We Need to Be Telling More Stories
Just like leading a good one-to-one or cutting an issue, telling a good story is a fundamental of the craft. The pace of today’s organizing has crowded out the time it takes to see a story, to craft it, to tell it.
Our stories are a form of power, but they can also be the first thing dropped from the priority list.
We launched this series to put storytelling back on that list.
A few elements of good organizing storytelling:
Your first lines matter. And every sentence should have a purpose.
Pull people in with a lead, and then write sentences that carry weight. Every sentence should be doing something to advance the story.
Every story has a setting, and sometimes the setting is a character.
Bring the listener into the scene. If you set it up for them with details, listeners can visualize it and enter it with you.
Believable characters only.
Your characters are important to you, because you know them, you lived the story. You need to make the listener care about these characters too. Make your characters believable, full and round. Show their values in their actions and choices. If they are complex, all the better.
Who wants what? Desire, conflict, and tension creates direction.
In every good story someone wants something. Desire creates direction. Chances are something is standing in the way of them getting what they want. Here’s the conflict - the person or people blocking people from getting what they need. Now you are off and running.
Now the Hard Part: Murder your darlings!
You will have vignettes, characters, even whole storylines that you love. If they aren’t essential to advancing the story, kiss them goodbye. Even if it hurts… in fact it should hurt. Save the rest for another story.
Trim Trim Trim. Save it for another story.
After you remove your darlings, there are still too many words, look for where this is a shorter way to say it, and leave the extra words behind.
Deliver the gut punch. When you can, show it instead of saying it.
Show, don't tell. For every point you want to make there is a story, no matter how small, that can help you make it. And then let the story make the point instead of you spelling it out. And trust that your audience will get it without a lecture.
Season with details
Small details help people dig into your story.
We will update this soon, and be writing a toolkit for helping people find, craft, and tell their stories to power organizing.