Being Creative with Language in Storytelling Every good storyeller is a master of words. As a storyteller, you want to use exciting, unique words that really push your story forward. This workshop will help you realize how many nifty ways there are to describe something. Take a look at this sentence: "He goes to the store" What does that sentence mean? It means that a guy walks or drives or transports himself somehow to the store. how about this: "He goes, "To the store." This sentence means, of course, that he says, "To the store." This usage of the word "goes" used to be made fun of when teen girls from California would say it (we once called it "Valley Girl Talk"), but now it is a part of our society's language. However, as storytellers, this is usually not the best choice of words—because there are so many other words for "said" or "says". I'm a huge proponent for colloquial speech and keeping the flavor of regions in speech, but there are just so many wonderful words in the English language! Perhaps he cries or moans or shouts or yells or bellows or whispers or . . . . You get the picture. Compare these sentences in the same way: "He was like a monster" (which is a simile) "He was, like, a monster." (which is a metaphor with the addition of the word "like".) Is there a better way of saying that he was like a monster? Sure! What did he do that was monster-like? Did he roar like a monster? Run like one? Fly like one? Eat like one? Drool like one? Scare someone like one? Decide, and then write down your improved sentences. There are many fun ways to describe things! From the list of phrases below, select one and add to it to make a completely new and unique description that no one has ever heard before. Remember: you'll have to visualize someone or something doing this (there's that word "visualize" again!), or it just won't work well. as clever as . . . as sad as . . . as angry as . . . as fast as . . . as slow as . . . as greedy as . . . as gentle as . . . as stubborn as . . . as friendly as . . . See how much fun you can have describing things? No need for mundane language with you! Be creative and have more fun!