How to tell a good story

Whether it's the book you read, the song or the joke you hear or the movie you watch, your experience will be the direct result of quality of the story told and how it's been told.

Quite by accident, I fell on a good article written by Aimée Lutkin, on what makes a good story and wanted to share it with you.

She starts by underlining the difference between knowing a story “by heart” instead of just memorizing it. That is, you must feel it deeply and it has to be part of your emotional fabric, not be a mere recitation, to connect with your audience.

Next your story need to grab people's attention with a strong opener that tell them it's worth following, I guess, and that it's important to you or I would say, to the audience.

Of course, keep it a concise as possible by refraining from making a “short story long” just to fill up space, and do your best to be as clear as possible.

Adding some dialogue into a story is a good way to give more texture and liveliness to the story, just like by quoting: “And then Charlies said... etc.”

Also, make sure the end or the conclusion of your story delivers the punch that your audience deserve. Don't make the story fizzle-out with a weak or watered-down ending.

 A strong ending will make your story something your audience will remember it (or yourself for that matter) a much longer time.

Finally, get out, live you life and experience as much as you can; in the process, you'll be able to uncover an endless supply of great stories!