Two Practical Ways to Tell a Story

There are only two practical ways to tell a story - third-person narration and first-person singular narration. In the first method, the writer keeps himself out of the picture and tells the reader impersonally about what happens to his characters. In the second method, the writer assumes the personality of one character and tells the story as if it were his own personal experience.

Journalism/Short Story Writing Diploma

Of course there are other methods to use to tell a story - for example, one person can write a story in the form of a letter or a series of letters; or as a series of extracts from a diary. But these are cumbersome methods that present special difficulties and are not appreciated or favored by modern editors on print media and on digital media.

If a story, when written, is a good story, any way of telling it is good. The important point is that the two methods first mentioned are much easier than the others; they can be successfully applied to any type of story and they are always effective. The third-person form is usually the easiest to use and is certainly the most flexible. The first-person singular form is more difficult, although it is very effective when well handled.