 Some philosophers suggest that the directive power that emotions exert over cognitions is partly a function of their essentially dramatic or narrative structure (Rorty 1987 [1988]). Goldie (2012) offers a particularly subtle examination of the role of narrative in constituting our emotions over the long term. It seems conceptually incoherent to suppose that one could have an emotion—say, an intense jealousy or a consuming rage—for only a fraction of a second (Wollheim 1999). One explanation of this feature of emotions is that a story plays itself out during the course of each emotional episode, and stories take place over stretches of time. Interestingly, Goldie argues that the narrative structure of emotions is the same whether emotions are experienced towards real or fictional objects, which explains why we can respond to fictional characters with full-fledged, although motivationally muted, emotional responses (for a review of other solutions to the so-called paradox of fiction, see Cova &amp; Friend forthcoming).