Common wisdom holds that when we share information about a story or plot that is important, it somehow “spoils” the story (hence the term, spoilers). Indeed, knowing the plot twists to some movies for instance, such as The Sixth Sense, make you view the whole movie in a different way.
The psychological suspense we experience in such stories is often integral to the story itself.
And yet, many times we will go back and re-read or view a movie again, even when we know how the story turns out. Our pleasure of the story and its characters seem largely undiminished — even though we know how it all turns out. (My wife, for instance, could watch Emma fifty times in a row and enjoy every showing.)
Researchers recently wanted to see if common wisdom holds true — do spoilers spoil our enjoyment of a story?
I’ve had the clandestine identity writer since I first scribbled in crayon on the living room wall. But there was always one small problem: talent. So the first thing I needed to do was to go out there and get me some of that God-given talent that God hadn’t given me yet. Here are the lessons I’ve learned.