Building Story

It is a really exciting time for story writing and story tellers. With the advent of digital media more people are engaging in the creation of story. People are experimenting with production, form and distribution.

 

Digital formats at your fingertipsDigital storytelling creates a sense of immediacy and opportunities for self-expression, connectivity, interactivity and collaboration in real time – instantaneously. Storytellers can jump those middle steps of production and publication and move straight from story to audience. Now if you want, you can create, produce, publish and distribute your story with just your thumbs using just your phone and a Twitter account, without even getting out of bed!

 

Digital platforms allow storytellers to blend old story formats to create new ones, and to experiment with new mediums developing totally unique story formats. The short story pared down beyond flash fiction becomes mirco-fiction at 140 characters per Tweet or visual story on Pintrest. Serialised stories can be written and published with the click of a blogger’s publish button. Andrew Fitzgerald’s TED talk: Adventures in Twitter shows how authors are engaging with Twitter as a medium for new storytelling.

 

No longer is story controlled by organisations, publishing companies, film studios, TV and radio stations, etc. Now millions of people have the ability to create, publish, broadcast and connect with an audience of millions – factually, fictionally, annonymously – the boundaries are expanded and the possibility of blurring them is seemingly endless.

 

Audience feedback can be instantaneous and builds ample opportunity for collaboration. @AuthorBee is one Twitter tool creating opportunities to build this kind of audience engagement.

 

Storytelling is not just the realm of text and image in the traditional sense of print media. Multi-medium storytelling can include text, static and moving images, voice recordings, music – the boundaries are there to be played with. As are the digital platforms. Transmedia storytelling offers opportunities to tell stories across a number of digital platforms, creating immersive experiences for audiences. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries uses video diaries and social media to retell Pride and Prejudice.

 

Want to know more?

 

Photo credit: Platforms at your fingertips

 

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  1. Pingback: Building Story :: Shel Sweeney | Digital Storyt...

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