Storytelling - the Ultimate in Self Preservation
What is a story ?
A story or narrative is a connected series of events told through words, in the case of a book, written words. Stories can be told about anything, and the events can be real or imaginary, fiction or non fiction and cover every topic, genre or style imaginable. All things and all times, past, present and future can be described and explained in stories and are therefore of great value to humans and some of the oldest, most important aspects of life. Stories are how we learn about each other, our past, and our cultures. Whether they are created for entertainment or to recount a real-life event—new stories are literally being lived, told, and created every second of every day.
History of storytelling
As modern humans, we have the convenience of information available at our finger tips, and often take for granted a time when communication and access to knowledge was not instantaneous. Knowledge of history, medicine and food resources and technology was once proudly guarded information and the property of only the privileged few. Humans may have been telling stories before language and writing but the inception of these led to an explosion in culture. Societies pre-civilisation, held record keeping as an important task and their cultural knowledge and history was regarded as highly as collecting food. The sharing of the collective history of their people therefore, increased the chances of survival of their children, their people and their culture as a whole and storytelling was the ultimate form of self preservation.
Why are people drawn to stories ?
One reason may be that it helps us to feel in control by finding order and meaning in things that have happened to us and try to make sense of the events of a seemingly random world.
We can see and understand how people feel and think and empathise with those around us. Information can be shared in a memorable way, rather than merely stating the facts and so details are remembered more clearly. The more compelling the story, the more empathetic people become in real life. Regardless of the reasons, stories are everywhere and much of our life is devoted to telling others what we did, where we went and who we spent time with. Fictional characters are almost always based on real people, or pieces of a number of people the writer has known and imagined.
Why writers write short stories
"Writer" is a very broad term as there are numerous genres that any one person may write in.
The heading of this paragraph is also clearly not at all objective, so the question I ought to answer here is "Why do I write short stories ?", as I can only speak for myself. There is much advice, suggestion and speculation around the question though and it seems that overall, short stories are written for similar reasons by many. An experienced novelist may find writing a short story a daunting task due to the restrictions on how much space you have to tell the story. However, the opposite is also true, certainly in my case, in that 'the curse' of most writers is having abandoned, half finished projects which taunt you from the edges of your mind every time you begin something new. It feels chaotic to keep returning to pieces to complete them, only to abandon them again, as a new idea is pressing and urging you to write it down. This is, for me, usual with longer pieces such as a novel. A short story keeps me focussed on the draft in my head and is completed in a relatively short space of time and can be revised and edited accordingly. It also shows that in a few thousand words, all the elements of fiction can be introduced - setting, plot, characters, prose, dialogue and many more.
"People Watching" is a collection of short stories ,and flash fiction which is characterised by being very short and typically of only a few hundred words.
Some of these included in this book were written from a 'prompt' of a word, sentence, photo or first line. Others came to me in a 'flash' of creativity from something mundane or ordinary, or something unique or amazing, which I felt needed to be expressed.
Coming very soon - I hope you enjoy the book.
learned behavior of people, including their languages, belief systems, social structures, institutions, and material goods.
understanding the thoughts, feelings, and attitudes of others.
performance or material produced to interest and amuse.
traditional short story that usually has a moral lesson.
use of visual, literary, auditory, or other creative media to educate, inform, entertaining, or inspire an audience to take actio
Comments
A very sad tale regarding this poor families history. Thank you for posting the information.
Vicky Arnall
Thank you Vicky for your comment - and apologies for the very late reply !
I don't know if you know but I run Remembering Maltby Facebook group and you will find more information on there too. I will check the page to see if you are a member or if I can invite you.