Story is not copy.

I’m hearing more and more that storytelling is the new gold rush.

Now many people are rebranding themselves as storytellers without deep understanding of the actual storytelling. And with the spreading of AI many of them are starting to sound the same. This disappoints me, because I really love great storytelling.

Story is not copy.

Copy is one modality of communication. Storytelling requires a human being to use their voice in real time and speak words that formulate a story. Storytelling is about being authentic and about connecting with the audience. It can’t be faked. It can’t be manufactured. And you cannot use AI to write a story that lands the same way a human story would.

I love to be in the audience. It’s one of my favourite things, to sit there and hear someone show me a part of their life that can help me with mine. But the audience is very selfish. They are thinking, what’s in it for me? Why should I care? Why should I listen?

The reason I’m writing this is because I’m fed up and a bit scared that we’ll stop hearing great stories and start hearing AI slop. I don’t want to sit in rooms where everyone sounds the same.

Throughout this month I will be sharing in my posts the fundamental principles of real quality storytelling as I see it.

I apologise in advance that at the end of this series you will not be able to un-see all the self-serving storytellers online. But on the bright side, you will know how to be a better storyteller.