A Storyteller Must Dream
The essential requirement for telling a story
It’s not enough to dream about being a storyteller — we must also dream our stories into existance or they’ll never get told.
When I was nine, I adored my paternal grandmother. She would gather the family around a campfire or dinner table and recite poetic stories she had memorized, like “The Cremation of Sam McGee” by Robert Service and others.
When I told my grandmother I wanted to be a storyteller like her, she smiled with her wizened hazel eyes and replied, “You can be a storyteller, but you’ll need to dream about your stories first.”
It took me four decades to understand what Grandma was talking about.
All good storytelling starts with a dream.
I’m not talking about material dreams like a fancy house or a luxury car. And I’m not talking about losing weight or going on a tropical vacation. I’m not even talking about internet fame or making money. You can have all these dreams and still fail at storytelling.
I’m also not talking about dreams you have during sleep before you wake up and write them down. That happens occasionally, but the type of dream I’m talking about can only happen if you give your mind space to imagine. To be a good storyteller, your mind needs to dream about the story.
