When I was preparing to enter high school, my father told me I had to take Latin. His mother had been a Greek and Latin scholar at Wellesley, and later briefly taught these classic languages. I was not enthusiastic about Latin. I wanted to take French. My father and I … Continue reading
Category Archives: Storytelling: Other
Readers Theatre as a Storytelling Medium
Tonight I am making my theatrical “comeback,” after not having acted on the stage in some 35 years. I enjoyed acting as a teenager and thought I was kind of good at it. I always felt I might like to try it again someday. I auditioned for a production of … Continue reading
Defining Storytelling and Leveraging My Passion for It
Recently, storyteller Eric James Wolf turned the tables on me. I’ve conducted more than 57 Q&As with story practitioners — and now Eric has done a Q&A with me. I thought it would be worthwhile to excerpt some of it here because it explains some of my philosophies and approaches … Continue reading
A Plethora of Tips for Better Storytelling
Back in the spring, M. Amedeo Tumolillo, a.k.a., Flying Flashlight, published lists of storytelling tips by three well-known storytellers, the late novelist Kurt Vonnegut, playwright David Mamet, and screenwriter/screenwriting teacher Robert McKee. While the authors of these tips work(ed) primarily in the fiction realm, these tips work equally well for … Continue reading
A List Too Great Not to Reprint
In an exuberant blog entry called The Chemistry of Storytelling, Marguerite Grant has created an inspiring list that answers the question, “Why story?” We don’t just buy a product, we buy the story behind it. We don’t just join a company, we join because of its story. We don’t just … Continue reading
Pet-Loss Stories Sought
Robin Souers (who happens to be my sister) is writing an article or perhaps a series of articles on pet loss and grief. She’s seeking stories that are more than just facts. “I’m especially interested in the thoughts and feelings people experience when they lose a pet and how they … Continue reading
Story Collections! Facebook Stories, Mentor Stories, Stories of the Hidden World of Girls
I exult in uncovering and reporting on online venues that are repositories of stories. Here are three I just learned of: Facebook expects to add its 500 millionth user this week and intends to mark the occasion by focusing on user stories rather than numbers, reports Mashable. The social-media behemoth … Continue reading
Input Sought for Expanding the Center for Oral Narration
American journalist and academic James Borton wrote to me recently seeking assistance with his quest to expand he Center for Oral Narration at the University of South Carolina, Sumter. Here’s what he asked me to post: Academic seeks to review sample proposals for digital-storytelling projects, particularly community-based digital-story proposals that … Continue reading
Essential Story Elements: Are They All the Same Thing? And Do They Require Manipulation?
Read a couple of articles recently that talk about elements that make stories work. In Atticus Finch Would Not Approve: Why a Courtroom Full of Reptiles Is a Bad Idea, Stephanie West Allen, Jeffrey Schwartz, and Diane Wyzga offer Seven Tips For Creating the Motivating Story, in which they declare … Continue reading
Social-Security Stories Sought for Program’s 75th Anniversary
The Social Security Stories Project is a newly launched effort to gather stories about the importance of Social Security in our society, says a press release. The Social Security Stories Project is seeking story submissions from the public, with a goal of receiving 1,000 stories by the end of July. … Continue reading