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L yndsay Kno w le s
W rite r. Educato r. L o ve r o f co ffe e , go o d bo o ks, and sm art te le visio n.
F e b 19 7 m in re ad

F iv e F o rm s o f S to ry te llin g
A n d so m e id e a s to in sp ire y o u r w ritin g

If you are like me, you love a good story. And as a writer, hearing from fellow storytellers
is inspiring.

Books are wonderful. I am an avid reader and hoarder of novels. I lug my books around
with me in a growing number of boxes each time I move (no Kindle or Nook for me,
thanks), and I have a longand also growinglist of books on my to-read list.

But I do enjoy other forms of storytelling.

One of the most fascinating parts of the internet for me is how many different ways
stories are being told and sharedthrough photographs, short posts, letters, interviews,
audio recordings, presentations, and other mediums. Stories are everywhere, and many
storytellers are doing important work.

As a teacher, I used these varied forms of storytelling to engage my students. As a writer,

I look to these forms of storytelling for inspiration.

In the spirit of storytelling, writing, and opening ourselves to different lived experiences,
here are some of my favorite storytelling sources and some ideas to inspire a new story.

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 . . .
A s h le y G ilb e r t s o n S t o r ie s T o ld T h r o u g h P h o t o g r a p h s
I discovered Ashley Gilbertsons photography when I stumbled on The NY Times
Magazine feature piece The Shrine Down the Hall in 2010. The multimedia piece
displays Gilbertsons photographs, along with an article, essay, and interactive page.

When I found Gilbertsons photography, I had just started teaching. I wanted to show
my students how powerful images can behow a single photograph can tell a full story.
Gilbertson tells a story through each of his photographs, and he tells each story
beautifully.

To honor fallen soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, he visited the homes of the
soldiers to talk with their family members and photograph their bedrooms. Through the
pictures, posters, awards, mementos, and decor in the room, each photograph gives us a
glimpse of who the soldier was. The photographs pay tribute to their lives.

When I showed Gilbertsons work to my students, I asked each of them to select one of
his photographs and write what they learned about the soldier just by looking at the
picture of the bedroom. These photographs revealed a great deal about the people who
had lived in these rooms before serving in combat, and my students had plenty to write.

Since 2010, Gilbertson wrote and published a book about these photographs called
Bedrooms of the Fallen. He also developed several projects, including Uncertain
Journeysphotographs of refugees arriving in Lesvos, Greeceand 100% Wall Street
photographs of the financial crash in 2008 and the Occupy Wall Street movement in
2011.

Gilbertsons photographs tell a range of stories and reveal the wide variation of human
experiences.

Start Writing Find a photograph (any photograph) and write a story about what
you see.

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 . . .
D e a r P h o t o g r a p h S t o r ie s T o ld T h r o u g h P h o t o g r a p h s
an d L etters
Where we are from and where we have lived since childhoodthe settings of our lives
are central to our life stories. The places we occupy influence the people we meet, the
experiences we have, and the memories that we make.

The website Dear Photograph demonstrates the importance of setting and features
photographs posted with corresponding letters. The top of the homepage encourages
visitors to [t]ake a picture of a picture from the past in the present. (If that sounds
confusing, just visit the siteyoull see. But make sure you have extra time on your
hands to browse. Youve been warned.)

The letters are written to the photographs themselves. Each writer reflects on the
photograph within a photograph and the significance of that moment. While some of
the writers reflect on photos of events etched in our national memory for example,
this photograph taken on 9/11others reflect on photos of moments in their daily lives
like this photograph taken on the day the woman in the photo moved from Georgia to
St. Louis.

The combination of past and present existing together in one image creates an
opportunity for insightful reflection. Then and nowhow are the two related? Its a
question worth considering.

Start Writing Submit to Dear Photograph. Take a picture of a picture from the past
in the present, and write a letter to your photograph.

. . .
S t o r y C o r p s S t o r ie s T o ld T h r o u g h R e c o r d e d
C o n v e r s a t io n s
Sit two people down to have a conversation, and you just might get a great story.
StoryCorps is an oral history project that began in 2003 in Grand Central Terminal in
New York City. They had one story booth they used to conduct interviews and
encourage meaningful conversations between people. Those conversations were
recorded and are now preserved at the American Folklife Center at the Library of
Congress in Washingston, D.C.

Today, there are StoryCorps sites in Atlanta, Chicago, and San Francisco, along with a
mobile tour. They also have a StoryCorps app that guides you through the interview
process and allows you to record and upload your conversation. The organizations
mission is to preserve and share humanitys stories in order to build connections
between people and create a more just and compassionate world.
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between people and create a more just and compassionate world.

Through their website and archives, StoryCorps successfully shares humanitys

stories. In addition to their regular interviews and recorded conversations, the
organization developed several projects to highlight specific experiences. These projects
include The Justice Project, which features stories of people who have been affected by
mass incarceration, and StoryCorps Legacy, which features stories of people with
serious illnesses and their family members.

Start WritingDownload the StoryCorps app and find somebody who you would
love to have a conversation with. Upload your conversation and write about the
interview experience or turn your conversation into a story.

If you are feeling really motivated, submit a request to bring the StoryCorps Mobile
Tour to your city. Then write about your experience.

. . .
P r o je c t V O IC E S t o r ie s T o ld T h r o u g h P o e t r y a n d
Perfo rm an ce
If you have ever taught poetry, you know that getting students to appreciate poems can
sometimes be a challenge. Enter Sarah Kay, an accomplished poet, performer, and
educator, as well as the founder and co-director of Project VOICE. When I watched
Kays TEDx talk How Many Lives Can You Live? I knew I had found my angle in
presenting poetry to my studentspoems as captured moments of our human
experience.

In this talk, Kay performs one of her poems, which tells the story of her fatherwho is a
photographerand his experience of documenting moments in the world with his
camera. At the end of the poem, Kay compares her experience as a poet to her fathers
experience as a photographer and says, We have both learned the art of capture.

Father and daughter are capturing aspects of the human experienceone through a
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Father and daughter are capturing aspects of the human experienceone through a
camera lens and one through the written word. I encouraged my students to use this
analogy to help them get poetryand it worked.

From Kays TEDx talk, I was led to Project VOICE. This organization has six poets on its
teamincluding Kaywho perform their poetry and conduct educational workshops
for students and educators around the world. Their workshops give participants the
skills they need to perform poetry. The goal of each workshop is to encourage people to
engage with the world around them and use spoken word poetry as an instrument
through which they can explore and better understand their community, their society,
and ultimately themselves.

Project VOICEs use of poetry and performance to tell and share stories is powerful and
an effort worthy of note.

Start Writing Watch the Project VOICE poets perform their poetry. Then write a
poem that captures an aspect of the human experience.

. . .
T h is A m e r ic a n L if e S t o r ie s T o ld T h r o u g h R a d io
This American Life is a weekly radio broadcast. Each episode has a theme and tells
different stories related to that theme. The first episode of This American Life I ever
listened to was Episode 360: Switched at Birth. This episode tells the stories of Sue
and Marti, two women who were switched at birth, and their mothers, Kay and Mary. I
was teaching at the time and looking for a new resource to teach listening skills to my
students. What I found were some incredible stories.

On the About Us page of This American Lifes website, the description does not
communicate what the radio show is, but instead communicates what it isnt:

Were not a news show or a talk show or a call-in show. Were

not really formatted like other radio shows at all. Instead, we
do these stories that are like movies for radio. There are
people in dramatic situations. Things happen to them. There
are funny moments and emotional moments andhopefully
moments where the people in the story say interesting,
surprising things about it all. It has to be surprising. It has to
be fun.
The radio show covers a broad range of topics. The episode that aired this weekGrand
Gesturetells the stories of people who have gone to extreme measures to
demonstrate their feelings. The episode that aired last weekWhen the Beasts Come
Marching Intells the stories of what happens when the animal world and the human
world mix.

Living in a world inundated with images and screens, having the chance to sit and just

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listen to a story is refreshing and freeing.

Start Writing Pick an episode of This American Life and write a story related to
that episodes theme.

. . .
I am always on the lookout for new forms of storytelling and sources of
inspiration. What are your favorites? Please share! Include them in the
comments below.

. . .
The Writing Cooperative is a community of people helping each other write better.
Become a member to join our Slack team, get fresh eyes on your writing, and participate
in the 52-Week Writing Challenge!

Thanks to Jessica Jungton, Debra Lobel, and Karen Thompkins.

Storytelling Writing 52 Week Writing Challenge Inspiration Teaching

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