Write Like a Storyteller

By John Larson

© 2011, 2012 John Larson

 

 

 

 

Have you ever attended a class in which a teacher dutifully lists names, facts, equations, or dates but fails to interest you? The information never connects in any meaningful way? Can you remember walking out of that class, relieved to be out in the fresh air?

At its worst, reporting is similar to that lecture. It fills the air with important sounding names and facts, but fails to make them matter very much. Storytelling, on the other hand, is a bit like walking out into the fresh air—it feels natural, interesting, and a little like recess. When a great story begins, your senses come alive, as if an adventure lies ahead of you.

Great reporting borrows from ...

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