The 'Art of Story Telling'

'Art of Story Telling'

The art of story telling is a very creative and a very very challenging one. Beginning from the stone engravings to the present day eBooks people made many writing works. I believe that there are no really new stories. You accept it or not, all the stories, consciously or subconsciously are the products of finely tailored pieces of stories you read, heard, seen and experienced. If that's true then we wouldn't be writing any new books anymore. Of-course what I said is true but the space for new writings is created by the day-by-day evolving literature in one hand and the 'Innovative Story Telling' in the other hand. Yes, the really boring story can be made interesting and the nail biting page turner can be made lacklustre by your story telling.

Story telling is an art. No two persons say the same thing same. So, it's your style of story telling that gives the unique identity to your story. There may be textbooks, courses and crash courses that say they'll teach you the interesting ways to tell the stories. But believe me, formal education sucks. Learn by yourself, learn from practice. Because that's the best way to learn.

But there's one thing you should know about before you begin to practice the art of story telling. The most anticipated mistake we all do trying to over convey our story to the reader is that we show the details what's happening in the scene and at the same time we directly say what's happening. 

The famous book cover page designer 'Chip Kidd' once said in his speech at 'Ted Talks':

"Chi Kidd"

"Now, the first day of my graphic design training at Penn State University, the teacher, Lanny Sommese, came into the room and he drew a picture of an apple on the blackboard, and wrote the word "Apple" underneath, and he said, "OK. Lesson one. Listen up." And he covered up the picture and he said, "You either say this," and then he covered up the word, "or you show this. But you don't do this." Because this is treating your audience like a moron. (Laughter) And they deserve better."

You either describe the scenario to help reader build it virtually in his mind and grasp what's happening or else if you feel it isn't that important to visualize it to the reader you better tell him directly what's happening. 

Do this:

He is tapping his finger repeatedly on the table,his heart beat raged, his eyebrows are pulled down together and his face turned red.

(Or this)

He's angry.

But don't do this:

He is tapping his finger repeatedly on the table,his heart beat raged, his eyebrows are pulled down together and his face turned red. He's angry.

It's so pointless in putting your verbal efforts to strain in showing the reader what's happening when you are also simply telling him with direct names.You either visualize it to the reader or tell it to him directly but don't do both at once. It kills the flow and dulls the narration. 

So friends keep  this in your mind when you are writing. We mostly do this mistake in the fear that our reader may not get the exact picture of the scene we are trying to make. He may not get the exact picture you made in your mind while you are writing it but believe me friend, he might get slightly a different picture than yours but he definitely get the same emotion you are trying to convey. So keep this fact in mind while you are writing your drafts of first book. Because once you practiced it in your first book, you will automatically do it in the later ones. 

Here are some of my tips to become an interesting and involving story teller.(they may sound a little difficult and inappropriate at first but as you do them regularly you will get to feel their power in building up your skills. They work in background, from your subconscious mind they'll build up your skill of story telling.All the best :) )

1. Observe the speakers around you.

You'll find an infinite number of story tellers in your daily life. Vegetable vendor, neighbor's child, co-passenger, and many other people to whom you meet in daily do have many stories and each of them have their unique story telling. Listen to them without interrupting them, if it felt boring to you, find the reasons why it is boring. If it felt interesting to you, observe the person to find out how he presented it interestingly. These guys are the human institutes who teach you more than any university can ever do.

2.Read Books.

Read all kinds of books and find your taste. explore, examine and extract the author's narrative styles.

3.Watch Movies.

Watch a different kind of movie, at-least one movie per week. Don't just watch it while eating popcorn, observe how the director portrayed the situation. I think it is the easiest way to study the art of narration.

4.Listen to speeches.

Speeches are so much powerful that they changed histories, ruled out administrations, conquered kingdoms.The best speeches are the easiest ways to learn the art of story telling. No, I am not saying you to write your story like a speech. But by studying the speeches and the way they convey them, you will understand the elements that make a subject interesting and powerful. Incorporate those elements in your narrative style and you will see miracles in every paragraph. ;)

5.Write the rough.

Simply write different situations and different plots. no, not for publishing, not for showing people or not even for re-reading it by yourself. Just experiment with words and narrative styles. Write rough, write crap. It refines your skills and increases your flow. It helps to discover and rediscover your own styles of writing.

As the legend says, 'there are no shortcuts to success', don't search for a ready made step wise points to learn anything. Go jump into the ocean of whatever art you want to practice, do mistakes, do crap and learn from them. Keep practicing till you evolve into the finest form in that art. I believe in this process, It brings that unique style of yours out of you.  

_MCD.

(pic credits: bnp paribas mix city website, wikipedia, Laughter Online University)