Storyteller

[wishfulthinking]

Are most authors natural storytellers? Are the majority of storytellers naturally writers? I don't think so.

I've never been one to sit around a campfire and weave spellbinding tales of whatever. I wouldn't say I'm a natural writer either. I hate emails, writing letters, writing essays, and even writing a story is a struggle. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I'm a shit writer or anything. But I found at uni that I would know what the lecturer wanted, even if I couldn't give it to him or her. The same with writing, I think I know what some people want [audience], even if I can't write it etc.

They are different skill sets, but draw on the same part of the brain, probably

So I don't think being able to write a story is the same as being a storyteller. [and this is not about the difference between good or bad writers].

Did I get the point across, or is there no point [ie stop rambling ]?

 

[impressive]

I am *not* a natural storyteller (in the oral sense).





No comments from the peanut gallery!

 

[FallingToFly]

Are most authors natural storytellers? Are the majority of storytellers naturally writers? I don't think so.

I've never been one to sit around a campfire and weave spellbinding tales of whatever. I wouldn't say I'm a natural writer either. I hate emails, writing letters, writing essays, and even writing a story is a struggle. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I'm a shit writer or anything. But I found at uni that I would know what the lecturer wanted, even if I couldn't give it to him or her. The same with writing, I think I know what some people want [audience], even if I can't write it etc.

They are different skill sets, but draw on the same part of the brain, probably

So I don't think being able to write a story is the same as being a storyteller. [and this is not about the difference between good or bad writers].

Did I get the point across, or is there no point [ie stop rambling ]?

According to friends, I tell the best stories.

According to my grandmother in law, I have the ability to capture her imagination and show her a brighter, more sparkling side of life that makes her laugh.

According to my mother, I only know how to share tragedy, and I was born with a dark soul.

According to my husband, silence is my best sttribute, because we seldom need to talk.

According to my two-year-old, everything that comes out of my mouth is mean.

There's no such thing as a true storyteller. Just those willing to share, and those willing to be shared with.

(IMHO, before someone else jumps on my ass for having an opinion)

 

[Belegon]

I'll step up and say that I feel I am a good storyteller...but I don't think being a good writer and a good storyteller have to go together...

 

[Liar]

Accodring to my title, I am.

Actually, in the more modern sense of the word, I definitely am. At least in verbal communication. For some reason not as much when I write on boards like this, but in my day-to-day talk with people around me, I tend to speak in stories.

I populare the concept of me with an ongoing narrative, adding chapters and sub-plots every day. I use anecdotes and narrative reports to describe the world. I use metaphorical fairy tales and urban legends to communicate my values. I take other people's stories and incorporate them into my world, to retell them to the next person I meet, but adapted to the new context, so it makes sense to us there and then.

But could I sit around a campfire and pull off a "Once upon a time..."? Bugger no, it would most probably suck.

 

[elsol]

Uh... I beg to differ on the whole no natural storytellers thing.

One of my earliest memories is telling my uncles stories... about the frog that invaded our front yard and my battle to get him out, about the magic of the wonderful turn on/off TV... and on and on the stories went.

I did the same thing through most of my early grades in school (prior to the enforced conformity.)

All my sexual fantasies have been in 'story form' rather than visual or 'and then I fucked her... huh...huh!'

And I'm a FANTASTIC liar... always have been, even when caught red-handed.

Sincerely,
ElSol

 

[Colleen Thomas]

I consider myself more a storyteller in th eoral tradition than an author. I don't claim to be wildly successful in either endeavor. But I think being a stroyteller, in the oral tradition, makes writing easier in some respects. You areused to keping an entire plot in your head, you develop a mental faculty for picking up your loose threads as you are winding the story down, and you have developed the kinds of meormy compartmentalization that allows you to keep your characters with their fobiles and traits in your head as you work.

 

[carsonshepherd]

I'll step up and say that I feel I am a good storyteller...but I don't think being a good writer and a good storyteller have to go together...

although some people can be both, they could be two sides to the same coin.

For example, I am a writer. I think of everything in terms of the written word. My stories belong in a certain format, and when I try to tell stories verbally I usually can't because it's hard for me to organize my thoughts like that. Although some stories have to be told aloud, to get funny voices and facial expressions and they lose something when they're written down, and I can do those stories but they end up being more complex than witty.

My brother, on the other hand, is a story teller. He'd never dream of writing something down, no matter how good the story. He uses verbal effects to make people laugh. I introduced him to the word raconteur and he likes it: a person who tells stories with wit and humor. He can entertain a whole room of people and he actually gets requests, "Tell the one about..." A storyteller, but not a writer.

We both automatically think, when something happens or we hear something, "That would make a good story" but his stories are verbal - funny and engaging, and mine are written - (probably) rambling, but with more complexity and depth.

 

[wishfulthinking]

Interesting view points.

Is what makes a good liar [creativity, bullshit and ability to bluff] part of or a by-product of being a story teller or writer?

 

[Belegon]

although some people can be both, they could be two sides to the same coin.

For example, I am a writer. I think of everything in terms of the written word. My stories belong in a certain format, and when I try to tell stories verbally I usually can't because it's hard for me to organize my thoughts like that. Although some stories have to be told aloud, to get funny voices and facial expressions and they lose something when they're written down, and I can do those stories but they end up being more complex than witty.

My brother, on the other hand, is a story teller. He'd never dream of writing something down, no matter how good the story. He uses verbal effects to make people laugh. I introduced him to the word raconteur and he likes it: a person who tells stories with wit and humor. He can entertain a whole room of people and he actually gets requests, "Tell the one about..." A storyteller, but not a writer.

We both automatically think, when something happens or we hear something, "That would make a good story" but his stories are verbal - funny and engaging, and mine are written - (probably) rambling, but with more complexity and depth.

I'm cinegraphic...I see every part of a story like a movie in my mind and I can adapt them for print or verbal telling...

 

[Liar]

Interesting view points.

Is what makes a good liar [creativity, bullshit and ability to bluff] part of or a by-product of being a story teller or writer?

What makes a liar is good memory and attention to irrelevant details. A lie doesn't have to be interresting, but it has to be air tight.

What makes a storyteller is good creativity and attention to relevant details. A story doesn't have to be flawless, but it has to be interresting.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

I'm not much of a stoiry teller and I'm not much concerned with stories--with "what happened next"? I've always been more interested in what people make of their experiences than in the experiences themselves.

When I hear some weird story--some mother ran off with the lawn boy and abandoned her children, or someone was taken aboard a UFO and molested by aliens--my first thoughts aren't about "what happened next", but more along the lines of "what the fuck was going on with that? What was she feeling? What was she thinking? What's it like to feel like you're on a UFO?" Those to me are authorly questions.

A good story is a powerful tool and a great blessing to stumble across, but to me its just the pine tree you hang the ornaments on to turn it into a magical christmas tree. If you're just interested in story-telling, go into journalism. An author is someone who takes a story and turns it into art--something that means more than what it says. An author's talent is that he sees meaning in things that most of us just ignore.

 

[yui]

I do think that some writers are storytellers and I’ve said it before to some, as to me, it’s a great compliment. I’m not a storyteller. I can set the mood, but I’m not a storyteller; I mourn that.

 

[TxRad]

When I was a kid, there was an old man in the little town I grew up in that could tell the most fasinating stories. He told stories all the time to anyone who would listen. He could neither read nor write.

What that means, I don't know...

A storyteller has to have a vivid imagination, a sense of pacing, logic, and a good memory. No dummies need apply. It's usuall an oral skill...

Any English Major has the skills to write but do they have the imagination and sense of detail to make a good story?

A storyteller can tell a story but usually gloases over fine detail... A writer adds the details. Sometimes making the story better and sometimes killing it....

That's how I see it anyway.... I write from the story in my head. Sometimes it visual and sometimes it a string of words.... When I'm on a roll it's just there... I concider that a storyteller part... The parts I have to struggle to gewt down comes as a wrioter... editing is writing to me at it's worse....

 

[BlackSnake]

I'm not a natural story teller, but I've been told that I have a lot to say about nothing

 

[chris 44]

I'm not a natural story teller, but I've been told that I have a lot to say about nothing

There are others who have far more to say about far less 'Snake'

 

[Weird Harold]

So I don't think being able to write a story is the same as being a storyteller. [and this is not about the difference between good or bad writers].

I think in the context you've put the question, the answer is "It's a matter of degree."

I don't think anyone would choose to write stories without at least a touch of what makes someone a "Storyteller."

Almost anyone can learn the technical details of reporting events -- either orally or in print -- but without the drive to tell a "story" most won't bother.

For some, the drive to tell a story isn't paired with the imagination to make up a story and you wind up with a journalist.

For others, the drive to tell a story is linked to a need to perform and you get an oral storyteller.

Link the drive to tell stories to a need for permanence or a visual orientation, and you get a writer.

Remove the drive to tell stories -- AKA the "storyteller" -- and you get someone who can't be bothered to share events, real or imaginary, with others, orally or in print.

So yes, every author has a need to share information with others, and that need to share is the essential nature of a "Storyteller."

 

[scheherazade_79]

Interesting view points.

Is what makes a good liar [creativity, bullshit and ability to bluff] part of or a by-product of being a story teller or writer?

Not sure. Guess it's one of those 'chicken or the egg' type questions. I have a terrible tendency to exaggerate day to day happenings until they become interesting enough to make a good story.

I abandon the thrills of the National Curriculum on a regular basis to tell my students stories, and they listen much better than when I'm teaching them something really important.

 

[oggbashan]

Our local festival has a few storytelling events. Some are specifically for children but a few are for adults.

The storytellers make a living at their craft and I found it fascinating to observe their skill in making a story come alive. Each of them works the audience to involve them in the process. The same story on different nights can vary considerably depending on the audience reaction.

The storytellers' timing is as precise as a good stand-up comic and like the comic, sometimes they can die without a response. The storyteller can then switch to a different tale, more suited to the current audience. Only the best stand-up comics can survive a dead audience.

What I thought was interesting was that the story itself was only the framework for the storyteller to build upon. For example one of them could take a well known story such as Cinderella and include current references and metaphors while retaining the structure of the original.

My conclusion: Oral storytelling is an art form. Whether it has any relationship to storywriting? Not sure.

Og

 

[JackHarrison]

Our local festival has a few storytelling events. Some are specifically for children but a few are for adults.

The storytellers make a living at their craft and I found it fascinating to observe their skill in making a story come alive. Each of them works the audience to involve them in the process. The same story on different nights can vary considerably depending on the audience reaction.

The storytellers' timing is as precise as a good stand-up comic and like the comic, sometimes they can die without a response. The storyteller can then switch to a different tale, more suited to the current audience. Only the best stand-up comics can survive a dead audience.

What I thought was interesting was that the story itself was only the framework for the storyteller to build upon. For example one of them could take a well known story such as Cinderella and include current references and metaphors while retaining the structure of the original.

My conclusion: Oral storytelling is an art form. Whether it has any relationship to storywriting? Not sure.

Og

Sounds like a great festival, Og.

 

[wishfulthinking]

I abandon the thrills of the National Curriculum on a regular basis to tell my students stories, and they listen much better than when I'm teaching them something really important.

Now being able to impart important boring stuff wrapped up in an interesting story is an art form. Isn't sophie's choice along these lines?

 

[Liar]

Now being able to impart important boring stuff wrapped up in an interesting story is an art form. Isn't sophie's choice along these lines?

Indeedio.

If you want to get academic about it (as i currently am), here's a pretty good introduction:

http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/cut/options/juin_04/ENG/article1_0.htm

 

[Aurora Black]

Throughout my school years, I dabbled in theater as well as singing and writing and for that reason I used to believe that I was capable of good storytelling (oral). But that's no longer the case; now, apart from the occasional public performance, I don't tell many stories at all out loud. No one wants to listen to English stories in a foreign country, so I write down all the stories I want to tell. The written word is my dearest friend and ally.