How to be a Master Storyteller ?

A good story should leave a mark on the taste buds of readers.

Stories are no different from canvas paintings, with many frames. Narration should make readers visualize the frame, and paint the portrait in their minds.

Story writing is arguably the best art in the world. It’s not merely about entertaining, but a skill most useful in marketing, advertising, content strategy, graphic designing, political and brand campaigns, etc.

There is a famous proverb

‘If you cannot tell, you cannot sell’

A story should add wings to the imaginations of readers, the readers should be able to visualise each scene in the story as if they are looking at a canvas painting. This is the basic strategy in storytelling, apart from a good background. If you frame phrases and sentences in a way that the readers can get a glimpse into the plot exactly the way you see it, readers will enjoy the story.

Ninja Techniques to become a Master Storyteller

How to turn your story into a painting?

I. Make use of simple short sentence in narration

Simple sentences help you to break down your thought processes more precisely. It’s also convenient for readers to get the accurate message,which gets lost very often in complex sentences. It also helps readers who are not very well versed with the language. Addition of unnecessary conjunctions and injunctions adds to their problem.

II. Use Simple Language

Simple language increases your target audience. Not everyone is well versed with tough vocabulary in English or in any other language. By using complex language one restricts the reach of the content,only the most educated sections(relative, depending on the language) will be able to comprehend the story.

This does not mean that the usage of good vocabulary should be avoided.The language should be as beautiful as it can be,it should not be tough. Also, the readers should have a learning experience after going through your story. They should come to know about good words, the story should enrich them at personal level.

Mix of simple language to develop their interest in the story and good vocabulary to make it a learning experience should be the strategy.

III. Use Idioms and Phrases

Popular idioms and phrases should be used wherever one finds it suitable to place them. It adds to the beauty of the story and conveys a broader picture to readers in lesser words.

IV. Be Very Descriptive

Narration should be as much descriptive as it can be.It engages the readers and helps them in seeing the characters,the locations,the plots in their minds.

For example,if one is writing a ghost story,which one of the following gives better visualization-

‘Someone turned the door knob from outside and I could hear a shrill sound in the corridor.’

‘Someone turned the red knob of the giant wooden door and I could hear a shrill husky sound of a lady in the corridor.’

Obviously the second sentence gives a better picture,one can imagine the knob, the gate ,the lady in corridor . Both elements are missing in the first sentence.

Appropriate adjectives should be used in abundance so that the narration does not become bland and dull.

V. Use Direct Sentences and Active Voice if you are not very good with Grammar

Many storytellers are not very good with grammar. While they want to tell a beautiful story,they end up weaving a mix of grammatically inaccurate sentences. Most of them err while converting direct sentences into indirect, specially in converting present/past tenses into past/past perfect tenses. We suggest such writers to make use of direct sentences to make your story grammatically correct. Use quotes to write down the exact statements by the characters in the story.

Apart from minimizing grammatical errors ,it adds to the aesthetic of narration.

VI. Be Coherent and Positive

The narration should be coherent,the sequence of frames should appear logical. Many storytellers jump from one frame to totally unrelated frame which leaves readers in a riddle. Most people read stories for entertainment and not as a puzzle solving endeavor.

The story should contain positivity. Even when writing sad stories,its always good to sell hope at the end, specially when writing for political campaigns or marketing stories.

VII. Use Back Linking

Back Linking is a term we often use when mentioning about links to other articles on same websites, in website SEO. We are using the term here for narrating past events while describing current events in a story.

Lets take the example of one of the best movies ever made- Godfather. In Godfather 2, there are too many scenes in which the past story starts flashing intermittently ,to add context and meaning to the present developments.

In Bollywood,Bahubali and KGF,both blockbuster hits are good examples of back linking in story telling.

Backlinking increases the width of the canvas of your storytelling. Readers get to engage more by interlinking of events,and hence reading for them is more entertaining.

For back linking in storytelling one needs to do elaborate planning and homework,With practice it starts coming naturally to the writer.

VIII. Plot – the most important

Plot of a story is like the foundation of a building. No amount of interior/architectural design will work if foundation of the building is not strong. Same is the case with storytelling.

One needs to have a good entertaining, engaging and empowering plot,else the story will appear as many random sentences and characters thrown at each other . Its not a difficult task to make a good plot, stories can be made based on our experiences with people and observations of surroundings.

2 types of plots sell more :