Before you come at me with comments that all writers are essentially storytellers, NO! NO! NO! NO! I shall tell you why.
Being a writer, yeah you need to be an even greater storyteller, but NOT EVERY WRITER can pull off storytelling of their novels, the same as the do with their writing.
Some storytellers are NOT great writers, Some writers are NOT great storytellers, but there are some few writers that can pull off both very well.
So, my question to you all, do you know any published authors who are good storytellers, but terrible-ish authors or is a good writer, but not a great storyteller?
It’s the different between a writer and a storyteller.
A writer in the grand-schemes of things knows the craft, the grammar, the context, and how to write a story, which is harder to pull off for most.
A storyteller tells the story, but the way they do it is how to grab the reader. Olden days, storytellers grabbed in a crowd by getting immersed into their tales. Storytellers just tell a story in a way that people find themselves in awe of it. That is also too hard for some writers to do.
Writer AND Storytellers who are great at both (depending on the author) can write the story in the way it is told and knows the craft in a way that makes the story literally comes to life.
NOT all authors can pull that off so well, though that depends solely on the reader.
Brandon Sanderson. His stories are good but they’re hindered by terribly mediocre prose. In fact, I think most of the SFF genre suffers this issue. But that’s not necessarily a flaw of the author; it’s “science fiction prose” a specific writing style.
I’ve seen:
Undeveloped ideas with bad writing (blind cat story)
Good lore with mediocre plot and okay writing (The Markswoman by Rati Mehrotra).
I haven’t seen good writing with bad plot.
I’ve read one where the plot and writing is okay. I might not like the characters and their annoying relationships particularly, but the world building was enough to keep me going somewhat (Star Daughter, Shveta Thakrar).
Someone I knew on another Writers Site said that I was a Storyteller firstly, and a Writer secondly…
I knew not how to take that comment at first, but I accepted it in kind manner…
I have since realised that I indeed just wish to tell a story, and that anything else is just worldbuilding for me… And that is how I approach my works now…
