Over on The Atlantic, John Yorke offers his analysis of stories in general and thematic similarities they all share:
Given the article’s title, you can be forgiven for thinking “why bother” with this article when its conclusion is right there.
If you’re into telling stories, however, I strongly encourage you to check the article out. It’s a beautifully reasoned work that explores the elements that make up a story. Yes, all stories share a very similar thematic skeleton, but its in the telling of the tale, and the tale you present, where the differences come in and its why certain stories shine while others may not.
What I find most fascinating, and at the very real risk of stepping on the article, is the very last sentence Mr. Yorke offers in the article. I’ll reprint it below but, again, I encourage anyone who is interested in the mechanics of storytelling to give the full article a look.
Anyway, the line is:
In stories throughout the ages there is one motif that continually recurs—the journey into the woods to find the dark but life-giving secret within.
As a writer myself, I can’t tell you how elegant and illustrative that single sentence is when related to creative writing. All stories, mine very much included, feature a “journey into the woods” and finding that “dark but life-giving secret” within.
Beautiful sentence. Beautiful encapsulation.