The 5 Common Elements of Good Storytelling
The first thing that stuck out to me in this article was when he said, "We're still hardwired to learn better if someone's words have meaning and emotion to them (proven with science!) because the use of narrative helps our brain focus." One of the things I've learned about writing is that we should add in the five senses so that people really connect with the story. This also helps the words have meaning to the reader or listener.
Simple: I definitely see how this will play into my telling of children's stories. Children need very simple stories and they can get more complex as the children age. My one and a half year old daughter really doesn't listen to stories yet. Her favorite books are ones that she can touch or make noise (there's the senses again), or ones where I can ask her where certain objects are. My older son likes stories and even asks questions about them.
Emotional: This is what he mentioned before too. The audience has to connect to the characters on an emotional level. I read once that when J.K. Rowling was writing Harry Potter she cared most about the characters. She had notebooks full of information about each character that was never written into the books but she knew where each one came from anyway. She knew what made each character tick. The audience should want to be this connected to your characters. The audience of this article mentions humor, pain, or joy in each story. These definitely are present in children's stories that I read to my son. He especially likes the humorous ones!
Truthful: The audience has to believe that what the storyteller says is real. If the storyteller is telling a story from his or her own life, they have to care about it and know that they are hearing something that really happened. Children especially want to know that something like what they are hearing could really happen.
Real: I agree with him on this one too. It is nice to hear stories that have been passed down through generations. I was reading a book called The Kissing Hand to my son and I found myself wondering if the tradition of the Kissing Hand was one that was passed down through the author's family.
Valid: The author says that a story should be just as good for one person as it is for a bunch of people. I write for two people, my kids. If I'm able to share my stories with other kids that is great, but I just want them to like the stories.
Overall I like what the author had to say. He had some good advice. I think he should probably add in the thing about the senses because he already had emotions. Maybe he's talking more about verbal stories though so I'm not sure it always works that way. Verbal storytellers can use body language, eye contact, and hand motions to convey things without needing to say the words. I'm glad I took the time to read this story!
The first thing that stuck out to me in this article was when he said, "We're still hardwired to learn better if someone's words have meaning and emotion to them (proven with science!) because the use of narrative helps our brain focus." One of the things I've learned about writing is that we should add in the five senses so that people really connect with the story. This also helps the words have meaning to the reader or listener.
Simple: I definitely see how this will play into my telling of children's stories. Children need very simple stories and they can get more complex as the children age. My one and a half year old daughter really doesn't listen to stories yet. Her favorite books are ones that she can touch or make noise (there's the senses again), or ones where I can ask her where certain objects are. My older son likes stories and even asks questions about them.
Emotional: This is what he mentioned before too. The audience has to connect to the characters on an emotional level. I read once that when J.K. Rowling was writing Harry Potter she cared most about the characters. She had notebooks full of information about each character that was never written into the books but she knew where each one came from anyway. She knew what made each character tick. The audience should want to be this connected to your characters. The audience of this article mentions humor, pain, or joy in each story. These definitely are present in children's stories that I read to my son. He especially likes the humorous ones!
Truthful: The audience has to believe that what the storyteller says is real. If the storyteller is telling a story from his or her own life, they have to care about it and know that they are hearing something that really happened. Children especially want to know that something like what they are hearing could really happen.
Real: I agree with him on this one too. It is nice to hear stories that have been passed down through generations. I was reading a book called The Kissing Hand to my son and I found myself wondering if the tradition of the Kissing Hand was one that was passed down through the author's family.
Valid: The author says that a story should be just as good for one person as it is for a bunch of people. I write for two people, my kids. If I'm able to share my stories with other kids that is great, but I just want them to like the stories.
Overall I like what the author had to say. He had some good advice. I think he should probably add in the thing about the senses because he already had emotions. Maybe he's talking more about verbal stories though so I'm not sure it always works that way. Verbal storytellers can use body language, eye contact, and hand motions to convey things without needing to say the words. I'm glad I took the time to read this story!