Story Vs. Narrative

Find out the core difference

Hello friend,

How are you? I hope May is off to a good start for you.

Here is a confusion I often run into when talking to clients and students.

Yeah! I’m talking about this million-dollar question that keeps popping up:

What’s the difference between a story and a narrative?

So far I have come across a wide range of interpretations:

Some use narrative as a catch-all adjective to praise a good video they liked, while others think there is no difference and use it interchangeably.

I also found other references that claim a story is the sequence of events and a narrative is how you tell the story; what details you leave out, and what aspects you emphasize.

Interesting! Yet, still missing the mark.

This is crucial!

Why?

Knowing the difference will help you create a much more coherent and consistent visual storytelling strategy that is better aligned with your brand promise and thus better received by your audience.

Once you get the distinct role each term plays I bet you'll start singing:

“Oh wow! I can see clearly now the fog is gone…” 🎶

Ok, let’s clear out the fog

I’ll start with a simple example.