Storytelling

I am part of the team that co-ordinates the Darlington Arts Festival (more at www.darlingtonforculture.org), part of which involves working with storytellers.
For all storytelling can be a different art form, more performance that writing, there are, of course, a great many affinities with the writing of fiction.
There is the creation of characters and places, of pace and tension, of evoking strong emotions in the reader/listener, of leaving people changed even if only in a small way. Both a storyteller and an author would regard that as job done.
I tried my hand at storytelling a few years ago. I was a real novice and relied on notes the first time I did it. The kids were ok but I felt it lacked something so I threw away the piece of paper and next time just winged it and let the stories tell themselves. It was a liberating experience. Mind, I was never asked back!
John Dean