In my Art of Storytelling classes at Glendale Community College, we are about to tell Fact-Based stories. At first look, this genre seems to be one of the more difficult ones for students (and some seasoned tellers) to get their heads around. The trick here is, how does one make this story more than just a "report" or a mere "list of events"? One of the best ways to do this is to change the POV to first person.

I've written about "point of view" before. Here's a bit more about the first person POV.

In a biographical story, one could choose to tell from the point of view of the central character; be Ben Franklin, Einstein, Edison, Tesla. Another way is to choose some other character in the story to tell from their POV. Tell from the POV of the Parent, Lover, Partner or Teacher of the central character. Tell the events of a historical story from the point of view of a, seemingly uninterested, bystander or observer of the incidents. Perhaps the Butler, Carpenter or even the pet belonging to one of the characters.

A few semesters ago, one student told the story of the Twin Towers in Manhattan, but not about the attack. He told the story of how the Towers were built, from the POV of a steelworker that had helped to build the towers. He told of his pride in building the towers and at the end, his sadness at their destruction. It was brilliant. 

Another student told the story of Mark "Marky-Mark" Wahlberg...from the point of view of his Mother. This was a great choice. We hear of his turbulent youth and how he went to jail, as his mother lovingly said those ubiquitous words, "But he's really a good boy!" This showed us not only the "events" of his life, but his mother's struggle to deal with his self-destructive behavior, and eventually her pride and love at his success as an actor.

A gifted student told from "second person". He told from the POV of a close friend, attending the funeral of the "main" character. He was talking to his deceased friend, "Johnny" and told of the good times and difficult times they had together. It was heartfelt, emotional and very compelling!

And recently, a student told the story of Persephone from first person. It was filled with emotion. She really showed her feelings being torn apart between loving her mother and loving Hades. The level of intensity could not have been reached by telling from the POV of the Narrator.

Telling from the first person can lend a creative element to the story and bring the audience closer in to the experience. Especially in a case where they may not relate to the main character, they may be able to relate to the character telling the story. Try it and see. Who else might be in the story that would "tell" it from an interesting point of view?

Addendum to this tip - 

When I re-post a tip from an earlier issue, I worry somtimes that folks will say/think, "Oh yeah, I read that before. So how about a NEW tip?" That was before I got this message from Tom Tjarks in Colorado. Obviously, he wasn't a subscriber when the tip was originally posted:

I read your newsletter every week.  The tips are great.

 

I have been wanting to tell history stories but couldn't get them above being a report for school.  This week's Tips explained how to do this.  My favorite example of using someone else to tell the story is "Ben and Me".  I look at that story in a new way now.  I will use the suggestions in this week's newsletter to develop some history stories.  There are many good true stories waiting to be told.

 

Thank you