7 Elements of Telling a Story

In this week’s meeting of the Writers of the Desert Rose Cafe, a member told a quick child’s story aloud. Afterwards she discussed the seven story elements for successful story-telling.

Have you been asked to tell a story to a group? Do you think you may receive such an invitation in the future? If so, note the following elements to make your story-telling better:

1. (This one seems obvious) The story must have identifiable characters.

2. The characters show emotions: fear, indecision, love, joy, whatever. (You, the storyteller, use your voice, expression, body language to convey the emotions.)

3. The main character has a problem to solve.

4.  An antagonist creates trouble.

5. The characters find a solution to the problem.

6. The main character learns something from the situation.

7. The main character changes and grows.

Ghost Stories

Ghost stories have been popular as long as stories have been told. In today’s pop culture, ghost stories sell. Readers of haunted tales are DEVOTED!

Want to try your hand at a spooky mystery?

I’ll give you a hand by providing a list of ghost names–yes, there is a list and it contains male, female and unisex (???) names and meanings.

http://www.20000-names.com/ghost_names_spirit_names.htm

Positioning Yourself in Your Market

A few days ago I read a great quote from a financial web site that has great relevance for writers who intend to sell their work in the open market. If you plan to be commercial, then spend a few minutes thinking how these words apply to you.

Rick Rule, founder and CEO of Global Resource Investments said:

The trick is not to be right all the time; it’s to be right more often than you’re wrong. And to position yourself ahead of trends that are unstoppable, then to wait for the market to come to you.

To me the perfect example of positioning is the Harry Potter series. The interest in things supernatural or fantastic started snowballing with author Anne Rice’s series about the vampire Lestat. The stories of Harry Potter and the associated witches and warlocks populating his adventures were positioned to surf the trend.

Positioning doesn’t discount the need for writing a good tale. Rather it suggests ways to determine which tales to tell to achieve commercial success.