10 key ingredients in creating and telling a story

10 Key Ingredients

Google Hangout On Air Tuesday 17th of June 2014 20:00 – 21:00 Romanian Time

Alex Glod Storyteller

Let me tell you

a story...

Who’s in the house?

Disclaimers This presentation will outline 10 Key Ingredients for creating and telling stories

They do not represent the absolute truth and they are not the only ingredients used in storytelling

The objective of this presentation is to introduce you to a basic understanding of how stories can be made and told

Use this presentation as a source of inspiration, rather than a space for debate

Let’s start with

a story...

The Point

What is the point of my story? What are these

people going to leave with after they hear it? What is

the thing that will remain in their heads?

This is a vital question to consider when crafting

your story, more vital than whether to choose a village or a city setting for your story.

If you build your story well around the point,

people will be hooked on your idea.

You can name it or you can let people fill in the

blank for you and that is when you empower them, just

that it takes a lot of practice to achieve that.

The Setting

Put some work in the context or in the various

contexts in which everything takes place.

The environment is key and it’s not just for you to

show off your vocabulary and ability to describe, it is

there to mirror the characters and to connect with the

places in which your audience also lives.

I know you can dream of so many beautiful

landscapes, but what’s the use of a 20 km waterfall if no

one can create that image in their heads and relate to

it as well?

Enter the setting and ask “What is this place?”

Characters

There has to be someone or something that

anyone can relate to in your story. It doesn’t matter if it’s

a male or a female, a human or an animal, a star or a

rock, a river or a mountain.

Just make sure you craft a personality and

character around it.

You can choose from one’s life history,

upbringing, the family one grew up in, people one spent

time with, ideas he or she agreed with, emotions which

one experienced, accents one used, clothes and colors

one wore, physical features or even similarities to certain

people.

Change Process

In every good story, there is something that

happens to the main characters or there is a big

change in the setting that occurs and to which the

characters are simple witnesses.

Regardless of the case, make sure to introduce a

process of change and to point out how it is occurring,

as well as its implications.

You can use the classic before and after

reference, but you can also approach it differently –

stages of change, elements of change, parallel

processes of evolution, beginning with the change from

a different time in the past etc.

Layers

Like a Photoshop designer, craft several layers in

which you place your story. It might seem stupid to put

so much work into dividing and diversifying your story

across several layers, but trust me when I say that it

could turn out to be your coup de grace.

After carefully exposing your point in so many

different characters and settings, or by taking your

audiences to different places and by later bringing

them all together, you might have a hard time trying to

leave the stage. You might start a new trend of

addiction – Story Addiction…

Aesthetics

Paint beautiful images in our minds. Not just of the

natural landscapes or of the high-class bars in which the

story takes place. Paint the image of the characters as

well.

They don’t have to be symmetrical, make sure

that it all fits perfectly in the whole mix.

Surely you will have bad guys and scary settings,

make sure to not be sloppy about it. Just because you

might not agree with a character, don’t denigrate him.

Paint him or her as visually as possible.

Oh and also convey the sounds as accurately as

possible.

Dialogue

Storytelling should not be confused with narration

of facts. Sadly, that is what most people choose to do

when they tell a story – excess narration and little

dialogue.

Dialogue is the platform for building characters,

settings, intrigue and emotions.

Carefully craft the content of the dialogue. Make

it more than just the usual Hello! How are you?

character interaction.

Through dialogue, you can transmit many points

and share words of wisdom, thus making the story a

fruitful listening experience.

Emotion

Don’t bless us with lots of characters, details of

the setting or delightful metaphors, if you don’t maintain

sufficient emotion to illustrate it.

Don’t speak of pain and suffering, express pain

and suffering.

Don’t talk of the beautiful settings, impersonate

the character witnessing it in awe for the first time. Don’t

talk about what the stepmother thought of her, speak in

the same tone and with the same hate and envy.

Connect with the emotions that accompany your

story and transpose them using all of your authenticity…

Anchors

I’m not talking about sailing anchors of course,

but of elements which have the same function – to keep

the audience in place, as well as bringing the audience

into perspective.

Either build an intriguing situation, which seems to

have no end to keep people hooked, or impersonate

the character in a very familiar way.

Ask the audience to empathize with the

character or ask them how it felt when they

encountered the same challenges.

Make them a part of your story, or even better,

build the story with them…

Humor

Everyone enjoys a good laugh and humor should

have a special place in your story, regardless of whether

it tackles sensitive issues or not.

In case of emotional stories, it is easy to send

people through a negative emotional whirlpool so a bit

of humor might wake people up.

Or in the case of scientific or complex stories,

humor can make them easier to follow. Remember,

listening to a story must be an enjoyable experience

since you are hoping that this valuable story will be told

to other people afterwards…

So, what do you think?

Let me tell you

a story...

Storytelling Academy

Our next Hangout Tuesday, 1st of July 20:00 – 21:00

Bucharest Time

Central Themes

with me again!

http://storytellingcardgame.wordpress.com

glod.alexandru@gmail.com

+4 0742 334 458

Have a great evening!