StoryLab: EmpoWord- Telling a Story

Telling a Story

As I read EmpoWord's Telling a Story I learned invaluable information that will hopefully add a new dimension to my writing. Having taken countless writing classes throughout my academic career, I feel that I am a strong writer. Since high school, I have undoubtedly grown in my abilities, however, I have yet to have an opportunity to explore storytelling. I thought this chapter would only offer tips on how to propel a story, however, it went beyond storytelling and offered advice on how to expand the narrative of any work. I honestly thought I would only skim through the material, but overall I am glad that I chose to read this chapter for I found it majorly fascinating. 

Notes: 

"We're all stories, in the end. " - Steven Moffat, Doctor Who 

• I have never heard this but I truly appreciate it 

What makes an interesting story: 

• Not only descriptions, but narration to create impactful and beautiful scenes 

Plot 

• the actual events that take place within the bounds of your narrative 
• Three Elements to Consider 
• Scope 
• boundaries of your plot
• where and when does the story end 
• helps form perceptions 
• many people struggle with too broad of a scope 
• find it hard to zero in on the events that drive a story and give needed info
• Sequence and pacing 
• Order of events
• Amount of time you give to each event 
• They both often impact the other 
• Story shapes to follow
• the classic pyramid shape 
• starting in the middle of a situation to add action 
• start in the middle, lead up to a big scene, go back and fill in spots 
• usually follows pyramid shape from there on out 

Point of view 

• The position from which your story is told will help shape your reader's experience
•  the language your character uses 
• Tone
• the emotional register of the story's language 
• what emotional state is the narrator in 
• Mood
• the emotional register a reader experiences 
• what emotions do you want your reader to experience 
• Sidenote: I want to become good at writing a steam of consciousness 

Building Characters 

• Characterizations
• the development of characters through actions, descriptions, and dialogue 
• the audience is more sympathetic towards narrative if they imagine the character as real 
• Directly 
• a specific description of the character
• types of clothes, looks, smell 
• Indirectly 
• through behaviors, speech and thoughts 
• how does their speech reflect their attitude to the listener 
• actions reflect traits
• what's on their mind that they won't share with the world

Dialogue

• Communication between two or more characters
• avoid flat dialogue
• where everyone is easily contributing, saying how they feel