Awarding excellence in storytelling

I appreciate the Peabody Awards for achievements in electronic media because they have only one criterion: excellence. This means that the artistic expression of storytelling can be recognized and honored in a wonderful variety. Among the winners for 2011, I was thrilled to see Radiolab—one of my favorite podcasts—right up there with PBS docs and network TV dramas and even an ESPN series. Winners List

No browsing in this library

A library in which you can’t browse the stacks? At the new University of Chicago library, that’s considered state-of-the-art. At first I thought a library without row upon row of books to wander would be most terrible. But then I realized that I do the majority of my own browsing online these days. I’m not sure when my habits shifted. Do you still like to browse without a computer? Link to print article

“We’re Maybe in the 1940’s Now”

Last week I posted a link to a story about a proposed Australian law that would require gamers to program significant storytelling elements into their games. Here, Dan Ackerman theorizes on why, even though the technology is available, sophisticated and effective storytelling isn’t a run-of-the-mill component of gaming—yet.

Credit: Rockstar Games

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10 Tips for Storyteller-Photographers

Photographer: Alfred Eisenstaedt
Source: wikipedia.org

I love the idea that a painting (such as these by Dutch painter Gabrielle Metsu) or a photograph can tell a story. Thousands of words (unless your name is Reuben) within the boundaries of a single frame. Here are a few tips from Scott Bourne on how to create story-laden images.

Every Story Needs an Action-Idea

photo credit

Not just action, but an action-idea, a driving force that propels the characters and events through a story arc. Ted Dekker calls this “a through line.” I call it “a true arrow” that flies through the target zone of every creative choice. Hanson Hosein, author of Storyteller Uprising: Trust and Persuasion in the Digital Age, explains the principle here in such a helpful way that it helped me to get my current work-in-progress back on track: Storyteller Uprising

Good News, Bad News, Good News

In a week of numbers that don’t always seem logical: Amazon is now selling more e-books than print books (105 units of e-copies for every 100 units of physical copies). And the sale of fiction is down (by 3%). But the total volume of physical book titles published is up (and fiction is still a leading category). Thank you, print-on-demand technology! And finally, it appears—perhaps in a foreshadowing of publishing models to come—that e-book sales might be driving print sales. I’ll take Good News for $100, please.

Monday Fun

Periodic Table of Storytelling

Finally, a periodic table that I can understand! I did pass my Physics for Poets class in college, but let’s just say that science isn’t my strong suit. My favorite category is the “Story Modifiers.” (See Aws and Ang.) Sensitive souls, please be forewarned that a few of the elements fall into what my editorial colleagues call “the sphere of questionable language,” or LaQ, perhaps.