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50 59 Storytelling Ideas

Here are some storytelling ideas for you to experiment with, plus some examples to look at. The examples provided below are to Storybook projects - but you can use these same ideas when you write your storytelling blog posts for the class,  too!

Think about WHO is telling the story:

• Choose an inanimate object to be your storyteller. Inanimate objects make weird but good witnesses of the events going on around them! Here are some examples.
• Even a plant can be your narrator. Plants exist in a mysterious world between the animate and the inanimate, which makes them good storytellers. Here are some examples.
• Animals as storytellers. If your source story is about animals, why not use animals as the storytellers...? Here are some examples.
• Stories told by the gods. You can choose to have a god or goddess as your storyteller! Here are some examples.
• Choose an elder storyteller. It is often the tradition for stories to be passed down by the elders of a community. Here are some examples.
• A guru or teacher tells the story. It's natural for gurus and teachers to tell stories of wisdom. Here are some examples.
• First-person narration by one of the main characters. You can choose to have one of the main characters in the story tell the story from their point of view. Here are some examples.
• Choose a minor character as your storyteller. A story can look really different when it is told by someone who is not the main character in the story. Here are some examples.
• This is Your Life. In a variation on the "minor character" strategy, you can assemble a group of characters who each provide their own story about the main character. Here are some examples.
• Scheherazade and other famous storytellers. One of the most famous storytellers in all the world is Scheherazade. What other stories do you think she told the sultan? You can choose any famous storyteller (Scheherazade, Odysseus, Sindbad, etc.) and give them new stories to tell. Here are some examples.
• Dialogue. You can tell a whole story in the form of back-and-forth dialogue between the characters. Here are some examples.

You can think about WHERE the stories are being told: what is the storytelling occasion?

• Campfire tales. The campfire is another place where people like to tell stories. Here are some examples.
• Bedtime stories. Bedtime is a great storytelling occasion if the audience for your stories is young children. Here are some examples.
• Use a bar as your storytelling scene. At a bar, the patrons and/or the bartender can share their stories very naturally. Here are some examples.
• Use a beauty parlor as your storytelling scene. For a more feminine alternative to the bar setting, why not try using a beauty parlor as the storytelling scene? Here are some examples.
• Set your stories at a festival or celebration. Fesitvals and celebrations are natural occasions for storytelling! Here are some examples.
• Battlefield. A battlefield - either before the battle, or after the battle - can be a dramatic storytelling scene. Here are some examples.
• Characters trapped together. You can create a dramatic storytelling situation if your characters are trapped together for some reason. Here are some examples.
• Characters out on date. It's easy to imagine people (or gods) on a date telling stories to each other. Here are some examples.
• Parties and other gatherings. When you bring people together in a social setting, that can be a good occasion for storytelling. Here are some examples.
• Stories and food. Telling stories is natural at a dinner table or other dining scene. So make food part of the story, and you can even include a recipe, too! Here are some examples.
• Public speaking. Giving speeches - inspiration speeches, campaign speeches, etc. - is a great way to tell a story. Here are some examples.
• Use a school setting. There are all kinds of ways that stories can become part of a school setting! Here are some examples.
• Use a college setting. You might also choose to use a college setting for your stories. Here are some examples.
• Use the therapist's office as your storytelling scene. The patient can share stories with the therapist and/or the therapist can tell stories to the patient to help them in their healing. Here are some examples.
• Try group therapy. In addition to a one-on-one session between therapist and patient, you can also use a group therapy setting to increase the variety of interaction among the characters. Here are some examples.
• Put someone on trial. The courtroom setting is full of dramatic possibilities, with conflicting sides for every story. Here are some examples.
• Investigation. You can also tell your story in the form of a criminal case, or some other mystery to be solved. Here are some examples.
• Stories in competition. You can create situations where characters tell stories as part of a competition or contest. Here are some examples.
• Journey. While on a journey, the travelers can tell stories to each other (like Canterbury Tales) - or the journey itself can be the story, with each story being a stage of the journey. Here are some examples.
• Tourism and tour guides. A tour guide or travel agent can be a great storyteller! Here are some examples.
• Deathbed. You can let a character look back on his life at the moment of his death, telling stories on his deathbed. Here are some examples.
• Afterlife. Another great way to tell stories is to use the afterlife as a setting, with characters able to look back on their lives. Here are some examples.
• Dream visions. You can tell your stories in the form of dreams or waking visions or mysterious visits from divine beings in the night. Here are some examples.

Think about the MEDIUM: are the stories in a book? a diary? letters? in a newspaper? on television?

• The found book. The story you tell can come from a book that unexpectedly ends up in someone's hands. Here are some examples.
• The magical found book. Maybe the found book has magical properties! Here are some examples.
• Other found objects. There are all kinds of "found objects" that can be an occasion for storytelling. Here are some examples.
• Diary style. You can use the diary format to tell a story from the limited point of view of a single character. Here are some examples.
• Letter-writing. You can use letters to tell a story - either in the form of a single letter, or a back-and-forth exchange of letters between two characters.. Here are some examples.
• Video games. It can be fun to imagine how a story could be turned into a video game! Here are some examples.
• Newspaper Interview. The interview as published in a newspaper or magazine is a great way to explore a story as the interview asks questions to draw out details. Here are some examples.
• Breaking news. You can also tell stories in the form of newspaper reports, combining eyewitness reports, expert testimony and analysis by the reporter. Here are some examples.
• Gossip column. You can turn stories into the subject of a gossip column! Here are some examples.
• Documentary. Like newspaper reporting, the documentary format allows you to combine interviews with other story narration. Here are some examples.
• Television Interview. The interview format also works great on television. Here are some examples.
• Adapt a television show: Oprah. For some feel-good television moments, you can have guests tell their story on Oprah. Here are some examples.
• Adapt a television show: Martha Stewart. For a different slant on the television format, try Martha Stewart. Here are some examples.
• Adapt a television show: Jerry Springer. For some on-screen scandal, you can write your story as an episode of the Jerry Springer show. Here are some examples.
• Adapt a television show: Mythbusters. If you are telling a mythical story, why not tell it as an episode of Mythbusters...? Here are some examples.
• Adapt a television show: Cribs. You can use the television format "Cribs" to introduce us to where the characters live. Here are some examples.
• Adapt a television show: Dating Game. You can use the "Dating Game" format to retell a story with a strong love element. Here are some examples.
• Add a storyteller to a television show. You can take a television show and add in a character who is a storyteller, who tells stories to the television show characters. Here are some examples.

You can experiment with the CONTENT and STYLE of the story:

• Prequel. You can narrate the part of the story that happens before the main events, explaining how things got to be the way that they are. Just what was Goldilocks doing out there alone in the woods, before she stumbled across the house of the Three  Bears...?
• Backstory: childhood. You can focus in on the youthful adventures of an adult character. Here are some examples.
• Sequel. You can write a sequel to the story: did Cinderella and Prince Charming really live happily ever after...?
• Modernization. It can be a lot of fun to take an ancient, traditional story and put it into a complete modern setting. Here are some examples.
• Cultural detail. You can enrich a story by adding in lots of cultural detail. Here are some examples.
• High-style diction. You might choose to tell your story with very high-style, epic diction. Here are some examples.
• Dialect. You might choose to write your story in some dialect or colloquial style. Here are some examples.