A storyteller is someone who both provides information and withholds it, dancing with the reader (or listener) until they're desperate to know how it all ends.
There's a difference between a writer and a storyteller.
I have read masterful strings of words and turns of phrasing that did not compel me to continue reading. I have read writing that was less than stellar, but it didn't matter because I was so engrossed in the story and what was happening that I barely noticed the words on the page.
Can good writing be taught? Sure.
Can good storytelling? Perhaps. But storytelling is more about feeling than structures and rules.
It's the difference between sitting through a driver's ed class and getting behind the wheel of a Ferrari on a road course.
But don't take my word for it.
As I was editing this post, Robert McKee tweeted this out:
Story is far too rich in mystery, complexity and flexibility to be reduced to a formula. Only a fool would try. #writingtips #amwriting— Robert McKee (@McKeeStory) March 9, 2020
~Katie~
