Case Story: How to write a story

Summary	What is the best way to encourage people to write a story when when storytelling is a a craft?
Group / workshop	None	Status	seed
Project details...	Storytelling exercise carried out during the OpenHabitat project that led to a storytelling workshop.

Situation

What was the setting in which this case study occurred?

In a project on MUVEs, one of the methodological approaches to gathering data was to use storytelling to share experiences of living and working inside MUVEs and provide a basis for extracting rich contextual data around practices.

Task

What was the problem to be solved, or the intended effect?

Because of the remote locations of the project team and the difficultly of bringing together experts in a face-2-face setting the method for extracting stories was to solicit written narratives about experiences of living and working with MUVEs.

Actions

What was done to fulfil the task?

An email was sent out asking for stories from the project team - to act as pilot for gathering stories from the wider educational community of practitioners using MUVEs. The template was not as successful as expected but it was valuable in preparing the storytellers for a very productive f-2-f session that was later held (see Case-stories (1) Sharing Stories to Gather and Compare Experiences (2)Top Ten Brainstorm)

STORYTELLING TEMPLATE USED:

Brief: We are gathering stories about creativity, cooperation and communication in Second Life, particularly in educational settings. We want you to tell us a personal story, one that is meaningful to you. Put yourself in the role of a storyteller, and share your feelings about a memorable event or experience. Remember, failures are as meaningful as successes.

Stories: Storytelling has a long history in many cultures as a way of capturing and then passing on memories, knowledge and wisdom to others. Stories are living, each retelling adds something to the narrative and stimulates the imagination of others. The stories collected here will be open to audiences eager to hear of experiences about building, co-building and participation

1. What is the origin of this story?
2. When did it happen?
3. Tell us your story
4. What reflections do you have on your story, the lessons that were learned?

• • • 5. Name your story
      6. What other stories does this narrative evoke?
      7. Do you have an illustrative image you would like to add?
      8. What is your level of SL experience?
      9. What is your name?

Results

What happened? Was is a success? What contributed to the outcomes?

No-one replied to the first email so a template was developed to help guide the potential authors with a simple set of instructions. The first set of stories varied wildly in style and value. To such an extent that a second template was produced to try and focus the authors on 'how to write a story'. Again this produced varied results that ended up with personal coaching emails being sent to individuals to help them express themselves … again with mixed success.

Lessons Learned

What did you learn from the experience?

Storytelling is a craft and writing a story is an art or at the very least a practiced activity. Telling a story is something that comes with many preconceived ideas of what a "story" is. Invoking a more traditional approach of oral storytelling was far more successful though the written efforts were valuable in helping focus the narrators on the key points of their stories in relation to the project aims. Facilitation - even at a distance as in this case by using email conversations - is vital to get the best out of the stories.

Licensing

This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence.