Create a Storytelling Story

  Reading is fun. TV and video can be exciting. But creating your own stories is an adventure of discovery and learning that is more fun then any of these.
           Creating storytelling stories is quite different from creating written stories. That’s because storytelling stories are different from written ones.
            Written stories are always the same. You may read them many times, but the words will always be in the same order. One event will follow another. Storytelling stories are never the same. A storytelling story changes with each audience to appeal or adapt to those specific listeners.

 For example, if you lost something on the way home from school, how would you describe the incident to your mother? Your teacher? Your best friend? Your sister or brother? Would one version vary depending on whom you were talking to?
           Storytelling is like this. You might leave out some part one time or add others another time. Some parts, such as a repetitive line can always be the same, but each telling is different.

 Reprinted, with permission, from Storytelling Discoveries: Favorite Activities for Young Tellers, "Meet the Fuzzybodies in Draw and Tell" chapter.

Three Important Secrets

There are three secret reasons why 
each storytelling is different.

 Who Will Listen?
           Will you tell your story to kids your own age? Will they be friends or young people you haven’t met yet? Perhaps you will tell to younger kids. Or, will it be an audience of adults? Will it be just a couple people, a small group, or a large audience?

Why Are You Telling It?
           There are many reasons for telling a story. Knowing why you are telling it may be the most helpful reason in adapting a story for a particular audience.
           Many storytellers select tales just to entertain. They tell jokes, silly stories, or tall tales. Others want to teach something, such as how to be more considerate of animals, the environment, or other people. One storyteller likes to encourage his listeners to try new things. Some babysitters tell stories to help children not to be afraid of thunder, lightening or scary shadows in their rooms. Some tellers use personal stories to promote understanding of another culture. Others want to make people think or to help people remember. Some like to scare their audience with ghostly stories.

Where Will You Speak?
            How you tell your story and what story helpers you use will depend on where you will be speaking? Will you be talking at one of your youth organizations, a parents’ night program, in your classroom, at a storytelling workshop, in a library storytelling program, while riding in a car or bus, at a family dinner, during a community fair, at a museum, at a storytelling festival, or during a religious program?

For more information on creating storytelling stories, read Create Your Own Storytelling Stories by Vivian Dubrovin. The above information was taken, with permission, from one of the chapters of this book.