Week 5 Portfolio Styles

One style I found to be interesting is a sort of “storytelling” (or bedtime story might be for better words) style, sort of like the kind used in the stories of Brer Rabbit where there is a dialog between two people at times (this I learned from the audio of the stories, with Uncle Remus talking to the little boy) and then the more adult of the two continues on to tell their story. It also makes me think of the song “Frosty the Snowman” by Jimmy Durante, because he is telling a story but at some places in the song you hear the little boy react to the story and ask Jimmy questions. The closest I have come to using this style was when I wrote the story within a story, but I would not consider it the same. This style could honestly work for any story so long as you include, or create, a storyteller and an audience member. This is strong for showing the reader that it is a verbal story and that there is a back and forth to the story. Weakness could be that the reader does not understand the back and forth to it. The biggest challenge would be making sure that the reader understands that the story is someone telling someone else a story, sort of a story-in-a-story.

The idea of doing a letter or diary is also appealing. The way that it is told from one of the character’s perspectives (usually the main character) makes for an appealing story. I wrote something similar because I made my character tell a memoir. I believe these would be a good style for stories with characters that went through a lot, have a journey, or stories that have a lot of details. It summaries the story for the reader without actually making it a summary since it is from another perspective, however if the reader did not read the original story they can become confused. I would say the biggest challenge would be to not lose the story from a characters perspective.

Creating a children’s book for the stories would be very enjoyable. It makes the stories fun and easily understandable. I used this style in my second storytelling, and it was something I really enjoyed doing. This could work for a variety of different stories, but mostly those without horribly gruesome endings. It would simplify the original story making it easier to understand for the reader. The reader might not recognize what the original story is, once the characters and settings are drastically changed. The biggest challenge would be finding the perfect story, or group of stories, to make into a children’s book.

Nursery rhymes and poems are a fun and clever way of telling a story. I love the way Shel Silvertein’s books are written because it tells little stories, some deep and some just silly. I have not used this writing style but I think it would be fun. Stories that could be summed up fairly short with only major details used would be best to use. It tells the reader the story while leaving out minor details. It could become complicated without the minor details of the stories because it is challenging to decide what details you deem as important and memorable and what someone else does.

An idea I came up with that has not been used yet was what if it were written as a texting exchange, like in the books “ttyl,” “ttfn,” and “l8r, g8r” where the entire book consists of texting exchange.  This would give a modern edge to stories while also simulating a diary/letter style from the characters perspectives. This could be great for many different stories because it would be like a conversation between two people able what happened. It is a fun and silly way of telling the details of a story, while also removing the complexity that is in some of the stories. People might not fully understand the artisticness of the style. The biggest challenge would be to not get wrapped up in the texting and make sure to stay on point with the story.