This seems to be a strongly debated topic in the field of storytelling.  There are traditionalists who continue the oral arts by telling and retelling tales and folk lore (with their own personal spin) in front of an audience – person to person – that comprise a large portion of the storytelling world.  And then there are all the variations brought about by interest, taste and technology.

According to Wikipedia

“Digital Storytelling” is an emerging term, one that arises from a grassroots movement that uses new digital tools to help ordinary people tell their own ‘true stories’ in a compelling and emotionally engaging form. These stories usually take the form of a relatively short story (less than 8 minutes) and can involve interactivity.

The term can also be a broader journalistic reference to the variety of emergent new forms of digital narratives (web-based stories, interactive stories, hypertexts, and narrative computer games).

As an emerging area of creative work, the definition of digital storytelling is still the subject of much debate.

The question seems to be, is Digital Storytelling  a new art form or the interconnection of a series of art forms and how do you treat the traditional forms of narrative within the framework of a new world of education, entertainment and self-expression?  This discussion is laid out in Digital Storytelling, Second Edition: A creator’s guide to interactive entertainment by Carolyn Handler Miller.

The Center for Digital Storytelling is an international not-for-profit community arts organization rooted in the craft of personal storytelling. They “assist youth and adults around the world in using media tools to share, record, and value stories from their lives, in ways that promote artistic expression, health and well being, and justice.”

They describe their approach to Digital Storytelling as having an emphasis on first-person narrative, meaningful workshop processes, and participatory production methods.  They offer Digital Storytelling workshops for organizations and individuals and serve as a clearinghouse of information and resources about storytelling and new media.

Leslie Rule has a good list of resources on her Digital Storytelling Association website.  She says “Digital Storytelling is the modern expression of the ancient art of storytelling. Digital stories derive their power by weaving images, music, narrative and voice together, thereby giving deep dimension and vivid color to characters, situations, experiences, and insights.”

You can learn about the 7 elements of Digital Storytelling at Joe Lambert’s website or find a step by step guide to creating a Digital Story at the UMass website.

Why would you want to be a Digital Storyteller? If you like a challenge and want to use and explore 21st century communications skills, this is an exciting, fun and inspiring area for you.

Anything that gets people telling and listening to personal stories is fine with me. Here’s a link to some books on the subject and maybe some inspiration.

Western North Carolina is quite beautiful in a rainy and cold way this time of year.  I am visiting Gordon Simmons in Forks of Ivy (near Asheville) which is only an hour away from Jonesborough, Tennessee, home of the International Storytelling Center.  Of course I had to go see it;  being this close to the mecca of storytelling festivals is much too hard to resist.

There wasn’t much going on at this time of year.  We peeked into the auditorium and checked out the gift shop where I bought some red clown noses for some children I know.

Their big event is the National Storytelling Festival in October when five circus tents are erected near the center in this quaint little town and storytellers and listeners from around the world gather. Their goal, through the power of storytelling, is to “build a better world—healthier communities, more effective workplaces and schools of learning, and enriched human life.”

It seems everybody around here in these small towns knows a storyteller.  We had lunch with a woman from Spruce Pine whose cousin from Boone is a professional storyteller. My host met Kathryn Tucker Windham while on a field trip with kids from a boarding school where he was working.  According to Wikipedia, Ms Windham (born June 2, 1918) is an American storyteller, author, photographer, and journalist. She was born in Selma, Alabama and was raised in nearby Thomasville.  Her specialty is stories about ghosts and growing up and living in the South.  You can hear her on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered.

Actually, it seems like everyone in the South is a storyteller.

I was inspired by the question, “are there uses of storytelling that are offensive or inappropriate” to do an internet search.  Not knowing what words to use I typed in “bad stories” and came up with

Bored.com – bad date stories

Lovestory.com –  love stores with bad or sad endings

MakingLemonade –  bad stories from single parents

TheFrisky – bad sex stories

Workingamerica.org – bad boss stores

Texas Hold’em – bad beat stores from the poker table

Badgolfer.com – what it says

There are bad customer service experiences, bad driver rants, regifting horror stories and reasons to tell bad adoption tales. You can find stories about bad Facebook, divorce, leadership, haircuts, journalism, and car dealer experiences. There were 253,000,000 entries for bad stories.

I was curious so I searched “good stories” and there are only 126,000,000 entries. Apparently Google says there are twice as many bad stories as good stories.

But all that is a digression (how easy to do with searches) from the original question, what stories are not OK?  According to Judy Rosemarin in Kathy Hansen’s blog, A Storied Career, the answer is gossip or false advertising.

I’d add lying with the intent to maliciously deceive. I’m not talking about exaggerating or embellishing a story, that’s fair in telling stories, but manipulating the truth to unduly influence someone is a bad story in my book.  What’s your bottom line?