About Understanding Story

“The planet does not need more successful people. the planet desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers,  storytellers and lovers of all kinds.”

–  Dalai Lama

 

Story is all around us, we witness stories constantly through music, movies, games, images and books, to name just a few. Story is essential to our lives. We experience joy and sadness through stories and we are deeply influenced by them. But why do we need story and how does it have such an impact on us? How can we understand story and use that knowledge in order to express what is important? This is a never ending discussion.

A narrative, whatever medium, can choose a point of view, support a theme, engage the audience and have a satisfying conclusion. So why not use story to be persuasive and say something that is important to us? Understanding story, across all mediums, can help us to have the courage to tell our own meaningful stories which is crucial to how we process our lives and the world around us. Everyone has an important story to tell and everyone’s story deserves to be shared with the world.

Using the practice of story, to explain an idea, describe a thought, or express our creativity, helps us all to become stronger in our creative thinking process, naturally leading us to having better critical thinking skills. Story is a practice like any other aptitude or artistry, a journey that is more important than the destination.

This website will share stories from a diverse range of creators and is always open to recommendations for content. Please send suggestions!

 

Rosanne Limoncelli is a writer and filmmaker and the Director of Production for Film and New Media at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She received her B.F.A. from the Department of Film & Television and her MA and Ph.D. in Teaching Reading, Writing, and Media from the English Education Program in the Department of Teaching and Learning at NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. Dr. Limoncelli has been teaching writing and filmmaking to students and professors since 1989. www.rosannelimoncelli.net