People love stories. We never tire of hearing about other people with whom we can identify as they live through a series of compelling events that force us to follow the storyline until we find out how it all ends.
The ability of narrative to fascinate often stands in sharp contrast to the effect of the articles and brochures with which we communicate in "real" life. A city council story, a political platform or a company's official vision statement will seldom stand up against the latest Harry Potter book or a good, old-fashioned whodunit.
But sometimes one can have the best of both worlds. Narrative journalism uses the tools of literature – well-crafted plots, fascinating characters and interesting settings – to tell a true story. And that kind of story can of course be found everywhere.
I began working with the narrative genre after participating in a conference on narrative journalism in Boston in 1999. For me, this resulted in a series of articles in which I followed the fortunes of a mildly retarded young man going to a special school in Denmark. The series "En Plads til Peter" ("A Place for Peter") appeared in Næstved Tidende in 2000 and 2001, and it won a national prize from the Association of Local Journalists in Denmark. This story has not been translated; a chapter of the narrative may be found on the Danish version of this web page.
In recent years I have participated in two more conferences in Boston and written a number of other narratives, including a series describing a week in a 9th-grade classroom and the story of a 19-year-old bank robber.
But narratives do not have to take the form of a major newspaper series. Elements of narrative can energise many everyday newspaper stories.
I'm also convinced that narrative can raise business communication to a new level. The narrative style can be extremely effective in communicating a company's best stories to external audiences. It can also be used internally to motivate and inspire employees. A corporate vision can take on new meaning when it is illustrated by real people who are living the company values through a compelling storyline.
I would very much like to help my clients find and tell these stories.
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Language Arts
telefon +45 5581-0105 - mobil +45 2233-8307
anne@language-arts.dk