The picture of storytelling

Everything starts with images in storytelling. The reading we did of C.S Lewis was so inspiring to me because all of my stories start with pictures and I've always been concerned with not knowing the whole story. Lewis makes a point of showing that all his stories came from pictures. Images of something and he didn't know where that image would take him. He simply knew it was something worth exploring. That's the beginning of every great story. Following it to see where it will take you. Will it follow the nice little path the church says you should take or will take you where it knows it should go? That could be the same the place, but not necessarily. If you have a mind filled by Christ though, it will take you where He wants it to go. That's how I believe Lewis' stories developed. He had what Dr. Leeper called a "fertile mind". He kept his mind alive with stories and with creativity and he was consumed with Jesus. The stories that came out of that had no reason to not show the glory of Jesus to its readers even though he didn't write them as allegories. 

The ability to craft a story from a picture I believe is one of the most crucial skills any storyteller can learn. I am striving to do that. And to follow my stories wherever they lead. If I try and build the framework around my story, especially the parameters of Christianity, then it can only grow so far. If I let the story tell itself and just follow it along for the ride, then there's no limit to how far it can go. The possibilities are endless.

Something Dr. Leeper said near the end of class really stuck with me when he said "You need to get your audience out of their left brain where they can explain their experience with your story. You want them in their right brain where they will experience your story and then might think about it for the next fifty years." That's what I strive for in storytelling. Being able to get my audience out of their left brains and into their right.

And can I just say that Dr. Leeper is an incredible storyteller. I could see the entire story of the Selfish Giant.