Learning from the "The Original Storyteller"

Before I tell you about this story, I must first tell you the story of how I came to discover it.  I suppose you’d say it was somewhat “random”—although I’ve learned what seems random from my perspective is orderly from God’s perspective.  I am currently training to be a Global Ministries EarthKeeper through the United Methodist Church. One requirement of our training is to do a project.  Since writing and storytelling is my passion, my idea is to create a compendium of EarthKeeper stories, or maybe even a devotional using some material from my blog.  We were asked to identify scriptures related to our project.  I conducted an online search for on “storytelling in the Bible.”  I found a link  to a podcast on “What the Bible Teaches About Storytelling”. There’s a Topic Timeline at the URL that provides a handy summary of the content of the ~50-minute podcast. 

During the podcast the hosts (Dave Adamson and Ashley Bohinc) interviewed Robert Carnes (interview begins at 19:50), who talked about what makes story powerful.  He has written a book called The Original Storyteller: Become a Better Storyteller in 30 Days.  Carne’s described himself as passionate writer and storytelling, so that got my attention.  I decided to purchase his book, the summary motif of which is that we can learn a lot about becoming a better storyteller by studying the work of the Original Storyteller—God.  Think about the stories we love.  Why do we find them so compelling?   Carnes argues it is because they borrow their pattern from God’s Story as recorded in the Bible.  While I may not agree with everything that he states (e.g., that the sole purpose of the Old Testament was to point to the arrival of the protagonist of God’s Story—Jesus) I think his overall presentation was solid.  

 

The Original Storyteller—God

Presented in the form of a 30-day devotional, each entry covers a Big Idea—a particular aspect of storytelling. There are Scripture(s), a Devotional Reading, and a Prayer related to that idea.  But that’s not all; each day also provides an Action—a suggestion for how to practice the idea that has been presented.  As I often do with a devotional, I read through the whole book just to get the big picture in my mind.  This isn’t the first time that I’ve learned about the elements of storytelling, but I do think Carnes did a good job presenting this material in the context of God’s Story and also citing storytelling excerpts from a wide array of tales—from Harry Potter to Star Wars, from Hoosiers to Slaughterhouse 5.  I look forward to spending more time with this book and I’m glad to have it as a reference as I write my own stories.  

If you are interested in getting a high-level overview of the elements of story and the craft of storytelling and how these elements play out in the Bible and other literary works, I would highly recommend this book.

 

Carnes provides “Twitter-length” summaries of the 30 Big Ideas covered in his book (pp. 129–130).  I have shared them here.  I think this is a good summary of story elements. 

 

1.    A story’s beginning sets the tone for everything that’s about to happen.

2.     Storytelling is part of our DNA; we were modeled after the Original Storyteller—God. 

3.     Words are the basic building blocks of every story.

4.     Narratives connect the elements of storytelling together into a recognizable pattern.

5.     A protagonist gives personality and focus to your story.

6.     Effective supporting characters complement and amplify the actions of the protagonist.

7.     Antagonists stand in the way of the protagonist, driving conflict in the story.

8.     Development with a story’s characters give them depth and authenticity.

9.     Every story begins and ends within the framework of conflict.

10.  Actions are the result of characters responding to conflict.

11.  Conversations build relationships between characters and give a story credibility. 

12.  Every person and every story has a unique perspective.

13.  A storyteller’s voice is their own unique identity and ability to craft a story.

14.  Setting establishes a story’s context of both time and place.

15.  A motif summarizes a story’s main themes and ideas.

16.  A character’s backstory explains the motivation for their actions.

17.  Foreshadowing builds anticipation for the story’s coming action.

18.  A plot twist relies on surprise to increase the impact of a story’s climax.

19.  An author has authority over a story, just as God has authority over creation.

20.  Know your audience because who you’re speaking to impacts what you say.

21.  The more you build up to a story’s climax, the greater the potential payoff.

22.  The best stories are those that elicit great emotion.

23.  Suspension of disbelief lets the audience to put aside their doubts and enter into a story.

24.  Epistolaries are more personal stories written in the form of letters.

25.  Universal truths make a story relevant well beyond its original time and place.

26.  Storytellers use imagery to pain a mental picture in the mind of the audience.

27.  Symbolism transforms ordinary objects into the embodiment of complex concepts.

28.  Many stories of heroes and adventure follow a similar basic template called The Hero’s Journey.

29.  Poetic justice happens when characters get what they deserve.

30.  A story ends when the primary conflict comes to a resolution. 

 

I am struck by how often stories are mentioned in the reading material for my EarthKeeper training.   This reminds me of how integral stories are to the Bible—and to life.  Think about it; every new day is like a new chapter in the Story of Me.  We are the protagonist of our tale.  We come into conflict with antagonists and encounter plot twists along the way.  If we are fortunate, we gather around us a band of loyal supporting characters who help us on our journey. As people of faith, we trust God to use conflict to deepen our character and ultimately bring our story to a good, and just resolution. 

 

God has hard-wired us as human beings to tell stories.  Studies have shown stories are the most effective way to communicate information.  We may forget facts but stories stick with us.   This is why it’s so important to know our story, to discern how our story interacts with other people’s story—and ultimately, how all our stories weave together into God’s Story.  No matter who we are, or where we find ourselves in life,  we all have important stories to tell, and our universal calling is to learn how to communicate them effectively. So, these Big Ideas Carnes listed are good things to keep in mind, not just for EarthKeepers, but for everyone.