We are the storytellers: our days begin with “once upon a time” and end with “tell me a story.” We are descended from the folks who sat around the fires at night, describing the hunt for those who stayed behind.

Today, the storyteller’s role has evolved to tell us which laundry detergent to use or car to buy and how to choose a financial planner. The storyteller makes us laugh during the sitcom.

He persuades us by writing political speeches or she entertains us with a story about a woman who runs away from home. The storyteller’s job is to inform, educate, entertain, provoke and inspire.

Our tools are words. Whether the collection of words becomes a poem, TV commercial, novel or political speech, the storyteller uses many of the same techniques today as she or he did in 1400 BCE. 1. On your first draft, put the editor/censor/minister and OPP (other peoples’ opinions) in a closet and lock the door.
Don’t let them out! Write the story using the words that you want to use, the characters that work for you and the situations that you like. Get your ideas down on paper so that they breathe for you –then begin the revision process. You can’t write a story if you censor yourself or question a character or a point of view because a Puritan minister is leaning over your shoulder.

Tell him to get lost and write your story in your own way. Let him back in only if he serves your purposes and the story’s purposes, not his. 2. Make it plain.
The words can be witty, complicated and suitable for a doctoral dissertation but if the reader doesn’t understand the message, you’ve failed. The storyteller’s role is to communicate. Make sure that you use the most precise language that you can.

The simplest words can be the best ones. The second part of this rule is: Make sure that your reader can follow your story.

If you drop bread crumbs to show the way, the reader, like Hansel and Gretel, will get lost. Surprises and twists in a plot are great – but not if the reader has lost the thread of the story. No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. --Robert Frost 3. Make them feel it.
Use the words that make you cry or laugh, the words that make you squirm, want to put your fist through a wall or crawl under the covers. Use words that convey smell and texture, light and color.

The reader should experience the story. If you feel it when you write it, chances are, the reader will feel it, too.