Natural-born storytellers

At the International Festival of Authors in Toronto in October, Diana Athill, British author, interviewed Canadian author Alice Munro, who recently published a short story collection, Too Much Happiness. In the interview, Athill asked Munro if she believes there are natural-born storytellers. Through the dialogue between the two authors, they both came to the conclusion that, yes, there are people in this world who are storytellers and there are others who are not (the full podcast is available at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/books/in-other-words/exclusive-munro-athill-podcast/article1333923).

As a teacher of writing, I must call this into question. My message to students is that all of us are writers; all of us have stories to tell; all of us can learn from the masters and become writers of craft and meaning. But if two great, experienced, professional writers such as Athill and Munro believe it's all inherited in one's genes at birth, then why bother? Why not send the message to students, "Hey, some of you have it, and some don't. So… whatever."

I do not consider myself a natural storyteller. I enjoy writing, I think I can craft an eloquent essay, but stories do not spring fully formed from my head like Athena from Zeus' forehead. Then again, I don't spend each day with the expectation that I will write something, that I must come up with yet another idea, another story to spin. Maybe if I lived as professional authors lived, I would become a storyteller-- the self-fulfilling prophecy: I act like a storyteller; therefore I am a storyteller. But I don't have the time or commitment for that; I am a teacher and a mother, my days are full. So is my prophecy: I don't act like a storyteller; therefore, I am not?

No, I have to believe what I preach, that we all have important things to tell the world. Maybe it's not fiction that I write (for the very reason that I have no story ideas), but I can tell a story about my own life, or about my own thinking, or about someone else's life or thinking. And I can tell it well, with crafting moves learned from masters like Munro. This faith in my own writing, which has improved immensely since I started teaching the art of writing (do as I do, and as I say), makes me believe that all people are storytellers. My job is to help the more reluctant ones find their voice so they can join the others that already know the joy of sending their words out into the world.