7/18/2020 How to be a Good Storyteller — E.M.

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Shares H ow to b e a G ood
S torytel ler
If you asked any fellow writer if they
wanted to be a “good storyteller” they
1.4k would undoubtedly say “yes.” Even if it’s
not for reasons tied to fame, recognition,
or success, everyone wants to be good at
what they do.

However, to be “good” at something has

many different meanings, especially in
the artistic world.

Y
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7/18/2020 How to be a Good Storyteller — E.M. Welsh
You can be a good writer, meaning you
write stories well and convey them in an
artful and interesting way.

Or, you can be a good writer, meaning

you are conscientious about storytelling

1.4k an actively pursue more and more stories.

Shares
To put it more simply, the second
definition has nothing to do with talent
or skill, but your actual commitment to
the craft. It asks whether or not you, as a
storyteller are making regular efforts to
improve your abilities.
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Though this post is focusing on the

second definition of a good storyteller, it
is worth noting that any efforts on your
part to be a better storyteller – in terms
of building good storytelling habits – will
also inherently develop your skills as a
good writer – as in the type that writes
stories well.

What Is A Good
Storyteller?
Before you learn anything about how to
develop good storytelling practices, it’s
important to understand that there is also
a difference between a good storyteller
and a good writer.

A good writer is focused more on the

literal qualities of writing, whereas a good
storyteller, by contrast, is someone who
tries to see and appreciate the story in
everything.

It’s not to say a good storyteller cannot

focus and develop writing habits and
skills but more so that a good storyteller
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7/18/2020 How to be a Good Storyteller — E.M. Welsh
skills, but more so that a good storyteller
speaks to a much broader understanding
of narratives.

In many ways, this means storytellers

study things beyond literal writing, such

1.4k as you’d find in a book, and look to other

Shares things like movies and video games, but
also even more abstract things like
musical arrangements, paintings, and
nature itself.

As you can imagine, when you start to see

the story in everything and have a more
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open mind towards what is a story, your
writing and other skills associated with
storytelling improve quickly because you
are challenging yourself as a writer and
storyteller.

Suddenly, nouns and adverbs turn into

shot composition or a live audience, and
just in seeing your storytelling world in a
new light, you are able to find new
solutions and approaches to writing much
more quickly than if you had just
remained focused on being a good writer.

H ow T o
B e A G ood
S torytel ler
Now that you understand what makes one
a good storyteller, both in terms of skill
set and in terms of habit, let’s dive into
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7/18/2020 How to be a Good Storyteller — E.M. Welsh

the different ways you can improve your

habits as a writer and storyteller.

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Shares
Write Often
Writing is just a small portion of what it
means to be a good storyteller, though it
should not go forgotten. This might seem
like an obvious part of becoming a good
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storyteller, but often we storytellers
become so lost in the work of others we
can forget to return to our own stories.

And the truth is, you cannot become a

good storyteller unless you practice
writing and telling stories often.

How “often” you should write is up to you,

but it should almost always be more often
than you are comfortable with.

For instance, if writing every day would

feel like a challenge to you, then it is
almost certainly something you should
try. Or if writing once a month seems
“doable,” try and amp it up to three times
a month.

It doesn’t mean you can’t skip a day or

two, but one of the key benefits in writing
often – whatever that might mean for you
– is that you are making a conscious
effort to think about your own stories
more than you might usually do so.

One of the biggest benefits I saw take

shape in my writing life came from
writing daily, something I was so sure
“wasn’t for me.” But fairly quickly I
realized that writers didn’t write daily
because they had inspiration or because
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7/18/2020 How to be a Good Storyteller — E.M. Welsh
because they had inspiration or because
they always knew what was happening
next – one of the many excuses I used to
use to avoid writing more regularly – but
because in writing daily, they were
forcing themselves to think about their

1.4k stories regularly. And this, in turn, led to

Shares them thinking in their spare time about
their work and finding more solutions in
their subconscious as a result.

So, first and foremost, before you look at

the other habits to becoming a good
storyteller in this article, ask yourself if
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you are writing often enough.

Read Lots Of
Books
No matter what types of stories you tell,
you absolutely need to be reading books.

Prose has so much to teach storytellers

about a series of small details building an
enormous, big picture tale.

In a single sentence, novels and short

stories can tell a tale on their own. Just
look at these six-word stories if you don’t
believe me.

In studying prose, you can learn so much

about how to craft a beautiful sentence,
how to pace out a story with words and
sentences and paragraphs, and how to
create abstract meanings with
personification, paradoxes, and other
literary devices.

But beyond a sentence, there’s the

narrator of any piece of prose, the voice
of the author communicating to you, the
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7/18/2020 How to be a Good Storyteller — E.M. Welsh
g y ,
reader, directly, creating an experience
unlike any other storytelling medium.
Whether that voice is reliable or not is
part of the enchanting nature of prose,
and why so many people love books like

1.4k The Bell Jar or Catcher in the Rye, whose

Shares narrator’s are so interesting that people
read their stories for them, not the
progression of the plot.

Finally, prose teaches storytellers how to

break all conventional rules and
structures. Novels can be 80 pages or 800
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– there is no right or wrong amount.
Chapters can be two sentences long or
span the entire length of a book. With
such a variety in pace and length, every
novel is going to teach you a story in a
different way, which is why you should
always be reading regularly as a good
storyteller

Even if you don't write prose, in reading it

you'll grow a profound appreciation for
the power of words on paper creating a
story in your head, all through
imagination, conveying things no other
image, sound, or experience could.

Binge On
Movies And
Television
Shows
Though you likely already watch movies
and television shows regularly, I imagine
you’ve often told yourself doing either of
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7/18/2020 How to be a Good Storyteller — E.M. Welsh
y y g
these things was a “waste of time” or that
you’ve been binging “too much.”

However, when you write film and

television off like this, labeling them as

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inferior to literature, you are completely
Shares missing an opportunity as a storyteller to
study storytelling in a new form.

Film and television are more powerful

than you might realize. While prose has
the power of language, film and television
have the power of engaging directly with
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our senses, providing us with images and
sounds that make a story feel real.

In fact, did you know that once the

television came out and shows were in
color, people went from dreaming in
black and white to dreaming in color?
Pretty powerful stuff, huh?

But film and television are much more

subtle and layered than people give them
credit for. An image can have so many
different features all happening at once
that no novel could, because unlike with
words on paper which we read one after
the other, in images we see everything at
once.

Additionally, films and television can

quickly create a feeling for people with a
series of images, which humans can
decipher and understand so much more
easily. They can create emotions in a
single montage or make you feel uneasy
by focusing on the same image for too
long.

But on top of all this, television itself

provides one of the most unique
storytelling structures available to us,
making it a wonderful device to study on
its own outside of film
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7/18/2020 How to be a Good Storyteller — E.M. Welsh
its own, outside of film.

So, next time you watch a movie or

“binge” on Netflix, take some time as a
conscious storyteller to study what the
narrative is doing with stories differently.

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Shares
See Plays At
Your Local
Theater
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Theatre is the oldest storytelling medium

out there, so if you want to take some
time to learn from the masters, you
better make seeing a play a priority.

In doing so, you’ll see how powerful it is

when people communicate a story in real
life to a live audience. There is a
connection there unlike any other
medium offers, a direct interaction with
the story and the people that make that
story possible.

But even if you can’t see a play regularly,

make a point to read them often. What
you’ll notice – very quickly – is how much
we can learn about a character just from
how they speak.

An entire play can be driven by

conversation, and usually is. Within that
conversation, with dialogue alone, as a
storyteller you must learn how to convey
plot, character, backstory – everything –
without explaining it.

And you must do it all using the

imaginative theater, where things are
simultaneously so real, yet also so clearly
a performance.
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7/18/2020 How to be a Good Storyteller — E.M. Welsh

The stage and the live audience together

create an experience unlike any other for
storytellers, where your neighbor's seat
and perspective will vary completely from
your own. Couple that with the short-

1.4k lived nature of a play, that can only exist

Shares in your memory, never to be seen
performed in the same way again, and you
have one of the most fragile yet powerful
forms of storytelling.

And though you cannot always see a play

live, you’ll find over time that with
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reading plays just how much work the
writer must do to pack so much meaning
in words alone, giving the actors and
directors flexibility to interpret the
characters differently, yet also writing
everything with enough authority that
the meaning never changes.

It’s a skill that comes with a deep

understanding of humans, something you
can only develop to such an extent with a
live, breathing version of your story. Next
time you see a play, take the time to
remember this and study how it affects
the story itself.

Play Video
Games – Don't
Watch Them
Video games are the newest storytelling
form out there, and as a result often are
not taken seriously. But every type of
writer has an immense amount they can
learn from a video game.
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7/18/2020 How to be a Good Storyteller — E.M. Welsh

Take for example all the endless

possibility a video game offers. Even in
games that aren’t about choices, there is a
sense of freedom that we as the players

1.4k are people writing this story ourselves

Shares when we play them.

You can decide to take a left turn or a

right turn, and it is inherently, you the
player, who has made that choice. Even if
it is a meaningless choice, it is a choice
that puts you in the front seat of the
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story, so you are more than just
observing, you’re a part of the story.

Beyond this, video games offer one of the

most immersive experiences of all
storytelling mediums. In no other
storytelling form can you make choices,
explore the world at your leisure, or
interact and converse with your favorite
characters whenever you choose.

Yet the worldbuilding and immersion just

scratches the surface as to what you can
study in video games. Video games can
simulate different perspectives and
experiences, creating a more effective
and permanent empathy for situations
people do not understand than almost
any other storytelling medium, literally
placing players in other people’s shoes.

In fact, studies have shown that men who

play video games as women characters
are noticeably more empathetic towards
the feminine experience afterward, just
showing how powerful this possibility for
immersion and empathy is.

In addition to all of this, video games can

be highly artistic, incorporating all the
elements of other storytelling mediums
into one enormous narrative
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7/18/2020 How to be a Good Storyteller — E.M. Welsh
into one enormous narrative.

For that reason, the structure alone of

video games is worth studying and
learning from as a storyteller. The
mechanics are some of the most

1.4k interactive of any medium, challenging

Shares players and storytellers alike to rethink
what a typical story looks like.

Because just like with books, video games

can be 2 hours or 200 hours, meaning the
structure between two games is never
alike. But beyond just that, the approach
1.4k
to telling a story is so fresh and different
from the other storytelling counterparts,
playing a video game is sure to inspire
your latest novel in no time.

Respect
Different
Mediums
With all this talk of different storytelling
mediums, it’s important to note that in
order to be a good storyteller, you should
be very wary of – excuse the cliche –
 judging a book by its cover, or, more
aptly, its genre.

You may be “certain” that you only like

literary fiction or fantasy, or that video
games “aren’t for you,”  but I urge you to
take time every once in awhile to engage
with stories outside of your comfort zone.

So, with that in mind, even if you only

write novels or video games, it’s
important that you understand that no
type of storytelling medium or genre is
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7/18/2020 How to be a Good Storyteller — E.M. Welsh
type of storytelling medium or genre is
superior to another. One story may be
better than another, but to write a story
off based on the medium or genre is to
potentially miss out on an entirely new

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approach to writing you may have never
Shares considered before.

If you don’t believe me, think back to that

one story you had written off as lame or
weird or “not for you” long ago, only to
read it, watch it, or play it later and
realize it was amazing and has since
1.4k
become one of the most influential pieces
of storytelling material in your life.

See what I mean?

So, give every storytelling medium or

genre a chance. Read a fantasy novel or a
play a video game – even if you’re sure
you’ll hate. Because more than likely you’ll
uncover a new way to tell stories that you
wouldn’t have found elsewhere.

Look For The

Story In
Everything
Beyond the various features we’ve talked
about in developing your storytelling
skills, there are many more. There’s the
fact that you should try your best to
return to old stories and work through
the editing phases, but many times that is
a more complex issue that may involve
abandoning a story that is no longer right
for you.

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That is why as a writer, you should always

look for the story in everything. In doing
so, you’ll find solutions for editing your
play or characters for your video game.
They are out there, dispersed in the world

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and waiting for you to find them, and the
Shares best way to do so is to see the story in
everything.

If you don’t believe me, take some time to

people watch. You’ll find within a few
minutes, without trying you have created
an entire story just from two people
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together.

And if you can always find these stories

everywhere, you’ll never be short of ideas
or solutions.

BONUS: Write
Stories Outside
Of Your
Comfort Zone
Writing stories in different mediums isn’t
for everyone, especially as a lifelong
habit.

However, it’s no secret by now that in

writing in new mediums and trying
storytelling in different forms, you’ll
develop your skills as a storyteller.

This is because in doing this, you’ll take

everything you know about how you tell a
story a certain way, and drop it. Then,
you’ll be able to see your own storytelling
skills challenged in a way unlike any
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7/18/2020 How to be a Good Storyteller — E.M. Welsh
skills challenged in  a way unlike any
other.

So, if you’re ready to put things in action,

start writing stories outside of your
comfort zone. This can be easily done

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with writing prompts, which makes
Shares writing stories in new mediums or styles
a low risk venture, while still teaching you
how to be a good storyteller.

No matter what, the main thing to take

away from this article is that in order to
be a good storyteller, you’ll want to
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surround yourself with stories of all
different styles and approaches to
storytelling.

It gets easy to become caught up in the

same approach to being a “good
storyteller,” but the best storytellers are
the ones who are always challenging
themselves to see stories in new ways.
And if you incorporate all the things
mentioned in this article, you’ll be sure to
do just that.

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7/18/2020 How to be a Good Storyteller — E.M. Welsh

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