What do you think about retelling?
Now I work with children with social difficulties and tell them my stories, because they can’t stand long readings – they lose concentration, etc.
However, when retelling, many of the artistic qualities are lost.
However, I think that retelling also has many good qualities, if done well – mostly because of the constant contact and opportunity for dialogue.
And we use it anyway when presenting our books.
What do you think about this?
And one last question – Has anyone used their books for something like narrative therapy?
The question it SOUNDS like you are asking is not about retellings, but about orally sharing a story, so I’ll answer that question first, and then what I thought the question was from the title.
If you’re asking “is it a bad thing to tell your stories orally, tweaking or shortening them (minorly) as needed to fit your audience,” I would say absolutely not. There’s no problem with that; that’s how many stories began and were perpetuated. Some of the artistic quality might be lessened, but there is a personal aspect of it that is sometimes lost in transition with a paper-and-ink book. My sister demanded a new installment of my novel-in-progress each night before I even had it written! So I told her, sometimes embellished pieces (when I had better scenes thought out), and sometimes vague. Minor things changed, but the overall plot didn’t, because I was sketching it out aloud with her. It helps someone to love your characters more, or you to experience the story differently (engaging different senses helps.)
Now, to answer the question that I thought you were asking, since your title was rather misleading…
I like retellings of various stories, when tastefully done. (That, in fact, is how I want to make my bread and butter: I enjoy writing retellings of my favorite fairytales as much as I enjoy reading them, which is to say quite a bit.) I think that each storyteller can bring something good to the table, and I think it is a legitimate form of art… but if you cannot create ANYTHING of your own and are always retelling someone else’s work, I would say you’re not an author, you’re a storyteller. You make it come to life more, but you’re not creating anything new.
Hope this is either helpful or interesting (not quite sure what you were looking for)!
If you’re asking an entirely different question than the two I’ve answered, you may want to reword the question. 😉
I had such a case yesterday.
They are 8-year-olds who don’t listen carefully.
And I know that every sentence I say related to the story should be exciting and cause them to react.
But still, I have to explain some things and they get distracted. This is really like another genre, the genre of storytelling, with all the artistry and, above all, the dynamics of the plot.
However, I think that the whole difficulty comes from the fact that when I was writing this story, I didn’t think about how I would retell it.
And it would be better to write it directly as a retelling, even though it sounds strange.
But just to have the whole plot in my mind and write it as if I were retelling it.
What do you think about that?