The joy of storytelling

Storytelling is an art. It can take many forms and mean various things to different people. It may conjure up images of friends sharing tall tales around a campfire or parents reading picture books to their children. 

Storytelling has always been an important part of human existence. 

It can help us make sense of the world, escape our mundane lives, cause us to laugh out loud and bring us to tears. For me, storytelling has been a path back to creativity, a way to shake off self-doubt, put my ideas into the universe and be vulnerable. 

When I think of great storytellers, my mind goes to renowned authors like Shakespeare, Tolkien, Jane Austen, Stephen King, and J K Rowling, but I love turning the first page of a new book by an author I’ve never read before and seeing where it takes me. 

Lyrics, music, artwork and photos can also tell compelling stories.

Australian singer/songwriter Paul Kelly is regarded as a master storyteller and then there’s the beautifully crafted music and lyrics of Crowded House. These artists weave stories that draw us in and create an immediate emotional connection.

Many years ago, I was lucky enough to visit the Louvre in Paris and was excited to see the Mona Lisa in person. Don’t hate me, but I was disappointed. Sure, it’s a great artwork, but it didn’t pull me in, but I was captivated by Van Gough’s sunflower painting on tour at the Australian National Gallery in Canberra. The way Van Gough captured light and colour was extraordinary and in my mind, I pictured myself lying in a field of sunflowers, my face warmed by sunshine.

I come from a long line of storytellers. My father spins brilliant yarns and my great-grandfather Fardie was a schoolteacher and storyteller and encouraged me from an early age to write. Growing up I loved creating scary stories and sharing them with my cousins and at age nine I wrote my first story, The Creepy Castle.

Today it can be difficult to differentiate between stories told by real people and those generated by artificial intelligence. AI has been used by tech-savvy students (ChatGPT) for years to write their essays and some people use it for job applications or creating resumes. Working out what is a genuine human creation can be difficult.

I worry that the creative efforts of humans are now at risk. This to me is a frightening storyline. Rest assured all the content on my site has been crafted by me, warts and all and there is more to come.

It is with great excitement, and trepidation, that I will soon release my biggest story to date – my first novel, Bad Country. It’s a story that has been in my head for years and was shaped by my experiences growing up on farms and later working with law enforcement and national agencies. Set in the fictional small town of Wallaby Rock, a central theme of Bad Country is psychogeography.

What if the land holds onto memories? Memories that seep deep into the soil and soul of the places where they’ve occurred. This was my inspiration for Bad Country, where a young woman who possesses the gift of second sight has the power to end a chain of events spanning centuries, but only if she finally accepts who she is.

I hope you can support my work by buying a copy of Bad Country and if you enjoy it, drop me a line at kimulrickwriter@gmail.com or share a review on my site or on my Instagram or Facebook accounts. I’d love to hear from you.