EQ #1 - the master storyteller

so r and i spoke at length last night. i asked him the first essential question of writing that popped into my head. lately i've seen references to "master storytellers." i just finished reading bebe moore campbell's final book 72 Hour Hold and she was heralded as "a writer at the top of her form as a storyteller...". i think the book is beautifully written, and tells an interesting story. but i'm not sure it was "masterful storytelling." i was intrigued. i wondered. i pondered.

i asked: "what makes one a master storyteller?" in the dialogue that followed we spoke of great contemporary literature, plays and movies. we dicussed the differences between great writers (toni morrison) and great storytellers (pearl cleage, james patterson); the difference between a great story (dan haskins leads texas western to a national championship with the first all black starting line up) and how it can fall short in the telling (glory road); the role of subplot in strengthening (or dampening) the plot.

it was an interesting conversation i think. i came away with a few things to chew on. mainly the importance of character and character motivation. the truly great storytellers have characters we miss or think about once the story has ended. we know them. we love them, including all their faults and thorns. we are inside of them. we are them. it's their lives we're reading about or experiencing and we've been invited inside. the great writers wordsmith, but the storytellers make us care. it's interesting. yes, you can be a master storyteller who is also a great writer. or you could be one or the other. you could also simply be fair at either. or sadly, you could be poor at both (and still be successful, and that sucks!). authors in this last category shall remain nameless. for now.

what makes one a master storyteller?