So Many Stories – So Little Time

Stories are everywhere. That's not a problem. I should say ‘story ideas' are everywhere.

After 8+ months and 14'000+ miles on the road - I've seen half the country, talked with a lot of people, and read and seen a lot of history.

But are these "stories"?

The simple answer is "NO".

You see, no matter the drama, just because something "happened", no matter how "interesting", that doesn't make it a "story".

"Stories" are very precise things. They are "created" whether out of one's imagination, out of fact or a combination of the two, to serve a specific purpose.

That purpose is the conveyance of a singular idea.

A Story, irrespective of its seeming complexity, represents a singular truth, better known as a "premise".

The premise of the story is that idea.

The simplest definition for premise is – "what's the point" of the story.

What, exactly, are you trying to say - and about what?

Any given story is dependent upon a premise - for purpose as well as continuity.

Without a premise we don't have a "story" we have a purposeless narrative that wanders aimlessly and never arrives anywhere. The language could be beautiful, even poetic, the action – as exciting as a roller coaster ride, with characters that leap off the page and grab the reader by the throat.

But when it's all said and done, if there is no premise (no point to the narrative) then the audience will put down the book, or walk out of the theater, with nothing more than what they started with.

No matter how artful the presentation, they did not experience a "story" but merely a device of simple distraction.

And that's the difference between a "story" and simple "entertainment".

Ideas for stories are everywhere, but it takes a true "storyteller" to arrange a sequence of actions into something that means something; to imbue the events of a life with meaning.

To learn more about the "Technology" of Stories and storytelling...

Watch these 4 free videos here. They may just be what you're looking for.

Video # - 1 Click here to watch "Write a "Killer" Novel' Fast..."

Write on...
And SELF-Publish!
Richard