You just had the best weekend of your life, and the most amazing things happened to you.
What do you do next?
You tell people about it, of course. Your friends, your family. You have a great story to tell, and if you tell it correctly, your audience will be able to picture every detail. They’ll laugh or cheer in the right places. They’ll understand why the story is important to you, and they’ll feel their own personal connection to the narrative. Maybe they’ll even tell your story to other people.
Storytelling is a quintessential element of human existence. When we text or chat with people, we’re engaging in storytelling. When we scroll through social media or sit down to binge Breaking Bad on Netflix, we’re engaging in storytelling.
And when leaders in business, politics, or art want to motivate a group of people, they will use stories that connect to our values and beliefs.
In this chapter, we’ll be learning about narrative strategies so that we can tell our own stories to inspire social change.
Why You Should Care
Converting your academic research into a narrative form enhances your understanding and communication skills. It allows you to present factual information in a compelling, relatable way, making your message more impactful. This skill is useful for both academic and real-world applications.
Learning Objectives
In this lesson, you will…
A Long Tradition
Storytelling has been an integral part of human development and culture since ancient times. From the earliest cave paintings to oral traditions passed down through generations, humans have used storytelling to communicate, educate, and entertain. These narratives served as a means to convey moral lessons, historical events, and cultural values. In many ancient civilizations, storytellers were revered as keepers of knowledge and tradition, preserving the collective wisdom of their people. The ability to tell a compelling story helped societies to bond, foster a sense of community, and transmit crucial survival information. As civilizations evolved, storytelling remained a central element, shaping religious texts, literature, and even laws.
Stories are Part of Our DNA
Humans love storytelling because it resonates deeply with our cognitive and emotional makeup. Stories engage our imagination, evoke emotions, and allow us to see the world from different perspectives. This connection to storytelling is not just a relic of the past; it is a powerful tool in the modern world as well. Experts in various fields, including business, leadership, and politics, emphasize the importance of storytelling as a key skill. For instance, Simon Sinek, a renowned author and motivational speaker, argues that great leaders inspire action by telling compelling stories that connect with people’s values and aspirations. Similarly, in the business world, Nancy Duarte, a communication expert, highlights how effective storytelling can transform presentations and engage audiences more deeply than mere data points. Political figures frequently utilize storytelling to connect with voters and articulate their visions in a relatable manner. These modern experts affirm that storytelling is not just an art form but an essential skill for influence and connection in today’s complex world.
Storytelling for Social Change
Nonprofit organizations like Feed My Starving Children and Healthy Packs use storytelling to inspire social change by crafting compelling narratives that highlight the real-life experiences and struggles of the communities they serve. By sharing personal stories of individuals who have been positively impacted by their programs, nonprofits can evoke empathy and emotional engagement from their audience. These stories humanize abstract issues, making them more relatable and urgent, which helps to mobilize support, attract donations, and encourage volunteerism. For example, a nonprofit focusing on food insecurity might share the story of a single mother overcoming challenges to provide nutritious meals for her children, illustrating the direct impact of donations and advocacy efforts. Through powerful storytelling, nonprofits can effectively communicate their mission, demonstrate the tangible results of their work, and inspire collective action towards social change.
What Are Genres?
What’s your favorite type of movie? What kind of music do you listen to?
Genre refers to a category of artistic composition. Think action movies with high-energy stunts like The Fast and the Furious, or romantic comedies, which blend romance and humor like When Harry Met Sally. In music, genres include rock, jazz, hip-hop, country, and dozens more.
In writing, genres range from fiction (imagined, invented) to nonfiction (factual, informative). Genres provide consistent elements that both the artist and audience can expect from the experience. For example, what kind of elements do you expect in a story from horror author Stephen King?
What Genres Will We Use?
For this project, we will be using two genres:
Real-World Fiction
Real-world fiction is a genre that blends fiction with nonfiction. It takes factual information and real-world events and applies fictional storytelling techniques. This approach involves creating a fictional narrative centered around a character based on a real person (or group of people), allowing readers to engage with the story on a personal level while also learning about actual issues and evidence. By embedding real-world situations and data within a fictional framework, this genre makes complex topics more accessible and relatable.
How Real-World Fiction Works
Real-world fiction leverages the power of storytelling to convey real events and evidence through the experiences of fictional characters. This genre can effectively integrate evidence by weaving facts, statistics, and real-world scenarios into the narrative, thus grounding the story in reality. The central character’s journey and decisions dramatize these elements, making the abstract concrete and the impersonal personal.
Example of Real-World Fiction
You turn the key to let yourself into your trailer, the metal door creaking as it opens. The air inside is warm and still, and the sound of traffic makes its way through the thin walls. This is the daily reality in a food desert, which is an area without access to affordable, nutritious food. According to ABC News, Arizona has 55 food deserts.
The narrative centers around Mary, a fictional character who is based on real people facing food insecurity. The piece of evidence integrated into the story from the Pew Research Center grounds the narrative in reality, providing a factual basis for Mary’s struggles. By weaving these nonfiction elements into Mary’s personal journey, the narrative becomes more engaging and relatable, highlighting the human aspect of broader social issues.
Choose Your Own Adventure (CYOA)
The Choose Your Own Adventure (CYOA) genre is a form of interactive fiction where readers make choices that determine the direction and outcome of the story. Each decision leads to different plot paths and endings, creating a personalized reading experience. This genre engages readers by allowing them to step into the protagonist’s shoes and influence the narrative’s progression.
Why CYOA is Ideal for Real-World Fiction
CYOA is an excellent genre for real-world fiction because it immerses readers in the narrative and makes complex issues more relatable and immediate. By giving readers the power to make choices, CYOA stories can effectively dramatize real-world situations, allowing readers to explore the consequences of different actions. This interactive format not only educates but also engages readers on a deeper emotional level, making the information more impactful.
Example of CYOA
You sigh, staring down the aisles of processed food in the Circle K across the street from your apartment. It’s Tuesday, and your SNAP benefits won’t renew until next Monday. According to the Pew Research Center, approximately 80% of SNAP recipients run out of benefits before the end of the month.
Choice A
You decide to buy two slices of pizza for Elijah so he can eat well tonight. However, tomorrow you’ll have to figure out where to get the next meal.
Choice B
You decide to buy three cans of black beans and somehow make them last for a week.
In this example, the CYOA format allows readers to step into Mary’s life and make decisions based on real-world constraints. Each choice leads to different outcomes, illustrating the complexities and consequences of living in a food desert. This interactive storytelling approach makes the issues more tangible and immediate for readers, fostering a deeper understanding and empathy.
CYOA Format
In choose-your-own-adventure stories, second person point of view (“you”) is used to place the reader in the role of the character. This scene also uses present tense to create a sense of immediacy and engagement, making the reader feel as if they are experiencing the events alongside the character.
Check Your Understanding
The following quiz is graded.
You can retake the quiz as many times as you’d like, but your average score from all attempts will be recorded in the gradebook, so each attempt can help improve your overall performance. For example, if you take the quiz three times and score 3/10, 7/10, and 10/10, your final recorded score will be the average of these attempts: (3 + 7 + 10) ÷ 3 = 6.7/10.
Instructions:
Read each example below and identify which narrative tool is being used: Action, Dialogue, Description, Interior Monologue, or Exposition. Select the correct option for each example.
What’s the Difference?
Showing vs. telling is the difference between having an engaging story and one that bores the reader.
| Definition | Example | |
| Telling | Telling involves directly stating facts, emotions, or actions to the reader. Sure, every story needs some telling, especially when communicating basic information like a character’s backstory. | You are angry. |
| Showing | Showing, on the other hand, uses vivid description, action, and dialogue to allow the reader to infer and visualize. | You clench your fists, feeling your face turning red. |
Techniques for Showing
Use Sensory Details
Engage the reader’s senses by describing what characters see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. Instead of telling us You didn’t have enough to eat, show us: The pantry shelves sit nearly empty, save for a dented can of beans and a half-full bag of rice. The hum of the refrigerator echoes in the quiet kitchen, its cool air brushing against her bare arms as she reaches inside. The stale scent of old bread lingers in the air, and her stomach aches with a familiar, hollow hunger.
Depict Actions
Instead of telling us You’re anxious about money, show us:
You rub the corner of your sleeve between your fingers, scanning the grocery receipt for the third time. Your foot taps against the cracked tile floor, and you keep checking the total in your banking app, hoping it somehow changes.
Use Dialogue
Use characters’ spoken words to reveal their thoughts, feelings, and relationship with others. Instead of telling us You’re worried about feeding your family, show us:
“We can stretch the rice for one more night,” you say, trying to sound reassuring. “I’ll figure something out for tomorrow.” But your voice trembles just enough for your son to look up from his homework.
Describe the Environment
Set the scene by detailing the surroundings to create an atmosphere and context. Instead of telling us You live in a food desert, show us:
The corner store glows under flickering lights, stocked with chips, soda, and canned soup. The air smells faintly of grease and old mop water. No produce section. No fresh bread. Just aisles of processed food and a freezer humming in the back.
Check Your Understanding
The following quiz is graded.
You can retake the quiz as many times as you’d like, but your average score from all attempts will be recorded in the gradebook, so each attempt can help improve your overall performance. For example, if you take the quiz three times and score 3/10, 7/10, and 10/10, your final recorded score will be the average of these attempts: (3 + 7 + 10) ÷ 3 = 6.7/10.
Instructions:
Read each example below and identify whether the sentence “shows” or “tells.” Select the correct option for each example.
Mastering the five narrative tools—action, dialogue, description, interior monologue, and exposition—allows you to create rich, engaging stories that captivate your readers. Each tool serves a unique purpose and, when used effectively, can bring your narrative to life.
Key Takeaways
What are the key takeaways from this lesson?
Chapter Quiz
The following quiz is graded.
You can retake the quiz as many times as you’d like, but your average score from all attempts will be recorded in the gradebook, so each attempt can help improve your overall performance. For example, if you take the quiz three times and score 3/10, 7/10, and 10/10, your final recorded score will be the average of these attempts: (3 + 7 + 10) ÷ 3 = 6.7/10.
Present tense in stories refers to narrating events as if they are happening right now.