- Make the Story Real
The popular children’s fiction writer of such loved tales as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The BFG
(Big Friendly Giant), and The Twits,Roald Dahl wrote a lesser-known short story entitled “Lucky
Break.” In it he described how he came to be a professional writer when, while at school, a career in
that area seemed as far away as the planet of Pluto. When he was 14, his school report for English
Composition declared him “incapable of marshalling his thoughts on paper.” A year later his English
master saw no improvement: “A persistent muddler. Vocabulary negligible, sentences malcon-
structed. He reminds me of a camel.” By the time he was 16 his report recorded, “This boy is an in-
dolent and illiterate member of the class” (Dahl, 2001, p. 180).
Consequently, writing—and even tertiary studies—was not even a consideration for Dahl,
who worked for a petroleum company in East Africa before joining the Royal Air Force when
World War II broke out. After he was shot down, sustaining head injuries and subsequent migraines,
his flying career ended and he was sent to be an assistant air attaché in Washington, D.C., where he
unexpectedly met C. S. Forester, the creator of Horatio Hornblower and other nautical tales.
Forester asked Dahl to jot down notes about his flying experiences that Forester would then write
up as an article for the Saturday Evening Post. “Let me have plenty of detail,” said the master. “That’s
what counts in our business, tiny little details, like you had a broken shoelace on your left shoe, or
a fly settled on the rim of your glass at lunch, or the man you were talking to had a broken front
tooth” (Dahl, 2001, p. 190). Dahl followed Forester’s advice and the article was published under
Dahl’s name without Forester’s altering a single word—and one of the twentieth century’s greatest
writers was born. As Forester said, detail is what gives a story reality.
Aesop’s fable The Hare and the Tortoise has a simple story line: The hare and the tortoise have
a race and the tortoise wins. But what a boring, uninteresting, and meaningless story it becomes if
told so succinctly. How much more engaging and meaningful the story is when you add detail, like
this: One day, the tall, proud Hare was teasing and mocking the old Tortoise for being so slow and
cumbersome on his feet. “If that’s what you think,” responded the Tortoise, “I challenge you to a
race. In fact, I bet you a crisp, new bank note that I win.” The Hare threw back his furry head and
laughed out loud. “OK, slowpoke.” At the starter’s command, the Hare was first to sprint from the
line scratched with a stick in the dry earth. Soon the Tortoise was so far behind as to be out of sight.
“This is a piece of cake,” the Hare thought to himself. “I have time for a rest and can still beat the
old Tortoise.” With that he lay down on the cool, soft grass under a gnarled, spreading tree and soon
fell asleep. Meanwhile the Tortoise plodded by methodically, careful not to disturb the sleeping
Hare. When the Hare awakened, he made a quick, breathless dash to the finish but was too late.
The slow and steady Tortoise had already won the race.
The more detail you add, the more real the story can be for you and your young listener. De-
scriptive words, adjectives that tap into the senses, and the use of dialogue all add to the reality, as
do the tone, the mood, and the emotion of the story. To help include these it is useful to use your
senses, envisioning and communicating to your listener the subtleties of light, color, shades, and
shapes that help define and enhance awareness of the visual sense. Describe the sounds and all the
varieties of auditory experience. Be aware of the smells, aromas, and fragrances that are part of the
tale. Include tactile sensations—not only what the characters of the story touch, but how they are
touchedby the breath of a breeze, or the warmth of the sun. Where appropriate, bring into the story
20 Effective Storytelling for Kids and Teens