Rebecca's Revised Philosophy of Storytelling

Like any message, stories can inform, entertain, or persuade and include elements of logos, ethos, and pathos. The telling of the story depends on the desired effect, feeling, or takeaway. I used to think of a “story” as a children’s book with a clear beginning, middle, and end that all connected and had a narrative arc. Storytelling can involve much more than the straight-forward sequences of events. I now think of stories as a collection of events, ideas, or descriptions. In this class, it has been interesting to see the progression of stories that built images, sound, videos, and effect into the original written story. Thinking about a story in a video project provides many more opportunities to communicate the story more specifically and more nuanced. Each physical element of storytelling is important in the overall impression, and the creator’s decisions in composition impacts the story. We all know people who are good storytellers and others who are not. Each person will have a unique approach and sequence of decisions they make in telling a story. Content on its own may not seem like a “story,” but if it the content is composed well in a collection then it takes on its own life through the telling. For me, there is a blurred line between reporting and storytelling sometimes. A story doesn’t necessarily need to be something entertaining or emotionally impactful; a story can be a sequence of events, but good stories incorporate more and bring things to life by composition.