In my previous posts in this series, I covered my interest in using storytelling for teaching and learning, briefly explored what storytelling actually is, and presented my list of guidelines for what I believe a great story must have.
In this post, I’m going to further explore the power of storytelling and attempt to simplify the process of writing a story that will be powerful in the context of teaching and learning.
BUILDING A STORY
As I continue to look more deeply into storytelling, I’m starting to realise how involved this process can actually be. In this Introduction to Storytelling, Pixar tells the truth about how long it can take to get a story right.
Stories should have a structure, with a beginning, a middle and an end.
The Beginning: where we start
The Middle: where we travel through
The End: where we stop
If we expand on the outline structure of the Story Spine to include the core elements of a story, it looks something like this.
This is much easier to understand if it’s put in context with examples as in this Essence of Structure video.
In my next post in this series I’m going to combine this expanded outline with my guidelines on what a great story must have and continue to attempt to simplify the process of writing a story.
