3 C’s of Storytelling
If you are someone new to storytelling, then you must feel like an aimless bag flowing in the wind.
You know how to consume a story, but you have no clue how to create one.
Heck, I’m sure you have been a victim of a person rambling away with details trying to tell a story.
Want to know a secret?
Most people have no clue how to tell a story, they just wing it.
But that’s sad considering that stories are a part of human civilization.
Humans have been utilizing it since our cavemen era with cave art.
There are hundreds & thousands of stories that are older than we are.
Stories are the type of content that will outlast the creator.
But if this method of communication is so important, how come there is not more strategies on how to learn it?
It’s because everyone has their own unique twist to storytelling.
Everyone has their own unique storytelling voice.
But luckily, storytelling is a skill set, which means that it can be learned, practiced & eventually mastered.
You don’t have to copy someone else voice, but it never hurts to learn some basic storytelling frameworks.
These frameworks will help you discover your own voice & communicate your message to better suit your personality.
And one of the most famous frameworks are ‘3 c’s of storytelling.’
What are the 3 c’s of storytelling?
This is a basic framework many people follow when designing their own stories.
These c’s have been used by many renowned authors, screenwriters, content creators etc.
But there is a catch.
‘Which is?’
The C’s are unique to the creator themselves.
If you search in Google right now, you will notice there are many different c’s out there.
Some use conflict, some use community, some use consequence etc.
‘So there are more than 3 c’s?’
Yup.
But that is good news for you.
‘How is that good news?’
That’s good because you have more flexibility to experiment.
I recommend you pick a certain framework of c’s, practice a fuck ton, and you will begin to design your own c’s along the way.
Today, I want to share my personal 3 c’s of storytelling with you &explain each one step by step.
Armani’s 3 c’s of storytelling are:
1. Character/s
2. Conflicts
3. Compassion
From my experience, every story that has left on me has been able to utilize these 3 particular c’s.
These 3 c’s speak to the primal part of the brain, which is the brain you want to speak to when you are writing a story.
The last thing you want to do is be overly logical & make the reader think the whole time.
This ain’t no homework assignment!
The goal of a story is to make them FEEL.
I’ll teach you how to do exactly that with my c’s.
1. Character/s
The character is the being that your story involves.
A character can be a human (Titanic), animal (Lion King), a ghost (Casper)etc.
There are 4 boats of characters:
1. Protagonist – The story revolves around them. They are the main character & we will be seeing a great part of the story thru their eyes.
2. Antagonist – The character that serves as a roadblock to the protagonist from getting what they want.
3. Extras 1- These characters are pretty important for the story & either help or destruct the protagonist’s efforts from achieving their goal.
4. Extras 2 – These characters are not too important to the ultimate story, but still serve a unique purpose.
When designing your characters, aim to give them a unique brand of personality.
Don’t just say their name & go onto the next step.
But describe something about them.
What do they look like, act like, think like etc.
By doing this, you give the reader a reason to invest their time into these characters that you have created.
2. Conflict
A story without a conflict is like an Oreo without the cream.
The main reason you are creating a story is for the tension.
Picture that last boring story that you were being told at a dinner party.
What was it like?
I’m sure you thought they were being excessively detailed & you wished they would just get to the point.
Well, guess what?
The point of a story is the conflict & how they overcame it!
You risk being excessively detailed when you don’t have a conflict for the story.
The conflict serves as your north star, and without it, you are an aimless bag flowing in the wind.
So before you begin your story, you need to have an idea of what the conflict is going to be.
And once you introduce this conflict to the character/s mentioned in the last step, make sure you keep delaying the resolution.
I bolded ‘delaying’ for a reason.
Don’t be the person who introduces a conflict, then gives the resolution in the next line.
That’s just going to disappoint your reader!
You want to keep delaying the resolution to create a story tension.
The more tension that your story generates in the consumer, the more invested they will be!
3. Compassion
‘Huh Armani?? The last 2 made sense, but this one doesn’t seem right.’
False.
This C of storytelling may be the most important one.
Why you ask?
Because compassion is a primal trait in humans.
Remember earlier how I mentioned that we wanted to speak to the primal brain with our story?
Well, compassion does that.
Your readers MUST be able to feel compassionate towards at least 1 of the characters.
Typically, this is the main character, but you’re free to experiment.
The more compassionate they are for the character, the more they are investing their emotions into that character.
They become glued to the story but don’t even know it.
But how do you make the consumer compassionate towards a character?
Thru relatability.
How do you make the character relatable?
Thru flaws.
There is nothing worse than seeing a character who has it all figured out.
Got the money, mansions, dream job etc.
What’s there to root for? Absolutely nothing.
But the character who has just hit rock bottom, feels massive depression, got fired?
That’s a character worth feeling compassionate for.
That’s a character worth rooting for.
The reason for this phenomenon is because every single one of us has had a very dark moment in our life.
And when we see someone else going thru the same, it speaks to our heart.
3 c’s of storytelling will Skyrocket your message
Well, there you have it!
The 3 c’s of storytelling Armani style.
Just a quick recap:
1. Characters- have at least 1 character in your story and give some backstory to help the consumers understand that character on a deeper level.
2. Conflicts- have a conflict so you increase the story tension & skyrocket reader engagement.
3. Compassion – build characters & storylines that are relatable so the reader can feel compassion.
By following these 3 c’s of storytelling, you will be able to design stories like a machine.
No more rambling & talking about a bunch of nonsense.
But now? You are a storyteller with a purpose that captivates everyone at sight!
And remember, storytelling is a modern-day superpower.
Wield this superpower & use it to get your message across seamlessly to others.
If you like stories as much as I do, then go on & subscribe to my FREE storytelling newsletter.
Every day, I drop a story that helps you level up your life thru the wonderful world of soft skills.
Storytelling being one of the skills I go into depth about!
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– ArmaniTalks 
