The art of story telling

As kids, we all have heard and enjoyed bedtime stories from our grandparents. Hearing stories seems a lost thing as we grow up. But I think it can be interesting at any age, if told captivatingly.

One of my aunts used to tell horror stories in such an interesting manner that it used to thrill us. Recently, when travelling in my car, just by chance I got to catch a programme called Mohabattein on 92.7Big FM (At home I generally don’t listen FM), hosted by RJ Pallavi. In this programme, she recites different love stories amidst beautiful old Hindi songs. I was surprised that how beautifully she narrated the story and how interesting it sounded.

My best friend once narrated me the story of two films, Dil Se and Gupt. She told it so convincingly that I did not find any need of watching those movies. I did watch them later and remembered every scene my friend narrated to me some years back.

Same thing applies for a novel. I have at least 8-9 unfinished novels on my bookshelf (Yes, there’s a problem. Although, I’m a voracious reader, it’s difficult for me to complete a novel that I find uninteresting). It’s not that I’ve bought them randomly. I read the blurb before buying and thought I was going to like it. But as the stories progressed (I tried them up to 60-70 pages) they failed to interest me and I put them back.

Recently, I finished two novels by Debbie Macomber (My Favorite author!) The Wyoming Brides (A compilation of two novels: Denim and Diamonds & The Wyoming Kid) and Glad Tidings (Compilation of two novels: There’s something about Christmas & Here comes trouble. So actually I’ve read four books). As usual I liked them especially Denim and Diamond and Here comes Trouble. I love the way Debbie Macomber tells her delightful stories and how beautifully she creates her characters (Especially male characters). Novels by Debbie Macomber are so delightful that they never fail to entertain me.

So, actually story telling is an art. A very simple story, if narrated beautifully, seems very interesting. And sometimes very unique story, not narrated well seems dull.