Storytelling

Anyone who has tried to write knows that storytelling is an art, just as making music or painting a portrait, and we admire it when it is well done. When it is well done, we are often astonished by its appearance of simplicity, says John Leggett, author of Storytelling. Leggett, a former editor who for 17 years was director of the prestigious Iowa Writers' Workshop, says "e;It looks so easy that we feel we can do it equally well ourselves. It is only when we do, that we discover how even the simplest tale offers a gallery of opportunities for getting it wrong. A badly told story spreads boredom, or pain, just as surely as sour notes from a violin."e;In this guide, Leggett builds a case and gives guidelines for telling stories that keeps readers interested, providing insights into character, plot, point of view, voice, theme, scene and "e;the big story."e; Says Leggett, "e;A storyteller's struggle with a character, a motivation, a situation, a bit of scenery, a line of dialogue takes place in the crucible of language, and a writer's growth demands an ever-greater facility with that language. It follows that he or she who engages in such struggle on a regular basis, comes that much closer to moving mountains and working other worthwhile miracles."e; This small guide helps writers on that journey.