Storytelling

Contents 1 Introduction 2 Writing Stories 3 Characters 4 Character Development

Introduction

Storytelling is one of the most ancient social activities among humans. Although it is distinctly a performance when one person or multiple persons tell a story, it also has a literary aspect to it as well. All cultures and peoples all over the world not only engage in some form of storytelling. In many cultures it is also a viable teaching method, a way to impart information and teach social customs, and what is and is not acceptable to the values of the culture in question. Some storytelling gets written down and becomes what we more typically call literature because it has been put into book form. One example of this is the story we know in European and American culture as Cinderella. It is actually a very old story, and many different versions of it exist around the world. For instance, there is a Chinese version of it that is titled, "The Girl Who Loved Caterpillars" and yet as one reads it, it is very clear that it is a story embodying the same concepts, and universal themes as Cinderella. Similarly, there is even a Native American version of the Cinderella tale titled, "The Rough-faced Girl." Now, Neither of these titles by themselves suggest that they are Cinderella style stories, but they are. Additionally, these two examples are only two of many.

Other forms of storytelling never do become written books, being of a more performative nature, such as puppetry, urban legends, and campfire stories. In Africa, the griot traditions are heralded as keeping the histories of their entire cultures alive and relevant. Griots are usually of a familial lineage, and they trained for many years to become adept at their skills, which must also include musical skills, such as playing the 22-stringed KORA instrument as an accompaniment to the stories and teaching songs that they bring to the community. The griots were, and are to this day, considered royalty and revered as such in their respective cultures, much as writers, musicians, and actors are in modern day times, but to an even greater degree.

In Europe, there were two traditions related to this concept of storytelling as performative, and pre-dating what we term literature. One is what is called the "Bardic tradition". In medieval Gaelic and British culture, a bard was a professional poet, employed by a patron, such as a monarch or nobleman, to commemorate the patrons ancestors. --Cmacdon2 13:32, May 30, 2010 (EDT)This is similar to the African griot tradition, in that it was lineage-based, was musical in nature, and was a living history imparted through travelling men, who would be fed and housed as they went from village to village. A lesser-known, but still clearly essential storytelling tradition of Europe was woman-centered. A woman who possessed the "gift of gab" and also a good memory would traipse from homestead to homestead telling the news of birth, illness, death, marriages and all manner of factual information that people welcomed and relied upon. In pre-Christian times, this woman was said to bring "good news", and was therefore called a gossip. The meaning of the word gossip is "good news". However, as Europe entered the Dark Ages, these women were often harassed, and sometimes burned at stake as witches, as their ability to undermine the increasingly restrictive actions and decrees of the feudal lords, the new land-owning classes, and the Catholic Church, was clear and considered a powerful threat to the rising powers in Europe. This is why we now view the word gossip as a negative, meddlesome woman. Its meaning was warped as the changes took place in Europe, and skillful women, as well as rural people's, were devalued and punished for the ancient traditions that they upheld.

The printing press revolutionized the world and allowed greater numbers of people to learn to read, which contributed to a widening circle of knowledge among all peoples. As books became more widely available, they supplanted the oral traditions in great measure, and stories that were once told, were now increasingly read. While formerly in human and social history, only the priveleged classes were able to read and write, or have access to libraries, there is far more accessibility than ever before for all people to gain reading and writing skills. The invention of the internet was yet one more invention that is helping to revolutionize the accessibility of shared narratives: fact, fiction, and fantasy.

Interestingly, though literature will likely never be entirely supplanted, and the internet is increasingly part of our lives, there has been a keen interest in, and a clear resurgence of the practices of storytelling, especially in large urban areas, the Appalacian areas of the United States, and in college towns everywhere. This is most likely due to the deeply satisfying and community building aspect of storytelling, as well as its more personal nature.

So, we can see that there are many ancient connections to writing and literature, and that the techniques, and technologies are what changes over time, not the essential human desire to swap stories.

According to Joseph M. Williams’ Style: “Storytelling is fundamental to human behavior.” Williams says that, "no other form of prose can communicate large ammounts so quickly and persuasively." The thematic and figurative elements available to storytellers allows them to provide a lot of information with few words. However, this information is often shadowed by the plot of a story and relies upon the audience to interperet.--Pfrigon 19:59, May 29, 2010 (EDT) In our everyday lives we tell stories to our friends, family, and even complete strangers. The basics of telling stories consist of two essential components: characters and actions. These characters can be a person, a place, a concept, or an idea.

Writing Stories

Many of those who are interested in English courses aspire to achieve one main goal: to correctly write a story that captivates the interests of those who read it. In writing a good story it is very important to keep two essential components in mind at all times: 1) Who or what is the character? 2) What is he/she or it doing?

• Step 1:

To achieve a decent story is to do plenty of research on your topic. You don’t want to start writing on a topic that you don't know anything about. This research should also include information about the main character of the story and all of their background information.

• Step 2:

Write the first draft. It is very important to construct how you want your story to pan out with this first draft, so you don’t find yourself telling useless information.

• Step 3:

Revise and re-write. You need to go through your rough draft and cut, fix, and change. You should add things, and also make the necessary adjustments to make the story appeal to your audience.

Although in Joseph M. Williams’ Style he states that "storytelling is fundamental to human behavior," how can you create a story or tell someone something without following these basic steps? It is essential to your story to always follow these steps to ensure that your story will be heard. If you choose not to, it may not have the same effect compared to another story.

Characters

You have an idea for a good story, but where should you get your characters from? Elizabeth Lyon’s A Writer’s Guide to Fiction gives a detailed explanation on where to start looking for the memorable characters. Lyon describes a “memorable character” as the following:

• Characters are larger than life and live outside social norms and conformity in some way.
• They evoke reactions in others, often creating empathy.
• They have one particular dimension of their personality that is strong –so much so that it may make them single-minded and self-absorbed –yet they typically attract and inspire others.
• They often have a passion and depth of feeling that they “wear on the outside.”
• They nearly always have a contradiction that is at odds with their beliefs or passions.
• They may have an unusual or prominent sense of humor.
• Overall, they tend to be unapologetically and unselfconsciously themselves.
• They seem to have more courage of self-expression to pursue their passions, but in truth, their drives and personality may give them no other choice.[1]

Character Development

Taken from Lyon’s A Writer’s Guide to Fiction, there are 15 main points to follow while developing the perfect main character.

• Goal: What had been the most important thing in the character’s life at different stages?
• Motivation: What were the character’s deepest longings at those different stages?
• Positive Trait: What are the good qualities about the character?
• Negative Trait: What is the character's greatest weakness?
• Self-Concept: What words would be inscribed on your character's headstone that best captures how they would be remembered?
• Fear: What is the character's greatest fear?
• Trauma: What was their most tramatic experience?
• Secret: What is their greatest secret?
• Power: What is their greatest "weapon"?
• Adversaries: What person(s) have most blocked your character's success?
• Allies: Who can your character count on the most?
• Darkest Hour: What were the character's lowest points throughout their life?
• Shining Moments: What were the high points throughout their life?
• Legacy: What message does your character want the world to hear?[2]

Lyon gives us these detailed explanations of how a character should be in a story, but how do you get the basis of a good character? The main character might be this dominant person, but to get the minor characters to appropriately fit into your story, the easiest thing to come up with could be right in front of your nose. In achieving the perfect minor character for your story, you should look at the people around you. It could be a crazy librarian, or a sweet little child that ran into you at the candy store. These types of people that stand out in one moment in your life could stand out in your story. For example, J.K. Rowling, while writing the Harry Potter series, sat in a coffee shop and watched the people around her. She saw a cute ginger colored cat that she added in her story as Hermione’s cat Crookshanks. She saw a self absorbed man that dressed finely, and made him into one of Hogwarts’ famous professors. By following this strategy by observing the people around you, you can locate and find the essential small ingredients of your story, that when added all together complete the big recipe.