Sarah_6_I
I know this whole book is supposed to be about making us better storytellers. That's great. We could all use some help. When I was reading the opening to this chapter, though, I couldn't help but think that maybe we don't need a huge map guiding us toward "good storytelling techniques." Maybe we just need some really good examples to help give us an idea. The story of the shaman and the woman at the start of this chapter was a perfect example. It was simple, yet it held my interest throughout and made me want to keep reading to find out if and how this woman was going to accomplish her task. Maybe storytelling is best learned through example rather than being told the ways to tell better stories. Just a thought.
Labels: Sarah J
posted by Sarah Jones @ 9:56 PM
7 comments
7 Comments:
I agree that learn by example is a great way to learn to tell a good story. But you have to be able to actively break down what makes it a good story and recreate that. Sometimes that's hard. We need tools that tell us what to look for. Simmons is trying.
Yes examples help me with stroytelling too. I think that is why Simmons includes them in the book. There are many stories that she uses to explain her points in the book. In the beginning they seemed to be longer and more involved than in the last couple of chapters though.
I will probably even use some of the stories I read in the book to help me get my ideas across.
I really didn't like the town council/road naming story used throughout the chapter, though. It just didn't work for me for some reason. Not one of her better stories.
I do like the stories from other cultures, though.
I think we all just need to tell stories more often. I'm getting nothing from examples; I think storytelling is a practical exercise.
...It is a combination of all: taking examples, stripping them down to their effective components, using them in your own stories and analyzing why your stories fail/score
I've said this before, but it's important to keep in mind her audience. The business-types that she's talking to probably prefer the chapters without examples. I could see many of them enjoying a "bullet list" approach to storytelling:
1) Start with anecdotal reference
2) Let audience see you're genuine with gentle coaxing
Etc...
We all have a predilection to storytelling or we wouldn't have ended up here. I can remember thinking, "I like digital and I certainly like telling stories," when I was looking at the program.
Anyway, I agree examples are probably the best approach for people that have a vested interest in storytelling.
I agree with Martin. The town council meeting story didn't do much for me. Perhaps it is the whole "specificity" thing. The characters were more like charicatures instead of real people. (She gave them short backgrounds, but they seemed to work only on a "stereotypical" level.)
To me that story fell flat.
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