My definition of a storyteller is someone who has the ability to captivate attention and not hold it hostage but have it desire to stay, of its own free will.
“Creativity Breeds Longevity.” This is amongst my favorite sayings that my mind has shared with me; because it’s the absolute truth. To truly stand out, we can’t have a desire to fit in. Within the realm of imagination is a vast amount of material to create stories, that will woo the world. Stories, that will do so much more than entertain.
The beautiful thing about fiction is that there’s no limit as to how far we can take it, unlike reality, where logic and reason make up the foundation of the story. With fiction, it’s believable that a person can be bitten by a wolf, and acquire the ability to transform into a wolf because of it. We can’t make this make sense in reality, because it defies logic and reason. If we were bitten by a wolf in real life, and we lived, the average person would be left traumatized, to say the least. With fiction, we can run, jump, and fly. With fiction, our characters can possess every type of ability we can think of. With fiction, we can take the world to the brink of destruction and bring it back, simply by creating a plot twist. Now, tell me how reality could ever compete or compare with the wonders of fiction.
When I’m telling a story, it’s being told on a foundation that consists of encouragement, enlightenment, and entertainment. Most stories have at least one of the three, others have two, but it’s a rarity to find all three. When all three are present, the story is an instant classic. Sure, I want my stories to be entertaining but just as importantly, I want them to provoke thought and activate action as well. Just like reality influences fiction, when written properly, fiction can influence reality. Characters may not be real but their decisions and results can be something the readers can relate to; if they’re written to do so that is to say. My goal is to stay as close to reality as possible with my fictional tales; because I’m trying to convey a message of possibility. Here’s a seemingly ordinary guy, doing extraordinary things.
So the readers will be like, “Hey. If he can do it, so can I.”
When the story is still being talked about, well after it has been told. When it has inspired change and continues to do so, years later. The writer has done their job accordingly. This, my friend; is The Art Of Storytelling.
“To truly stand out we can’t have a desire to fit in” this is so true, we have to be willing to tell the stories that need to be told, to give voices to the ideas that need to be shared. I like the idea of using stories to inspire change. Sometimes we just write them and we don’t know where they will go or what they will be or who they might touch. Great post.