The Essentials of Storytelling

Telling stories is human nature. For as long as there have been humans, we’ve been telling stories. We created pictograms on cave walls, shared oral stories, wrote novels and plays and movies, created songs and dances. In the 21st century, we brought our storytelling online to share with the world. We wrote blogs and Facebook posts and Tweets, created YouTube videos and Vines and TikToks.

Each of these stories are unique and different. They’re aimed at different audiences and created in different mediums and shared in different formats. But despite all the differences, all stories share the same basic principles. So no matter if you’re writing a Twitter thread or the next best-selling novel or blockbuster movie, keep these 5 storytelling essentials in mind:

1. Setting – where and when
2. Characters – who
3. Plot – what
4. Conflict – what and why
5. Narrative arc – how