As a storyteller, do you ever think that means we’ve run out of things to say?No. Families get together and they tell stories. How many times have you talked about that summer where dad drove the car into the lake, or whatever? There’s something reassuring to revisiting stories, the kind of ancient storytelling tradition of the campfire: “Tell me that story again.”

As a storyteller, do you ever think that means we’ve run out of things to say?

No. Families get together and they tell stories. How many times have you talked about that summer where dad drove the car into the lake, or whatever? There’s something reassuring to revisiting stories, the kind of ancient storytelling tradition of the campfire: “Tell me that story again.”

Finn Cohen • After Five Seasons of ‘Fargo,’ Noah Hawley Is Still Rooting for America

Saved by Alex Dobrenko

RelatedCollectionsNotes

In workshop we sometimes say that what makes a piece of writing a story is that something happens within it that changes the character forever. (That’s a bit Draconian, but let’s go with it as a starting place.) So, we tell a certain story, starting at one time and ending at another, in order to frame that moment of change.

George Saunders • A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: From the Man Booker Prize-winning, New York Times-bestselling author of Lincoln in the Bardo

To know, tell, and create stories is a wonderous skill that keeps faith with the traditional and beauteous techniques our ancestors used when faced with the sudden mists and tripwires of living.

Emergence Magazine • Navigating the Mysteries

What stories do you tell (and retell)?

Jason Jaggard • Beyond High Performance: What Great Coaches Know About How the Best Get Better

George Saunders • A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life

EVERY STORY NEEDS A TELLER

Steve Almond • Truth Is the Arrow, Mercy Is the Bow: A DIY Manual for the Construction of Stories

When we search our past for the beginnings of our stories — which storytellers do quite often — we have a mountain of material from which to choose. Less effective storytellers latch onto the first thing that comes to mind rather than making a list of anecdotes, analyzing them for content, tone, the potential for humor, and connectivity to the stor

Dan Kennedy • Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life through the Power of Storytelling

These are the stories we hear every day. Some people are really good at telling them, polishing them up for entertainment value. Even when they embark on an anecdote to which we all know the end, we still want to hear them tell it. Others have harnessed technology, unrolling their stories in posts or tweets that gather likes as they progress. Mobil

Miranda France • The Writing School

In its best form, storytelling is time travel.