Story Elements To Consider For February 2017
February 2017 editorial
https://www.ink2quill.com/

Of all the good story elements out there which one will I choose to bring up? Now that is a good question. Would you care to guess? I´ll give you a minute…I´ll give you a clue. Most lists don´t have this…The story element is simple enough. It´s LANGUAGE! Yes language. Now language can be used in many different ways when weaving a tale. It can be used to show the movement of a character from one group of people to another, like in the case of the brilliantly done film “The 13th Warrior” starring Antonio Banderas. Language can also be used to highlight misunderstanding and conflict. There are a myriad of historical examples on that. And language can also be used to highlight or create a character´s isolation. Some of the most popular blogs and vlogs show this element in real or almost real life situations.

In the US and Europé we have always had the movement of peoples in and out of our borders. Many people coming in might not speak english and that can create the feeling of extreme isolation. Language is a fantastic story element that is both timeless and so relevant to every generation. In the US every generation from the inception of the US has had waves of people coming in and being assimilated. In these new peoples are stories with this element of language. It´s a rich treasure trove of the human experience that is too often overlooked. Dealing with a new languages is an exciting hurdle everyone can relate to in one way or another. Whether you are the one in the new environment or you are the one interacting with the newcomer everyone has felt a barrier to communication at one point in time or another.

So here is what I propose to all you storytellers out there. Start introducing characters who speak different languages or have different forms of communications. Like a deaf person speaking to a hearing person with or without the help of technology. Communication among people who speak different languages is less of a big deal nowodays because of technology that is constantly getting better but it still is an issue. I see the day when our phones will do near perfect sentence translations. We could keep them in our shirt or jacket pocket when traveling and hold conversations with anyone. So in this world of advancing technology and the movenment of different peoples let´s bring communication in all its different forms back as something to take a closer look at.

Nowodays, with the economic and political changes taking place in the world, Europé is a region struggling with migrating groups of people that speak different languages. If integration of new people in the US goes smoother just keep in mind that English is a more widespread language and the bulk of new people in the US come from China, Mexico and Canada with less than five different languages. In Europé you have people from around 50 states and countries who speak as many languages. This is a much more trying situation.

So in short, language will continue to be a point of issue for people moving around the world. Hopefully, with the new emerging technologies and a more understanding population it will not be this barrier of stupidity that keeps us apart. We need to use it more in our stories because it is not only timeless but more relevant today than ever.

John

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