DIGITAL STORYTELLING: Text is still a great narrative device

I understand the attraction of multimedia modes to tell a compelling story...after all a picture is said to be worth a thousand words. But those thousand words can be pretty profound as well.

I am thinking of the blog, called The Leukemia Letters written by my dear friend John Slatin, a professor at UT who happens to be blind. John is also an avid user of technology and when he was diagnosed a couple of years ago with leukemia part of his coping and healing strategy was to tell his story online.

After a search for blogging software that was accessible to him, he took us through the good news and the setbacks with him, to share an experience that is unique and powerful. I am overjoyed to say that John is doing quite well and I know that his narrative has kept John's community of friends close to him and has inspired many many people who he has never even met.

Sharron,
Great post.
I just want to say that this forum is about digital storytelling in the model that CDS has developed over the years. This is not in any way to say that other media forms aren't more effective, cool, accessible, etc. We've just been asked to answer questions specifically about this form.

-Daniel

Hey Daniel,

Great point...and I am really enjoying the information about your methods and projects.

I am always a bit cautious about the possibility that with our preoccupation with tools, however, we forget that the story itself is the reason for it all.

Thanks for clarifying that for THIS particular forum, the tools really are the message.

Best,
Sharron

Sharron,
Maybe I'm still not making myself clear.
The tools are totally NOT the focus of the work we do.
The story is.
We spend less and less time on tools and more and more time on hearing and editing and telling the stories, no matter what medium they'll eventually be told in.

The story is everything.

-daniel