Farmers harvest paddy and dump the grain and chaff into old, rectangle-shaped wooden boxes. The hard task begins the next morning when they have to separate the grain from the chaff.

I was reminded of this while searching for books on storytelling until I found a golden grain, Bernadette Jiwa’s book “What great storytellers know.”

Jiwa teaches us how to tell stories with mastery. Great stories build empathy and trust with our audiences.

Yet, in our everyday digital storytelling we seek tangible metrics: sales, clicks, likes, votes and butts in seats. Jiwa warns us that we don’t quantify the intangible metrics in great stories: the metrics of “belonging, trust or true love”

“We have become impatient to see results. We don’t allow time to cultivate a sense of belonging,” she says.

Jiwa encourages us to write stories that help people be what they want to be. “When we help people take back some of the permission they deny themselves, we are doing our best, most meaningful work.”

This book is for any curious storyteller. You learn how to scaffold your stories so that they make sense and engage your audience.