We hear it often, storytelling is important. When you have a business, you have to tell a story, not just sell a product.

AI creates perfect descriptions and stories to say what you didn’t even think of. You could call that magic. But I’d like to introduce you to the magic of storytelling, without AI. 

Everybody likes a good story and we tell each other stories all the time. About what happened during our day, about what someone told us, about our own life and the lives of others. We don’t even realise that we are storytellers. 

These days the market is overwhelmed with AI created books. Like it or not, I’m pretty sure they can be interesting and helpful. And it is certainly true that it can be very inspiring to get ideas, to learn about structure and get tips. 

But sitting down with a pen and paper and allowing your imagination to flow is simply wonderful and you might be surprised at how easy and pleasurable this process is.

Often women are seen as natural storytellers, whether it’s a real-life story or a bit of gossiping, this also applies to the women on the Spanish Costas or perhaps we should call them, Costa Women. By the way, if you are new to The Costa Tropical (or other ‘Costas’) you are welcome to join a group called ‘Costa Women’, here you can meet women to share ‘stories’ with. Wonderful for socialising, making new friends and learning new things.

Back to storytelling. There’s something really interesting when you look around you, becoming an observer, conscious of the funny, sad, intriguing, stories that you could write, fictional or non-fictional, about things you see, such as objects, people, situations… This is when you will touch upon that magic. 

I always love to see that happening during my writing workshops, when people can be inspired with just a few words to create amazing short stories in a relatively short time. And this is not just something experienced writers can do. If you can tell a story about what’s happened to you the other day… then you can also write stories. That’s what I believe. 

Here are some tips to get started:

• Get yourself a quality notebook, for example with a beautiful cover, to keep at home and a small one to take with you when you are out.

• Go somewhere, order a coffee or a drink and get out your small notebook and a pen.

• Observe and describe what you see, quite literally. People, trees, terraces, colours, etc. 

• Pick one person and imagine who this person is and what he or she is doing.

• Who are they, why are they there, what do they do for a living?

• Back home you can create the first draft of your story in your special notebook and later, if you like to, copy it into your computer. 

• Of course, you can also join a local writing group or dive into an online course. 

Remember it’s not about perfect grammar, it’s about becoming more observant and getting in touch with your imagination. Trust me, that’s magical!

Fun fact: This article was created without the help of AI.

Written by Renate van Nijen:  writer, artist and teacher of expressive writing and art.  www.renatevannijen.com  

(Feature: Costa Women Costa Tropical – Photo Source)

Keywords: Storytelling, AI, Grammar, writing workshops, Renate van Nijen

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