🚀 go-pugleaf

Bernadette Cronk [cronkb@usq.edu.au] wrote:
> The poster made a distinction between "storytellers" and "writers".
> So, folks:   What is a storyteller?  What is a writer?  Is there a
> difference?  If so, what is the difference? How is it manifested?
>  etc and so forth.
> What do YOU think?

Oh, now this one is good. I usually lurk on this list and only
occasionally post something, but this one I cannot resist. Primarily
because I think, no, I know that there is a big difference between
the two things. How to explain why I believe that, however, is tough.
To say the least. I know what makes a good storyteller and it's
certainly not the same thing as being a good writer, but how to
distinguish between the two? Heck if I know.

I do know this, though, that when I think storyteller, one very good
example comes to mind - a history professor at our local community
college. He's probably retired now from full-time teaching (if
someone like him ever actually retires from anything), but he's also
the local historian for our county and well-known throughout the
region for his storytelling in general but particularly in relation
to American history. He can take any era of this country's history
and simply by telling countless tales, usually local folktales, suck
just about anyone in his class into learning something about the time
period. And yes, people have always lined up for his classes because
they know that they will never be bored.

To me, storytelling will always be linked to the oral tradition of
passing information from one generation to the next, something we've
lost to a great extent in our society. Storytelling isn't about the
craft of weaving a plot around characters and settings with words and
words alone. It's about the relationship between the person telling
the story and their audience. That isn't about words. It's about
images. Memorable images. Storytelling is about the ability to plant
images in the heads of the audience that will not leave them anytime
soon - whether in the oral or written tradition. It's about making
the story told so memorable that the individual immediately wants to
go out and repeat it to someone else. Which is exactly what we do
when we exclaim "I just read this great book about . . . "

In that context, grammar and all the other things that make for what
we consider good writing are irrelevant to good storytelling because
they are not part of what makes the story itself repeatable over and
over again. They are the polish given to a group of connected images
by an expert at the craft of writing to preserve them for all time.
Hopefully. There are plenty of well-written books out there that are
easily forgettable. There are also plenty of poorly written books
that have unforgettable stories in them that imprint themselves on
our brains and never fade. For me, the test of whether something is a
good story or not is a test of time - whether in the final analysis
it gets told over and over again in some form or other. Even if it's
just in a recommendation of a favorite book to a friend. It's that
repeated sharing of the unforgettable images left in our heads that
harkens back to the oral storytelling tradition of passing things
down from generation to generation so that they will be remembered.
Always.

Beverly :-)