This document provides an overview of the COM 140 Storytelling course. It discusses the importance of clear writing and choosing the right words. It emphasizes that good writing involves understanding the information to be communicated and the purpose of the writing. It also examines a line from Shakespeare's Macbeth to showcase how thoughtful construction and ordering of elements in a sentence can impact emphasis and the delivery of important information. Overall, the document stresses that clarity, simplicity and careful composition are key to successful storytelling and communication across different mediums and genres.

1. COM 140 –
Storytelling
• Welcome to COM 140 –
Storytelling
• Let’s study this Bosch
painting The Conjurer
(1502) for a moment to
see a storyteller in action
– with an audience.

2. COM 140 - Storytelling
• Here’s what Allan Little,
formerly of the BBC, has to
say about writing:
• “Good writing is all about
choosing the right words to
say precisely what you
mean.”

3. COM 140 - Storytelling
• “The writer should start
with a clear
understanding of the
information he or she is
trying to communicate
and be clear about what it
is the writing is trying to
achieve.”

4. COM 140 - Storytelling
• “That might be telling a
story, evoking
atmosphere, explaining
something complex or
simply tempting the
audience to stay with
you.”

5. COM 140 - Storytelling
• Regardless of style,
clarity and simplicity are
at the heart of a
successful news story,
press release, podcast,
TV intro, online feature
or screenplay.

6. COM 140 - Storytelling
• John Allen: “It is our job
to communicate clearly
and effectively, to be
understood without
difficulty, and to offer
viewers and listeners an
intelligent use of
language which they can
enjoy.

7. COM 140 - Storytelling
• “Good writing is not a
luxury; it is an
obligation.”
• And that obligation is to
make the right choices at
the right time to use the
right word in the right
sentence.

8. COM 140 - Storytelling
• Let’s take one line from
Shakespeare’s Macbeth
as analyzed by Roy Peter
Clark of the Poynter
Institute.

9. COM 140 - Storytelling
• “The Queen, my lord, is
dead.”

10. COM 140 - Storytelling
• That could have been
written another way.
• “The Queen is dead, my
lord.”
• “My lord, the Queen is
dead.”
• Talent is in the decisions,
as Clark points out:

11. COM 140 - Storytelling
• “A momentous
announcement, the death
of a queen, is made
public in six quick
words.”
• “The sentence has a clear
beginning, middle, and
ending – praise be to
commas!”

12. COM 140 - Storytelling
• “The subject of the
sentence – The Queen –
appears immediately.”
• “Any sentence with such
a beginning carries
important news.”

13. COM 140 - Storytelling
• “The least significant
element in the sentence
“my lord” appears in the
middle, the position of
least emphasis.”
• “The slight delay
between subject and verb
holds a nanosecond of
suspense.”

14. COM 140 - Storytelling
• “The most important
phrase, “is dead,” appears
at the end, the point of
greatest emphasis.”

15. COM 140 - Storytelling
• When we write a news
story, a screenplay or a
press release, the point of
emphasis may be
presented in a different
order.
• The point, however, is the
same. Thoughtful
construction matters.