The thing about storytellers is, if they take their time, they can paint an amazing picture in your mind of exactly what is happening in the story. They can describe the time of day and the weather conditions. They can tell you what they see as they look around, and even what it smells like where they are.
They have the ability to raise or lower the tension within the story. They can slow it down or skip ahead. They can add new characters and have them do whatever they want. Sometimes a storyteller can become so involved in a story that they spend way too much time telling you every single detail about a room or a place, and when that happens, they can lose the reader or listener.
A good storyteller walks a fine line, keeping just the right amount of tension, just the right amount of detail and flavor. Never forget the flavor, every story has a certain flavor to it and that’s important. For example, the flavor of a documentary, like a certain wine, should have just the right color and may be a little dry. An action-adventure story, however, should be bold and grab your attention
Once in a while a
story can fluctuate, but it must be done with skill and perfect timing. A story like Peter and the Woolf is
one of those stories. Not only does it
blend adventure and tension, but into the telling - music suddenly plays an
important part. Music brings the
characters to life. It adds flavor and
color and never once loses the listener.
If you’re going to cook up a good story, there are recipes you can follow, and rules, lots and lots of rules to learn. There is nothing more annoying than a half-baked story. And be careful with your thumbs whenever telling a story. There are something called, rules of thumb, that seem to be important. Whatever those are, who knows?
Before you get started, it is important to organize your thoughts and separate your metaphors. You don’t want to be mixing those up. Keep your timelines organized and flash-backs to a minimum. Too many and too often will lose your listener.
And you don’t always have to use the front door. The, Once Upon a Time, doormat is worn out and not all that welcoming. It is like back when you were sitting in class and the teacher said, never start a sentence with the word, and. Well, as you can see, I’ve ignored that rule. So there.
Just write in your own voice, as if you were speaking to someone. Imagine you were the person standing there listening to you telling your story. Is it interesting, or are your just droning on, blah, blah, blah…
Spice it up, add a little spark, throw in a twist. Keep your reader awake. I remember one story about a man walking down the street, in the early hours of the morning and he noticed walking just a few feet ahead of him was a crow, wearing a dark gray overcoat.
You see that? WE are already into the action of the story. There is already a surprise and a twist. A simple description of a bird walking along the sidewalk, but then I not only added a coat, but gave it color and type. Just enough detail to make it believable and interesting. The part that moves the story along is the, why? Why is the bird wearing a coat and where is he going?
You can find the
answer to that and other questions in, The Pantry. A paperback full of amazing short stories, on
sale at Amazon.
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