While academics and soap writers believe the world only has seven grand narratives, this year’s London Storytelling Festival promises more plot variations in 10 days than EastEnders has given us in a decade. And since we all need stories to make sense of who we are, here’s some advice from the festival’s best acts – including Isy Suttie, pictured – on beginnings, middles and endings…
Tell a story, don’t read the news
“Open with a promise – an image that raises questions,” says festival founder Deborah Frances-White of improvisation school The Spontaneity Shop. “People frequently want to start with trouble but a disaster happening to someone we don’t know or care about is a news headline, not a story.” Identify the hero and if it’s you, dare to share emotionally. “You could be falling out of a hot air balloon, but if you’re flippant about it, we won’t care.” Finally: “Bring back an image from your opening. And when you’ve answered all the questions raised by your promise – leave!”
Believe in what you’re selling
“Whether your story is fact or fiction, if you tell it with utter conviction, people will buy into your enthusiasm,” says Sarah Bennetto, MC of cult comedy night Storytellers’ Club. “Don’t think you need to sex up (or dumb down) your content. A story becomes a good story in the telling; if you’re passionate, it’s infectious.” Take Dave Gorman’s breakthrough show, Are You Dave Gorman?, says Bennetto: “Who’d have thought we’d care how many Dave Gormans there are in the world? Yet audiences went wild for it.” Also remember the point you’re trying to make. “That’ll keep you on the straight and narrow.”
Keep your audience’s attention
“If the story’s surreal, have some realistic elements,” advises comedian Isy Suttie of Peep Show fame. “A unicorn in a Post Office is interesting. A unicorn in space is too much.” Atmosphere (and temperature) matters. “Make sure the room’s not too cold and it’s ideal if your audience isn’t lying on beanbags – or each other – as they’re more likely to fall asleep.” Suttie also recommends wearing a watch. “Don’t talk for longer than 45 minutes or they’ll be concentrating on bladder pain, thirst or what they’re going to have for their tea while you’re doing your ‘unicorn buying stamps’ bit.”
Take a reality check
Summer Camp’s Elizabeth Sankey offers the following cautionary tale: “I was sitting down to pen this note on how to write a good story when suddenly I realised, thanks to a brisk gust of wind, I was accidentally naked. Probably because I've dreamed about it happening so many times, when it happened in real life I thought nothing of it and decided the best thing to do was lean on the fact everybody dreams about being naked at some point and try to convince those around me they were asleep. I just sort of wandered around whispering ‘You’re asleep’ in their ears. I’m 98.7% sure it worked. Then a seal walked in wearing a bra and calling everybody Dave and I woke up and realised it was all a dream.” Sankey’s key to storytelling? “Make sure you’re awake.”
It’s not just about you
“We all want to hear stories about ourselves,” says Martin Dockery, storyteller and seven times Grandslam finalist at New York spoken word venue The Moth. “So if you want to tell a really good story, you’ve got to make it about the person who’s listening.” The plot points can be your own, Dockery says, but your story should describe the human condition in general. His last word on the subject: “You’re not just telling your own story, you’re telling everyone’s, every time.”
London Storytelling Festival is at Leicester Square Theatre from 1 to 10 October. Find out more.
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Image: Isy San by Diamond Geyser, available under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license.