Elements of Storytelling

As you work through Module 1, you will be introduced to a website called The Moth, which is an organization dedicated to the craft and art of personal storytelling. The website will be an important resource for you as you complete writing activities leading to writing your own story or narrative essay. According to The Moth, a story should have three key elements:

• STAKES: stories are most compelling when the storyteller lets the audience know what was at stake for them in the story. When the audience/reader knows what matters to the storyteller—what they have to win or lose within the story—they are all the more invested in the story.
• CHANGE: Moth stories almost always involve a personal transformation to the protagonist/storyteller. Somehow, the storyteller is different from the beginning of the story to the end.
• THEME: a single story from one’s life can be told in many different ways; storytellers tend to draw out one principal theme within the story to give it shape and to create a story arc. In part, this is the purpose of the exercise to practice focusing one theme to guide your narrative writing.