Twelve Storyteller "Types"

though I prefer to call them strategies

Twelve continues to be the magic number in storytelling.

To access all twelve types, go to this category.

For the next twelve weeks I will introduce you to twelve storytelling types, though I want to encourage you to treat them like strategies available to everyone. It’s true that we do tend to employ two or three of these types—but you can learn and practice all of them. They each have their unique opportunities and advantages.

In this image, you will see them in three columns and four rows. The left column are the “starting” types, the middle column features the “maintaining” types, and the right column has our “closing” types. Again you can use each however you wish, but I’ve highlighted their special skills as perfect for a particular storytelling function.

The rows go from top to bottom: thinking (up), feeling (down), willing (forward) and spiritual or moral (back). I’ll say more about what that means in a moment.

Look here to find the different types as we go. This post has #1 Architect

Download a PDF of all the Strategies here:

Twelve Storytelling Strategies Deck

381KB ∙ PDF file

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This post has #2 The Tender

These twelve types are a part of the level two Restorative Storytelling training. I find they are useful for teachers/leaders/change-makers because they demonstrate that there are MANY different ways to tell a story—not just the most famous “artist” or “revealer” types.

Your thing might be descriptive details (architect) or the ability to connect to the listener (tender), or you might love action (hero) or happy endings (romantic). They are all effective and all have their place in a storytelling training.

For the next twelve weeks on Wednesdays, I’ll introduce each one and then, (this part is for paying subscribers) I’ll offer an exercise you can integrate into your day that will strengthen that particular storytelling type or strategy.

So today we start with Type #1 The Architect

The architect is a “starting” strategy, meaning that it is a solid go-to to begin your stories. This is the strategy employed by all science fiction and fantasy writers—the “world building” approach where you describe the universe in which the story is set.

The direction is “up” because this is the direction of content.

From this direction, we can see and hear everything, like a hawk hovering over a forest. We have some distance and can describe what we see with some objectivity. Up is the direction of content creation for its own sake. It is static. It is not about movement, about connection or about form. The point is description, and what a wonderful way to start a story: describing where and when the story is taking place.

The architect is a thinking type.

When you describe something, you are in your brain. You think about the best words to use and how to best impart what you your imagination is seeing. The feelings types are more connected to the body, the will types are more connected to action and the spiritual and moral types are more connected to the “big picture”. More on those as other types are introduced.

Let’s practice.

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