Friday, September 24, 2010

Spoken word as art

For those of you wondering about the "definition" of storytelling, as defined by a culture entrenched in the digital age of the internet, instant gratification and YouTube, I give you the official Wikipedia (internet encyclopedia) definition of storytelling:

"the conveying of events in words, images and sounds, often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and in order to instill moral values. Crucial elements of stories and storytelling include plot, characters and narrative point of view..."

To read the remainder of the article, click here.

It's a pretty good article, and is the jumping off point for several other articles (scroll to the bottom of the entry) related to story craft - I recommend reading it.

(As an aside, Wikipedia links to "related" articles indefinitely - be wary, or your few minutes of casual browsing could turn into all-consuming hours of twisty-turny meandering through the annals of...everything. You have been warned.)

Now that you've read the unofficial-official definition of storytelling - what's yours? Storytelling surely means something different to everyone, so why don't we share? Leave a comment in the comments section below about how you personally define storytelling :)

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