Complexity from Simplicity
A very practical and useful rule of storytelling is to keep the story as simple and efficient as possible. Simplicity leads to better storytelling [1].
But I’ve noticed in life and classic stories that complexity still arises. I have a feeling we all know that life can be very complicated. So if we want to capture reality, how do we keep things simple while describing something that feels or is complicated?
The answer is simple: keep the story as simple and efficient as possible. The rule still holds. Complexity should be introduced with simple parts only when needed to enhance the story. I’ve also noticed that introducing complexity can enhance emotional nuance and depth.
Before going on, it might help to remind ourselves of the definition of complex. Specifically, the adjective form as put by Merriam-Webster [2]: composed of two or more parts : composite.
In terms of story, I first think of complex characters. These are characters who have two or more often conflicting feelings about something.
For example, Odysseus in Homer’s Odyssey [3]. At the beginning of the story, Odysseus has two conflicting feelings about his voyage home: He longs to go home, to see his homeland, and to see his family; and at the same time, he is afraid to go because of Poseidon’s intent on vengeance.
Odysseus’s conflicting feelings make him a complex character with some psychological depth. Notice how Odysseus’s feelings consist of two simple parts: (1) longing for home and (2) afraid to journey home. Both are easy to understand and fit in the story’s context. It feels like a very human reaction.
In real life, we can observe the same complexity Odysseus shows in other people’s stories. We may hear complexity in a story from a friend who wants a promotion at work and is scared to bring it up with his boss. Or perhaps an aunt who loves the new city she moved to and misses her old home.
As a final case of complexity arising from simplicity, let’s look at the movie Home Alone. After watching it recently, I noticed two great examples of complexity enhancing the story.
First is the main character’s — Kevin’s — feelings about his family. In the church scene near the end of the movie, Kevin and his neighbor Marley have a conversation that describes how they feel about family:
Kevin: I’ve been kinda a pain lately. I said some things I shouldn’t have. I really haven’t been too good this year.
Marley: Yeah…
Kevin: I’m kinda upset about it, because I really like my family even though sometimes I say I don’t. Sometimes I even think I don’t. Do you get that?
Marley: I think so. How you feel about your family is a complicated thing.
Kevin: Especially with an older brother.
Marley: Deep down, you always love them. You can forget that you love them, and you can hurt them and they can hurt you, and that’s not just because you’re young…
Kevin and Marley understand the complexity of family in four parts: (1) you love them, (2) you feel you don’t love them, (3) you can hurt each other, and (4) age is not a factor in feeling this. These simple parts add up to a complex view of family that rings very true.
The second example of complexity enhancing the story comes from Home Alone’s score. John Williams wrote quite an incredible score for this movie (and in my very humble opinion, his most underrated). In particular, I want to point out Main Title “Somewhere in My Memory” [4].
This piece is composed of two parts. The first half is very musically complex. The melody is syncopated, chromatic (doesn’t follow the scale of the key it’s in), and strongly clashes with the harmony and slides of the strings. Yet, even with all that, John Williams still gives the listener this melody in small parts, and he repeats those small parts so that one can still follow. To my ear, it’s an incredible piece on its own.
But the second half makes the piece go from incredible to classic. Somewhere in My Memory serves as a direct contrast to the chaos of the first half (Contrast is How We See [5]). The main melody is diatonic (uses the scale of the key) and falls on strong beats (not as much syncopation). But, the harmony is still complex, and that’s the key to this second half.
Many musicians (i.e. just me working out how to play it on guitar) would probably approach this by having the harmony follow the melody (in this case a 1-4-5 pattern). It’s the simplest way to do it. The result: very cheesy, no heart. On a closer listen, Williams put the melody in front of complex harmony that follows an unusual but simple pattern (1-7-6-7 bass motion). This makes the lyrics and music feel beautiful, heartfelt, and wistful. After the beginning section, then come some chord and key changes reminiscent of classic jazz standards; the melody soars; and this beautiful composition is complete.
As characteristic of most of his scores, Williams captures the emotional nuance and complexity of the story in his music. He is a master at turning the emotional core of a story into sound. He typically does this with simple parts that add up to create something intricate, nuanced, and much more than the sum.
So, keep your story as simple and efficient as needed. If you need more depth and nuance to capture the story’s emotional core, introduce complexity with simple parts.
Update 12/19/23:
Nahre Sol, the current creator in residence at the Elbphilharmonie, released an excellent video about John Williams’s music today (day after my original post!). We both talk about many of the same points, but she does a much more thorough job on the music end than I could. There’s even a soundbite of Williams himself talking about simplicity!
In my post, I referenced the harmony of Somewhere in My Memory using some numbers (1-4-5 vs. 1-7-6-7). It was an attempt to describe the cheesy vs. heartfelt harmony for those who might have a bit of a music background. Well, Nahre covers this same point in her video! Everyone can check out the 4:00 mark and hear it. Nahre perfectly demonstrates what I was attempting to describe except with Hedwig’s Theme from Harry Potter.
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