Thinking of stories

A fundamental way of organizing data
Story has existed in every known human society. Like metaphor, it seems to be everywhere: sometimes active and obvious, and at other times fragmentary, dormant, and tacit. We encounter it not just in novels and films and conversations, but also as we look around a room and see objects that have history, or wonder about an event or think about what to do next week. If you were to personally count every instance of story that you encounter in the course of a day, the number would not be just one or two but likely in the dozens, if not greater. One of the important ways we perceive our environment is by anticipating and telling ourselves mini-stories about that environment based on stories already told. Make stories is a strategy for making our world of experiences and desires intelligible. It is a fundamental way of organizing data.

Stories abound in all professions
Story principles have been found in the work of a wide range of professionals, including attorneys, historians, biographers, educators, psychiatrists, and journalists. Thus, story should not be seen as exclusively fictional but instead should merely be contrasted to other ways of assembling and understanding data