Stop Telling Stories

A quick tutorial explaining why, despite popular opinion, storytelling and content are not in fact the same thing.

Transcript

1. STOP TELLING STORIES Why storytelling isn’t the answer to good content Wednesday, 26 October 2011
2. 1. It’s not an English lesson •Tone of voice •Language •Stories •Character •Audience •Points of view Wednesday, 26 October 2011
3. 1. It’s not an English lesson •Tone of voice •Language •Stories •Character •Audience •Points of view Wednesday, 26 October 2011
4. 1. It’s not an English lesson •Tone of voice •Language •Stories •Character •Audience •Points of view Content? Wednesday, 26 October 2011
5. WHY ‘STORYTELLING’? •Sounds warm and wholesome •Implies a connection •Sounds like something anyone can do, while implying a skill •Sounds social and/or interactive = hip •Sounds like meaning and learning will result •Sounds accessible. We all think we know what it is Wednesday, 26 October 2011
6. CONTENT ISN’T ‘STORIES’ Wednesday, 26 October 2011
7. CONTENT ISN’T ‘STORIES’ Wednesday, 26 October 2011
8. CONTENT IS JUST WHAT GOES IN Wednesday, 26 October 2011
9. THE STUFF THAT FILLS THE GRID Wednesday, 26 October 2011
10. 2. MAGAZINES ARE EVERYTHING Wednesday, 26 October 2011
11. •All issues are united by CONTEXT, not content •Grids are rules. MAGAZINES ARE GRIDS OF REASON Wednesday, 26 October 2011
12. •Unlike stories, content is needy. •Rationale comes from formalism, not English lessons. 3. Content is needy Wednesday, 26 October 2011
13. “Content is a glimpse of something, an encounter like a flash. It’s very tiny, content.” - Willem De Kooning Wednesday, 26 October 2011
14. We don’t need more content strategists We need more content-ambivalent formalists Because you can’t start with content Because stuff needs a reason to be there Wednesday, 26 October 2011
15. Reason/co ordinates/ rationale/structure/ form/point/ argument/ defense/ case/justification/ grid/rules Decisions about specific content THEN FIRST Wednesday, 26 October 2011
16. •Truth-seeking. •Testable. •Frameworks for inserting optimal ideas. •Precede everything. •Don’t need an ‘expert’; do need intelligence. •Go hand-in-hand with the unrepresentable. 4. The argument for arguments Wednesday, 26 October 2011
17. Content locks together. Stories don’t. Wednesday, 26 October 2011
18. Stories don’t like arguments •They’re representational •...and self-contained •Online, social storytelling means expressing feelings and showing off •No reason here. You either ‘get it’ or you don’t Wednesday, 26 October 2011
19. WHICH IS FINE Wednesday, 26 October 2011
20. CONTENT ISN’T STORIES! EVERYTHING IS A MAGAZINE ARGUMENTS AND REASONS GIVE CONTENT NECESSARY LIMITS SO... Wednesday, 26 October 2011