11 June 2015

Day 12: Alternative Ways of Storytelling

The book is not dead and never will be. Thumbing the pages of a thick book while sipping a steaming mug of coffee is a clichéd, writerly thing to do…because, well, most writers love to do it. But we also know that as we get better with inventing new technologies, alternative modes of storytelling will be the ever-increasing tools to express an opinion, share a story, and inform an audience.

Digital applications have been used to tell all types of stories. What’s ya Story? is a digital storytelling application developed by the University of Melbourne in partnership with members of the Korin Gamadji Institute, and is designed to share and communicate Indigenous stories.

Tristan Bancks, writer of young adult fiction and story starter for this year’s Write Across Victoria competition, has also developed a storytelling app. Story Scrapbook is an app that lets you bring images, video, web grabs, text and audio together to construct a story. This is one for the visually, aurally and interactive minded story teller.

The internet can be the domain of disposable information. We read something, we click a link, we move on. However The Chart Collective’s Longer Light Project demonstrates the way online platforms can tell a slower story.

Of course digital story telling is not the only ‘alternative’. When being a writer becomes all about being published, the anxiety about simply getting something out there can be detrimental to the writing process. Letter writing in an age of email is like slow cooking a stew instead of running out to grab a nori roll. It’s therapeutic and rewarding.

Which brings us to our Day 12 challenge…

NYWM Challenge #5

Write_on is an online campaign to promote joyfulness and creative expression through hand written correspondence. For 2015, they have posted dozens of reasons to write – your challenge is to choose one. “To ask an older relative to share a memory” or to “create an artefact and capture a moment in time” are just two reasons of many.

Send someone – anyone – a letter or tweet your #reasontowrite with #NYWM15 and #write_on.

Events and Opportunities

In Cracking the Code you will explore new modes of digital storytelling using creative gameplay. Create playful narratives by using simple game-making tools such as twine and flash and present these as part of the Betanarratives Online Journal.

A favourite alternative mode of storytelling is of course the comic – don’t worry we have a full day planned for comics coming up in non-fiction wee. But we thought we’d flag Oz Comic-Con today. The event hits Melbourne from June 27 to 28. Brisbane and Sydney, stay tuned for September.

And tell us what is your mode of storytelling? Let us know on twitter #NYWM15.