Lessons from Kate's storytelling training:

 

Stuff you should remember from the storytelling workshop:

  1. A story follows the journey of someone who wants something badly and is having difficulty getting it.

  2. A character having a problem creates sympathy. A character seeking a solution creates empathy.

  3. Stakes = HOPE vs. FEAR. The more specific, the better -- we have to know what we're hoping and fearing in order to care what happens.

Stuff you might ask yourself when framing a story:

  1. Does somebody want something badly and have difficulty getting it?

  2. What are the stakes? What are we hoping and fearing?

  3. What are the obstacles? Will a campaign help overcome them?

Stuff you might ask yourself when thinking about who should be the protagonist of your story (or how to frame a candidate/individual):

  1. Does this individual want something badly?

    1. Is she having difficulty getting it?

    2. What are the stakes for this person? What will happen if she doesn't win?

    3. What do we hope for this person? What do we fear? BE SPECIFIC!

  2. Interest -- Is this person interesting? What makes this person uniquely compelling?

  3. Sympathy -- What problem does this person have? Is it clear to us how she feels about this problem and why?

  4. Empathy -- What is this person doing to change her situation? How can we feel connected to this person's journey?

Stuff you might consider if your story is part of an ongoing campaign, and it’s stalling:

  1. Could the stakes change from the beginning to the end of the campaign?

  2. What are natural escalations in the story of this campaign?

  3. If you overcome one obstacle, are there still others that need to be overcome?

  4. What could happen that could make it even more important to win this campaign?

If you need to get inspired: