Philosophy of Storytelling

Stories are told for many reasons. They are told to entertain, to teach lessons, to express emotions, or simply to spread information. A story is a documentation of some event, either real or fictional. The purpose of telling a story is to create an experience for the audience. The author might be trying to share one of their personal experiences with the audience, or they may be trying to make the audience experience a new fictional story. Story telling is difficult to do accurately. A story will have one meaning to the author, but the audience can find an entirely different meaning. The author will usually try to help the audience understand or relate to their story using descriptive language and emotion. Although sometimes the story is told in a way to leave the audience confused. When telling stories, I usually want my audience to get an accurate interpretation of the story. However, when I hear a story, I like to imagine my own version and I often dismiss some details if they conflict with my interpretation. Stories are told from a perspective, which is often limited. A personal story may be difficult to describe in both a way that feels correct and still portrays the intended message. Through retelling a real life story, the author might change or leave out some details. While this may make it not completely accurate, it may increase the impact and better portray any underlying themes. Even with fictional stories, the audience only has the author’s words, and must fill in the gaps themselves to get a complete understanding.