NeverBore

OK, so that title might come as a surprise as much as I talk about things that are boring (that’s sort of the point of this whole space), but I mean it.  There’s no subject that has to be boring in and of itself.  It’s all about the presentation.

How can I make that claim?  Simple - the existence of documentaries (well, good documentaries) proves it for me.  Here are some examples of subjects that many, many people (including me) would often find unbearably dull - along with the name of a documentary that makes it anything but dull.  What makes them interesting is how they are presented… within a compelling story.

That’s the key.  People want to hear (and see) stories… not information.  You can convey lots and lots of information inside a story - and if it’s the right one, told the right way, a lot of it will stick.  If you don’t, you can be almost guaranteed that none of it will… not without a great deal of concerted effort on the part of the viewer - and unless they have an overwhelming reason to need to make that effort (to pass a class and earn their degree, to know what they need to fulfill some element of their job and not get fired), they’re just not going to do it.

Why try to force them to do all the work?  You don’t get fans that way.  (Note that doesn’t mean you can’t make the story challenging in some way… but you can’t do that unless you have a story first.)

So here’s my proof… a list of things that are “boring”… and documentaries that make them interesting - even fascinating.  I don’t mean that all of these will be interesting to everyone, but they are interesting to their target audiences - if they didn’t have a compelling story, they would be boring to everyone. 

• folding paper - Between The Folds
• the weather - Storm Stories
• food - Super Size Me, Food, Inc., and many others
• corn (seriously) - King Corn
• fonts - Helvetica
• trash - Waste Land
• birds flying from one place to another - Winged Migration
• spelling - Spellbound
• fishing (interesting to some, boring to me) - River Monsters (anything but boring, one of my favorite TV shows)
• boredom (yes, really) - Bloody Mondays & Strawberry Pies

There are many more.  Chances are, if there’s a subject you find boring, someone’s made a documentary about it - and, if they did it well…if they framed it within a compelling story… there’s a good chance you just might like it - and not be bored.