Again, going from 50+ Ways to Tell a Story master list, I chose Animoto to make my second video on storytelling issues, mostly stuff inspired by re-reading Jonathan Gottschall’s The Storytelling Animal.

This is something that I think about a lot, especially working as a writer and social media whatever-the-word-is-for-people-who-do-social-media (Socialist? Mediator?). The idea that human beings are consumer or making stories all of the time–very, very close to 24 hours a day, although we get more than 24 hours worth of stories because we’re often experiencing more than one at the same time (watching TV and daydreaming, for example).

Along the same lines, it’s hard to underestimate how competitive it is to get a story noticed. With so much media being ingested, you had better get your story going fast, from the first frame or first line.

The salient facts here are the statistics. Here they are sourced:

• 5+ hours of movies and TV/day–Motion Picture Association of America Worldwide Market Research and Analysis (2006).
• 5+ hours of music/day–Levitin, Daniel J. The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature. New York: Plume, 2008.
• 5+ hours of Internet including computer and mobile device–”Digital Set to Surpass TV in Time Spent with US Media.” emarketer.com. Aug. 1, 2013.
• 20 minutes of reading/day (seriously?!)–Bureau of Labor Statistics. “American Time Use Survey—2009 Results.”
• Dreaming the whole night through–Suggested by dream researcher Owen Flanagan.
• 2000+ daydreams/day–Klinger, Eric. “Daydreaming and Fantasizing: Thought Flow and Motivation.” In Handbook of Imagination and Mental Stimulation, edited by Keith Markman, William Klein, and Julie Suhr, 225-39. New York: Psychology Press, 2009.

The sources for this are all from Gottschall’s book (all except the emarketer.com one)–I’m re-citing the sources he cites for these facts, just FYI.

Anyway, looking forward writing up my thoughts on this week’s tools–30Hands and Animoto. That’s what’s next!