It's Not About What Happened

Storytelling is an odd thing. On its surface, it is the art of telling people things that happened. And sometimes things that happened are really exciting. But somehow, whenever I hear a story that is merely information that retells an event, I find it dry and boring (which is probably why I hate journalism). In fact, the most compelling stories can be about exciting or mundane events, because the thrill is not in the events themselves, but how the character or storyteller interprets those events.

If somebody tells you a story recounting how he got a new suit, it's not particularly enticing. But if he tells you about how his job paid for him to get a new suit because the one he was wearing, his favorite suit at the time, got damaged at work, and that the respect he felt from his superiors made him feel like he was finally certain that this was the place he wanted to work for the rest of his life, you might find that a lot more entertaining.

You can't tell a story without covering the events that happened (at least not a good story), but remember that it is not the focus of your story. The focus should be on how those events affect the characters (or how the philosophies being discussed fail to affect the characters).