Telling a Captivating Story
One of the ways I’m trying to improve is in my storytelling. Anyone can tell a story, and to some people it comes quite naturally, but telling a story that people engage on, are moved by, and remember is something altogether different.
A couple of good, quick points of advice I recently read:
First, the story must involve change. The quote I read went something like, “An airplane takes off, travels through the air, and lands somewhere else. A good story does the same.” The change doesn’t have to be for the better, and it doesn’t have to involve the self-improvement of the protagonist. But without change a story is just an anecdote and nothing more.
Second, a character’s change must come down to a 5-second or less moment of truth. This can be the moment they fall in love, hit rock bottom, have an epiphany, or some other event that can be pinpointed in time. This may not be completely realistic to how change happens to us in real life, but a good story must involve a discrete turning point. Otherwise, the audience will get bored trying to intuit and track what exactly is going on with the character internally. This 5-second moment of truth usually happens at or near the end of the story, but doesn’t necessarily have to.
With these two tips I hope to get better at storytelling, whether written or verbal.
Here endeth the lesson on telling a captivating story.
Bike Newbie 