I am a fan of Pixar's storytelling style. I don't know if you have ever read their famous 22 rules of storytelling? If you have not, you must. Some of the tips are really super useful to newbies like me who are fascinated enough by the magic to want to be a magician. But for now one has to be grateful that I am getting to read the magician's book of spells before he returns. I make a quick note of rule number 2 in the Book of Spells.
How can you start to notice stories? Where do you need to go? What is the training that makes you a wonderful writer?
I would say it is the ability to observe the "truth" and then tell it well. Start listening to the stories in the lives of people. Tuck away the stories in your mind. Make notes and sketches.
Remember, what is normal is NOT a story.
THE Tale, the Parable, and the Fable are all common and popular modes of conveying instruction. The Tale is a story either founded on facts, or sometimes just a figment of imagination. There are no moral lessons expected to be learned. The Parable is intended to convey secret meanings. Fables are intended to impact human behavior through the stories and the characters. Good and bad characters are clearly demarcated. Aesops fables have become a part of our everyday language. The story of the thirsty crow dropping pebbles in a pitcher to raise up the level of water is one of the first lessons in innovation we learned. The moral of the story is explicitly stated at the end eg "Necessity is the mother of invention" in case of the Crow and the Pitcher story.
