When I was a kid, I often heard the word “nifty” in reference to things like fancy cars and outrageous fashion. It was a word that meant a variety of things, all of them good and attractive. As time passed, I heard the word used in a wider range of conversations, including nifty evenings out, nifty concerts, and nifty songs. Later still, it cropped up in conversations about more “cultural” experiences: nifty books, nifty poems, and nifty stories.
Whenever I heard the word I assumed it meant something good, something attractive. However, it was only when I found myself using the word in my description of my own stories that I needed to define it. Actually, I hit the books when a listener said my stories were nifty. The current Wiktionary defines the word as “good; a general term for anything that is good, useful or beneficial.” The standard reference Compact Oxford Dictionary states: “particularly good, effective, or stylish.”
What’s so nifty about nifty stories? The stories I tell always have a message, a lesson, a bit of perspective, and they are, indeed, particularly good and rather effective at making their point. You could say that my idea of nifty stories is stories that enlighten as well as entertain. I look for stories with certain underlying values that help the listener to set their internal compass when sailing through life.
Any story with a moral at the end sends the listener a clear message. It teaches by example. On the other hand, many stories are not so obvious in the lessons they offer. The characters may act out the meaning of the story. It is up to the listener to decipher the message. And different listeners will carry away different messages. Stories such as these are inclined to be more widely popular. The subtler lessons tend to come from longer tales. One can learn many lessons from epic stories. Think of the difference between an Aesop fable and a tale from the Arabian Nights. Which one do you prefer to hear? Personally, I like to find my own message when listening to a story. Check out my World Full of Stories and Fables in Four Minutes CDs for some examples of nifty stories with more subtle lessons.
Nifty stories are stories that teach. Nifty stories are memorable. Nifty stories travel beyond the culture from which they originate. Nifty stories are always in vogue. Stories such as these hold the listener’s attention long enough to send their message effectively. Nifty stories are worth their weight in gold!
Posted in