The Art of Storytelling: “The truth never stands in the way of a good story.”

Storytelling itself is an ancient art. It’s a way we as humans communicate. It can help us understand/learn, see a different perspective, and give us pleasure amongst many other outcomes. Stories aren’t always truthful as was presented in this week’s reading on Explaining Magic from Tufte’s Visual Explanations. Tufte quotes Jan Harold Brunvand whom suggests “the truth never stands in the way of a good story.”

This idea in storytelling can also be exemplified in the stories young children tell. Children tend to have active imaginations where they invent stories, which they usually can’t wait to tell their parents and anyone else who would listen. At the same time as children are coming up with these fantastical stories they are often discouraged from telling lies and making up stories. Children learn quickly that lying and making up stories is highly frowned upon in our society. Imaginations are replaced by the reality of truths, which tends to not be as happy or exciting
The desire to embellish stories seems to make sense because reality tends to be unattractive while the prospect of an alternative reality can bring excitement. It should be obvious that storytelling does not require complete honesty. However, honesty is considered to be a virtue included in our daily lives. Some types of storytelling it is unethical to be untruthful. Although, some companies use misinformation in design to further their goals without regard to ethics (i.e. cigarette warnings). These fictions/lies/misinformation is driven by a desire to urge you to do or feel something.

According to McKee (2003), “Good storytelling displays the struggle between expectation and reality in all its nastiness. The great irony of existence is that what makes life worth living does not come from the rosy side. We would all rather be lotus eaters, but life does not allow it. The energy to live comes from the dark side. It comes from everything that makes us suffer. As we struggle against these negative powers, we’re forced to live more deeply.”

As a storyteller, you must flawlessly weave together a lot of information. The idea is to arouse the listener’s emotions and energy. The best kind of story is one that is compelling (McKee 2003). A little bit of truth is necessary to make a story believable while giving those experiencing the tale an opportunity to form meaningful connections. Thus, the best fictions will always have some sort of (underlying or universal) truth. This idea of some truth being in fiction is supported by American author, Stephen King, who said, “fiction is the truth inside the lie.”

Jung (1916, 1959) suggests that there are certain archetypal forces represented in the stories we tell influencing all humans. Woodside and Megehee (2010) created the below table of the different archetypes. (For a better )

In conclusion, the important take away is to remember we are all storytellers who have a choice and control in the way we tell our stories.