The web is filled with courses in storytelling and story writing. Some are taught by famous authors, others by experienced teachers. Many are useful; sadly, many others are not.
Even the most useful courses, though, seem to cover similar ground, containing similar treatments of the most obvious aspects of stories: plot, conflict, theme, setting, characterization, etc. To be sure, those can be useful!
But the vast majority of articles and courses stop well short of the "delightful nitty-gritty"—the interesting options available to all storytellers and story writers for how to express each element of a story: plot, conflict, theme, etc.
Hiding the Full Range of Choices?
It's as though there's an unconscious conspiracy not to examine the full range of options available to every storyteller or story writer—and, therefore, not to develop the full range of possible skills!
As a result, we tend to remain unaware of the full range of choices available in both oral and written storytelling. These choices, of course, are made expertly by every great writer (and made poorly by most beginning or struggling writers)—but even great writers may have only a limited awareness of what choices they make—and why.
Discussing why these blind spots exist is beyond this article, but I suspect that a key factor is simply lack of awareness: good writers make good decisions, not because they've been taught how to make them through a series of principles and rules, but because they have developed an intuitive, unconscious sense of what works and how to enable it during the story-shaping process.
This reliance on unaware decision-making is parallel to the choices made by most traditional tellers in every aspect of storytelling. That is, the bearers of storytelling traditions tend to learn by:
a) Noticing the example of other tellers; and
b) Trial and error. (Telling a story, noticing the effects on listeners, and telling it again to preserve what worked—and improve what didn’t!)
That is, most great tellers tend to
Unconsciously imitate master tellers they have heard,
Find their own unique ways to apply what they’ve learned.
As a result, these highly skilled tellers intuitively make effective, on-the-spot storytelling decisions.
Does This Skill Extend to Teaching Others?
As skilled as many tellers are in creating and presenting wonderful stories, though, they are typically much less skilled in teaching their skills to others!
This isn’t usually due to a lack of willingness, but rather to a lack of awareness of what and how they learned!
With few exceptions, then, such intuitive tellers are not fully able to help most others attain the same level of skills.
This situation (that many of those who have learned the most advanced intricacies of storytelling are also unaware of how to teach them effectively to others) is partially responsible, I believe, for two unfortunate developments in storytelling:
The constant repetition of questionable advice, including…
The emphasis on pre-existing story structures, to the neglect of the organic growth of unique stories.
What Are the Rest of Us to Do?
Is there any way, then, that essential, intuitive storytelling wisdom can be passed on to folks who haven't picked it up early and unconsciously?
Yes! Yes! Yes! I believe that such teaching is fully possible!
Why have I developed what few others have figured out?
I have three kinds of (largely accidental) experiences that have enabled me to explain what has, to my knowledge, never before been as clearly and thoroughly explained.
First, I learned rare, useful knowledge from my father at a young age:
My father, though not educated beyond high school, was an expert, intuitive storyteller and teacher;
He believed that I could learn anything;
He was skilled at giving me clear explanations of what he had learned intuitively; and
He had the patience and persistence to find multiple ways to teach me.
Second, I am the relatively unusual person who has made a habit of developing three particular key mental areas:
Soft skills like intuition, expression, and deep caring;
Linear, analytic "hard" skills that are usually confined to math, science, and engineering; (I was a mathematics major who also studied in the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University before going on to study creative writing and English literature for two years of graduate school) and
Artistic skills and ways of teaching them.
(I have learned both from my Dad's model in my early years and, later, from studying with Hungarian music teachers who knew how to teach anyone to sing in tune and learn all aspects of music. Even later, I learned from working with skilled “story buddies” and from trial-and-error teaching to hundreds of learners.)
Learning…What They Said Could Not Be Learned!
In short, I went from being told I had no musical talent to passing the rigorous courses leading to earning a coveted Kodály Music Teaching Certificate.
(Please note: in the US and most of Europe, a degree in teaching music is considered inferior to a degree in performing. But in the Hungarian music education courses that I took, the basic certification is about musicality; only when you are fully skilled in musicianship can you go on to learn to teach what you’ve learned to others!)
Thus, I went from very unskilled (in the example of music) to skilled. As a result, I not only came to believe that everyone can learn, but I have also learned some of the methods of the extraordinary music teachers who worked together to create a musically-literate nation in Hungary!
Anyone Can Learn to Teach Like This…
Such teaching is learnable by anyone. Unfortunately, few of us have ever been taught this way, so we have no idea that such teaching is possible.
But learning a subject and learning how to teach a subject are both skills that anyone can learn, if:
If you’re open to the relatively unusual idea that basic human skills like storytelling are learnable by anyone with the interest, commitment to persist, and good fortune to find truly effective teachers;
If you’re willing to shrug off the sting of any past failures and give learning a fresh try; and
If you’re fortunate enough to find one or more teachers who both a) believe that you can learn and b) have developed the skills to teach you!
Compared to the decade of effort it took me to go from 1) not singing in tune at all to 2) singing well enough to achieve the basic, high Hungarian standards, you'll find this approach to storytelling to be:
Accessible to tellers from any kind of background and with any set of natural skills;
Highly engaging and rewarding—but not unduly frustrating; and
Both hopeful and satisfying.
Key Truths About Learning Storytelling
Yes, as you become a highly-skilled storyteller, you may well find moments of puzzlement and even frustration.
But such unpleasant moments will not cause you to give up on storytelling, as long as:
You remember that storytelling can be learned by any human who has learned to speak a human language;
You are willing to face any discouraging moments with the knowledge that they are only bumps in a wide, well-trodden road;
You persist in finding helpers who believe these truths:
Storytelling skills are basic to humanity, so any human with an intact forebrain can learn to tell stories effectively and well;
There are an infinite variety of ways to tell any particular story successfully; and
Well-told stories are deeply enjoyable, which means that your listeners are, with rare exceptions, already open to hearing a well-told story from you.
In short, learning storytelling is much like learning a human language:
Everyone can learn it;
Everyone can enjoy both telling and listening;
When we have the choice, most of us prefer to learn via a story than via absorbing a set of facts; and
Storytelling engages our imagination as well as the rest of our intellect.
You may have had experiences counter to what I just described. You may have been discouraged in your early attempts at telling stories. You may have been told you were hopeless at telling a story. You may have tried again and again to tell stories, only to be greeted with disinterest or criticism.
But none of that was necessary, let alone helpful! If you had had both i) encouragement of your storytelling and ii) skilled help at improving, then you would never have come to believe that you were somehow lacking in the ability to learn to tell stories successfully.
As a result, you would have gone from minor storytelling successes to major ones, gaining both experience and skill with every attempt.
The Future Is Yours!
Fortunately, the past is not the present—or the future. All you need now, to become as skilled a storyteller as you desire, are these two simple things:
1) One or more listeners willing to hear your storytelling attempts, celebrate your successes, and encourage your attempts to improve;
2) One or more helpers who can help you when you encounter struggles along the way.
If you have already found supportive helpers and listeners, then you’re in a position to 1) tell them stories, 2) notice their responses, 3) build on your successes, and 4) correct your mistakes. In time, this four-part process will result in your desired level of success!
If you haven’t found such helpers yet, please believe me when I twist the Shakespeare quote and turn it inside out: “The problem, dear Brutus, is not in yourself, but in your misfortune to have been surrounded by people who believed that the problem was both in you and an unchangeable part of you.”
Fortunately, unlike some story characters helplessly facing their fickle fates, we have the ability to find (or train) helpers who not only believe in our ability to learn but will also:
know enough to help us learn, and
be generous enough to celebrate our increased success as we learn.
When you were very young, you likely lacked the opportunity to choose better helpers than you happened to have.
But now, if you’re independent enough to read this article, you’re able to choose helpers who will believe in your potential to tell, be able to encourage you when your storytelling succeeds—and be able to help you turn your failures into successes.
What I Ask of You
Here’s what I hope you’ll do:
Seek out listeners who already know how to listen supportively (or train them yourself);
When working with new stories or newly revised stories, start by telling to people who will listen, both with pleasure at your early and subsequent successes and with patience for your early struggles;
Understand that even the greatest storytellers need to tell and retell new stories before the stories become fully successful; and
Persist in the simple, four-part pattern of a) imagining a story; b) telling it to “helping listeners,” c) getting appreciative responses from those listeners, and d) when you’re ready, getting their positive suggestions).
This simple, 4-part process will go a long way toward making you a master storyteller. And, whenever you get stuck, please understand that “being stuck” is not a sign of hopeless failure, but of simply needing i) to get more help and/or ii) revise and tell more times.
Success is Yours!
Following the above steps is not a trivial task. Nonetheless, it is completely possible!
You will likely struggle from time to time, as you:
Take on ever-more ambitious or challenging storytelling goals; or
Come up against old problems that you may have circumvented but not fully addressed. (The good news at that point? You are now in a position to finally conquer such problems).
Yet the ingredients for continuing progress and success are well within your reach!
No, you were not likely told about those ingredients in your early life. But now that you are aware of them, you have a path in front of you that will take you far.
No, your path won’t be without obstacles, But every obstacle you overcome (using the processes and helpers I have sketched above) will eventually increase your abilities, your confidence, and your commitment to the full power of storytelling—which can only be attained by telling, struggling, getting help, and persisting.
And no, this process will likely never end: each success will set you up to seek new, ever more difficult storytelling goals.
But that’s not failure. Instead, it’s the road to the deep, continual, joyful satisfaction that comes from following a path that leads to:
a) continuous improvement,
b) successively greater successes, and
c) the achievement of ever-more-accomplished artistry!
I hope to see you on that road! It's big enough for all of us. And it makes life bigger for everyone!