Story Telling
The art of story telling
One special ability humans possess is the art of story-telling. For thousands of years, it has allowed us to learn, adapt and evolve as a species. Our ancestors passed on the knowledge they gained in the form of stories to us. Even the early humans depicted ability to tell stories which is demonstrated by the paintings found in the caves. Today everything has its own story, be it a picture on the wall, a logo, a scribbling on a desk.
We all have that treasured childhood memory, those fantasies in dreams. Some narrate their stories better than others. But that doesn’t mean others’ stories are not good. There are certain aspects of story-telling that one should focus upon to be a good narrator. Placing events in a narrative is how we try to make sense of our won experiences and the world around us. All effective stories have a beginning, a middle and an end. In other words, it can be said that a good story can be divided into 3 acts:
- Act one: Introduction of major characters, story exposition and conflict
- Act two: Establishes obstacles that the characters needs to overcome
- Act three: The climax of the story that leads to the outcome.
Something basic in the structure of a story engages listeners. Psychologists say that stories are “psychologically privileged”; human brains treat them differently from other kinds of material, focusing on them in a special way. Storytelling, then, is a key skill for effective communication in any context. A good story can build relationships by allowing character and personality to surface in a way that is appealing.
As the story progresses through these three acts, there are numerous focus points that drive the story forward. The conditions, the character play an important role in this. The characters are the story and are defined by their objectives. Identify the character in your story, its archetype. Establish your character properly. Then set the stage with the conditions the character has to tangle with as the story progresses. The conflicts that push the character out of their comfort zone and actually devise solutions to tackle those challenges.
Once the character archetypes are identified, we must now address the story-telling viewpoint. A story can be told subjectively or objectively. Every narrator has a point of view, a perspective that shapes how the story is told—which details are included, how the characters are described, perhaps in what order events are revealed, or even which events are included. An objectively told story offers no evaluation about right or wrong outcomes. A subjective narrator, on the other hand, has an opinion about the events he or she is relating and allows that opinion to guide the telling of the story.
Lastly, the narrator should keep in mind the audience of the story. Knowing to whom the story is being told at and on whom the story is aimed at, the narrator can choose his/her words wisely and can craft the story according to his/her audience.
Around 7-8 years ago, being a young, curious and enthusiastic kid, my answer to everyone who asked me what I want to be when I grow up was “I want to be an automobile engineer”. I liked football and given the chance, might have become a professional football player but little did I know that those few classes of QBASIC programming in class 7th, would change everything I was hoping to become and inject into me the curiosity towards how software works.
Fast forward 5 years, having been careless about studies in senior secondary classes, I missed the first opportunity to go to esteemed institutes for higher studies. I had to make a decision: drop a year, prepare again OR take admission and pursue higher studies. A little thing became a major thing while choosing the direction of my carrier, my obsession with computers led me and there I was, in the freshman year of my college life, pursuing B. Tech in Computer Science engineering. I am loving it, learning technology. Today I look at applications differently than a few years back. I can relate to how things work behind the scenes. And whenever I sit back and think about my life so far, I realize it’s the little things you do that define how your future will shape up.
