Storytelling vs. Writing

Being a good storyteller and being a good writer are not the same thing, nor are they the same skills. They do tend to go hand-in-hand, and they do share many skills, but they are fundamentally different.

A story can come in any medium. Text, voice, dance, photos, videos, you could even tell a story with cake if you were good enough. Stories are about sharing experiences and feelings. It is a broad skill, but it has fundamental principles like understanding your audience, finding ways to communicate with them, and to make them think and feel what you want.

Writing is a specific medium. It can be used for several reasons, but whatever kind of writing you do, you will need certain principles. You need to have a standard of communication (spelling/punctuation/grammar that you and your audience both understand). You need to know how to employ those to get the desired effect you want. Writing can be dry and sterile, or it can be sensual and emotional, and it can be anything in between. A good writer knows how to create the desired effect.

A good writer should also be a good storyteller. Whether you want to make somebody cry with a personal essay, or you simply want them to understand how to program their DVR, you need to know how to take your reader on the journey and to pick things up along the way.

A good storyteller may not need to be a good writer specifically, but they do need to be good at whatever medium they choose to use. If a storyteller knows the journey that the audience should take, but doesn't know how to actually create that journey, then it is still ineffective.