 Storytelling
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Nov. 16th, 2009 @ 11:44 am 
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Last week a writer on Litopia mentioned an interview in which this year's Booker Prizewinner, Hilary Mantel, said that although writing came easily to her, she wasn't a natural storyteller and had to teach herself that skill, and the Litopian asked if other writers thought storytelling had come to them naturally or if they had learned it.
I was a writer first. When I was thirteen, my English teacher told me I was born to write. I took his comment to heart and kept it with me throughout my years at sea, which is where I learned storytelling.
There's an oral tradition among sailors, even today when everyone is a technician of some sort or other, and it may surprise some to hear that most sailors' stories are not about ships or big waves or bad weather, but about people - and especially about memorable characters. Every group of sailors will normally include at least one good storyteller, and every sailor will remember listening to at least one master storyteller. Anyone can tell a story, but only a gifted storyteller who can give it life will find his listeners asking to hear a story again and again.
When I listened to one such master on my first ship tell the same story in two night watches several months apart, I realised on my second hearing that he wasn't just reciting it. He was living it, and, because he was so skilled, we lived it too. After a sailor has been around for a few years, he'll recognise lesser versions of master storytellers' tales circulating among good storytellers - and he'll hear unsatisfactory versions recited by poor storytellers.
My aim is to marry my natural gift for written communication with the talent for storytelling I learned from listening to masters. And to keep listening and learning, obviously.
How about you? |
This is a very nice post, but I did keep thinking "Durin' 'na war.."
I've always felt I was first and foremost a story teller. If I had been born before there was writing, I would be the person sitting around the fire at night telling tales. But since I wasn't, writing is something I've had to learn. I think when you look at other forms of self expression, you realize a lot of them are story telling, too: song writing, plays, musical theater, some forms of dance, even painting.
I believe you're right. It's all storytelling!
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| From: | ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) temporus |
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November 16th, 2009 04:57 pm (UTC) |
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I have a hard time separating the two. My mother has often told me that I was making up stories even before I could write. I'd just scribble on paper, fold it up like a book, then proceed to "read" her the story.
I suppose I think of one as the craft and the other as the magic.
Good thought provoking post :). I can see the distinction between storytelling and writing, and how both are necessary skills for novel writing (and short stories as well).
For me I've always had a bit of both. From the "what if this thing happened to this person" type of story starter, to various imagery. I've been reading as long as I can remember, and writing for awhile. I started with poems back in late elementary school.
One of the images I remember the most which worked it's way into a few lines was from riding along in the car with my mom along Lake Erie. There's a section of the road which is fairly close to the shore of the lake, and when the wind picks up it'll splash water across the road from the lake. There used to be bushes (something leafy - not pine) along the side of the road there, and during the winter, the water from the lake had frozen along the bare branches. When mom and I drove by this spot it was after the storm, when the sun was out and the bushes encased in the ice. Even though the bushes are long gone, I still have that image in my head of the frozen branches in the ice sparkling in the sun against the blue lake.
And by the way, your describing the story telling sailors is making my muse think of ideas. :)
As is your 'frozen branches in the sun' picture for me. :)
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| From: | jongibbs |
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November 16th, 2009 06:38 pm (UTC) |
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I agree 100% I've always thought stories are like jokes. It all comes down to how you tell them :)
It really does. It's showmanship. :)
| From: | (Anonymous) |
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November 25th, 2009 09:29 am (UTC) |
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I think that writer may have been me! I have always been a writer, but I am learning the craft of storytelling. I love the idea of "living" the story, and am going to try and inject that passion as I set off on my third draft.
It certainly was you, but I didn't feel it would be fair to "out" you when you'd posted the original question under a username. :)
Good luck with your third draft!
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December 21st, 2009 01:05 pm (UTC) |
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How to become a storyteller
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Interesting how some people find being able to express themselves easily in writing, yet find it hard to tell a decently long story. I had similar experiences to you as a child- I was a "natural" writer and could dash off a well written story several pages long without hesitation. When it came to writing an outline before the story and saying how it would develop and nominating a list of words I would use- hopeless! If I thought it all out before, I couldn't write the story- it was all done and baked! I had to write a NEW story! I won prizes and even a national Anzac Essay competition at 9 years old (they wondered if the word "silhouette" had been added by an adult, the ratbags). However, I was unable to write a good mini-novel at ten because there was too much planning involved and a good, long idea hadn't occurred to me. These days my blogs are all the creative-tinged writing I do. My academic writing is OK but I also need "inspiration" to get the whole of an essay done well- other people's deadlines don't suit me- lecturers often say my essay has been written well but hasn't covered the topic evenly- that's where my timing has been slower than their requirements! I've also written a few dozen scientific articles which have been accepted pretty much first time. Other people get me to edit and re-submit their papers that have been rejected for various reasons;there's never a problem once I've ironed those out. After all this writing, I have never mastered the art (or science) of storytelling- I think I skim the story of everything in my head and only write down a summary- can't get all the story onto paper for the life of me! Helllppp!!!
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