Instant story factory

I’ve found a way to tell children’s stories at will. Like most children, my son is a voracious consumer of stories. I can’t keep up. 

It’s almost a requirement that I tell at least one tale when driving them to school. I’ve bought many story books: Western stories, Qur’an stories, African stories – a lot of variety. 

And I do keep note of interesting appropriate stories I hear,  including from his grandfather, so that I can tell him. 

But I soon realized that some stories don’t sit  well with him. He finds more relatable the stories that have been with me for a while – probably because I pre-digest them before telling him. 

So sometimes, I wing it the way children do. 

“Ha! You’re just making this up!” He would say. 

Another problem with such made up stories is that you don’t know where it would lead you or when it would end. Just like the improv technique in stage acting. 

So I’ve been scratching my head for a while to find a formula. 

I know how to tell compelling adult stories, if I could say so myself. Because I know the four elements that make stories compelling, I can look at a real life event and retell it into a narrative that interests. 

But the same formula for children  had eluded me – even though I’d read articles on how to write children’s stories. They didn’t work for me. 

Until a couple of days ago in the masjid after fajr prayers when another attempt was made to distill my mental models of writing into a simple formula for children. Then Eureka!

It can be done in three moves!

Before leaving the mosque, I used the newly discovered method to write a story for my son on my phone – and he loved it. I was even able to embed a moral in it and he got it immediately!  I like to call this discovery: Kids Instant Story Factory. And following are the steps. 

FIRST: THE PROBLEM 

The first step is to cut  straight into the problem. Even for adults, a story is more engaging if there is a problem to solve. We suspend reality and follow the hero on his quest to resolve the problem. 

However, unlike adult stories with many twists, plot and subplots (preparation, game changer one, two, three and the phases), children’s stories take a single plot (that is the story) starting with the problem the characters need to struggle with. 

SECOND: SOLUTION 

The second step is the solution or resolution. The problem must be solved before the story ends. It’s either the hero fails or succeeds. A problem that never ends doesn’t make for a good story. The problem can even consume the hero. But there must be a denouement, a resolution. 

THIRD: THE CHANGE

The third step is what is called  the “happily ever after!” What happened after the resolution? Did anything change? Was the status quo restored after a little disturbance?

Next, I  will share with you how I applied these steps to a story I wrote for my son under five minutes. Here’s the story using the three steps of the Instant Story Factory 

Start with the problem

The lion is sick and travels to London. But he is there for a long time. Soon the leopard, tiger, cheetah and the elephant individually want to take the position of the lion. They want to make themselves king. 

The resolution 

But the Rhino steps forward and says, “we must wait for the lion , our king.”

The animals are afraid of the rhino because it’s difficult to fight him. 

But they realize that if they all come together, they can defeat the rhino, tie him up and banish him from their kingdom. 

The rhino hears about their plan. He knows that he can not defeat many animals. But he still wants to be a loyal friend to lion. So he decides to wait for them and fight them all until he either succeeds or is defeated. 

As the gang gather around the rhino’s pond, they hear a noise coming from the west. Soon the dust clears and they see a long procession of peacocks forming a beautiful line. On a throne carried aloft by donkeys is lion, the king. He is looking healthy and majestic. 

Tiger, leopard, cheetah and the elephant get jittery. Because they think the lion will tell rhino and other animals to fight them. 

But the lion doesn’t do that. He calls all of them and gives a speech. 

“Greetings my friends in hides and skins. And greetings to you my feathered  comrades. 

“I know I’ve been away because of my ill health. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the nature of my illness and I’m sorry I didn’t appoint an acting king. Creating the opportunity for others to want to fill the leadership gap my travel throws open. 

“But I’m back. I’m better now. And as you can see, I’m strong and healthy. So let’s put all of that behind us. And chart a new future of friendship and security.”

The change

In his speech, the lion announces that from that day forth, the rhino becomes the deputy king. Which means that whenever the lion is away, rhino is the acting king. 

Postscript:

1. I embedded at least two morals in the story. My son easily recognized one of them: the fact that the rhino was rewarded for his loyalty. 

But he didn’t see the second one: the leadership shown by lion. He didn’t get angry. He took responsibility for the problem created by his absence, apologized and united the kingdom. 

2. Where to get ideas for the stories 

Look at the nation’s politics. It’s usually laden with story ideas that you can easily convert to children’s stories. You can do the conversion by changing the characters to animals, like I did above and like George Orwell has shown us. Or change the characters to children. 

You can also use the challenges in your family to tell such stories. 

3. Companies now have the office of the Chief Storyteller. You should create one for your family. And why can’t that person be you? You should be a specialist in creating stories for your household and for nephews and nieces. That makes you the coolest person in the family.