In The Matrix, the artifical world in which humanity is trapped represents culture, of technology that has turned against us. A story becomes meaningless without convention.
Non-Schola Examples
Terry Pratchett's Discworld series uses a concept called Narrativium, which, essentially, bears a striking resemblence to the Meta-Story as it is used here on the Schola forums. Stranger Than Fiction is a film that contain traditional examples of meta-story coming into play, using it as the basis of the storyline. Sophie's World is a novel revolving around philosophical debates and theories, including the meta-story itself, coming to a head when the central character, Sophie, finds out that she is being written into a story during her philosophical adventure.
Relevant Characters
Player Characters & Other Major Characters
Gebohq
- Main article: Gebohq
Gebohq is a professional freelance hero from a variant of Earth, which exists within the greater world of the Never-ending Story that is bound by the Meta-Story. His complete name is Gebohq Joseph Anne-Marie Simon, and his first name was given to him from a random pull of Scrabble pieces, whilst his sister, Losien October Simon, received her first name from a Ouija board. As a hero of the NeS, the common abbreviation of the world name, Gebohq was a member of a "hero group" which included his romantic interest Maybechild. As part of this band of heroes, Gebohq traveled as far as The Ninth Level of Hell (Canada) and The Arena™ and fought against the likes of the Ever-ending Plot and Ares. The Last True Evil, often known simply as TLTE, is something of a rival to Gebohq, acting both the role of villain and anti-hero. Gebohq took a major role during the Second Invasion of the Valle Dei Mondi by taking on the lead invader, Skrai, and saving the life of Astara Virgo.
Non-Player Characters & Associated Characters
Frank
- Main article: Frank
Excerpt due.
Player Notes
Meta-story can be a tricky subject to examine. This article will likely be under a lot of construction because of it.
Material to work into the article under Elements of Story:
Now there are several things to keep in mind when examining these elements of a story.
First off, these elements do not stand on their own. A choice for one character can be an element of chance for another character. What would be considered highly conventional in one context is unconventional in another context. Conflict will vary wildly depending on who is fighting, under what circumstances, and why. Each story element affects and, in turn, is affected by the other elements.
Second, a "good" story does not require a set amount of any one element, in "quantity" or in "quality" -- only what works in relation to each other. For example, there can be many conventions, or only a few, as works for the story (quantity). If one convention is too conventional, the story can become too familiar, but if not conventional enough, understanding the story may become difficult (quality). Star Wars has very conventional mythological elements to it, but its context in a galaxy far far away made the story unique, allowing for conflicts and characters and the like not possible in other contexts.
Finally, something of a twist ending -- these elements also work as elements of game design. A poker player randomly receives cards from a deck, they make the choice about which cards to play and how to bluff, the game is driven by the artificial conflict between players to have the strongest hand, context and convention constructs the "magic circle" in which the game depends on to survive between its rules, its play and its culture. Both stories and games, as you might imagine, have equal importance in a collaborative effort such as NeS, for which the Meta-Story was originally formulated in its form found here on the Schola forums.
