From the Page to the Stage

CREATION
A journey from the page to the stage

by Kelly Swanson
President, North Carolina Storytelling Guild www.ncstoryguild.org
August, 2006

I promised as President of the North Carolina Storytelling Guild, that I would do a monthly article on a topic of interest to storytellers. You can read the whole thing by going to my site. Otherwise, here are the bits and pieces.

YOUR STORY

Stop fanning yourself. This is not a religious discussion on creation. I mean creation in the artistic sense. We are artists. We create. We tell a story. Whether we dance, paint, sing, or play Beethoven’s Fifth on the jaw harp, we tell a story. A story about life. And when we tell this story we evoke an emotion from our audience. We take them to places in their own life or to distant lands where cultures are different but the emotions are the same. We are given our gifts for a reason. Our voices were meant to tell a story. And as artists, we spend our lives finding out what stories are in us to tell. It is important that you find YOUR story, YOUR message to the world, YOUR voice.

Note: A great book you should read on the kinds of stories you should tell: The Story Factor by Annette Simmons. Here's a link to her site: www.groupprocessconsulting.com

THE PROCESS STARTS INSIDE OF YOU

It starts with searching inside yourself (an ongoing process by the way) to find out what messages you have to share with the world. What stories your heart speaks.

WRITING WHAT YOU KNOW

Professional speakers are taught to speak about what they know, what life has taught them. I encourage you as artists to do the same. And to do so, we must at least wonder what our lives have taught us. What lessons have we learned? What sage wisdom have we stored up? What do we have to share with the world?

Note: Pamela King Cable is a southern writer who has really tapped into the heart of writing what you know. Here's her site: http://www.pamelacable.com/

THINGS I HAVE LEARNED IN MY LIFE

If you’re like me, upon hearing this, you went “huh?” and wondered if maybe you should have filled out that Wal-Mart application after all. I went so far as to get out a piece of paper and write across the top, “Things I have learned in my life….” And I stared at it for like fifteen minutes and then went to get some chocolate and an aspirin for my brain cramp. But I came back to it and decided, oh what the heck, just start writing. And my list was started. I gave myself no rules, no limits, no boundaries. I told myself it could be serious, funny, religious, earth shattering or silly. The point was just to write and keep writing without thinking. To write about what my life has taught me. And I knew (I was right of course) that in this process some things would start to take birth. And I was right.

MAKE SURE THE LISTENER KNOWS YOUR MESSAGE

Make sure your listener knows the message. I am surprised at how often the teller isn’t even clear on the message, much less the audience. I know it sounds weird and maybe hard to understand. But nobody said creation was going to be easy. But you will be glad you went to the trouble because this is how you begin to find your voice, your attitude, the kinds of stories you want to tell. Shoot, you may even have the courage to start writing your own stories.

STARTING A LIFE JOURNAL

I want you to get a journal. Today. By journal, I mean a notebook with paper in it that can not be used for grocery lists or notes to yourself. Call it your life journal. This is not a diary. I repeat, this is not a diary. This is a place to start recording stuff. By stuff, I mean anything that gets your attention. I mean scenes that touch your heart, descriptions of people on the subway, funny ways to describe a drooling dog with three legs, what it feels like to get older, rants about voice mail and customer service, whatever you want to write. You don’t even have to write in complete sentences.

Keep the journal with you at all times. If you’re like me, you’ll have several in different places - your car, by your bed, in your purse. And I’m warning you to write this stuff down as soon as you think of it. You will not remember it tomorrow. What we’re doing here is recording the details in life so that when we sit down to write a story, we’re not trying to think of things off the top of our head. We can refer to our notebooks which over time will grow to be grand collections of material to use in our art.

Here's a thought: why not create a blog and let your daily entries be your journal? I know. I'm a genius.

JOURNAL TOPICS

On some of the pages of the journal, give yourself a topic and write about it. Here are some of the topics I have used in mine:
· Funny names of people and towns (internet and phone book is a great place to look)
· Funny names of businesses
· Places I remember growing up
· My first love
· What it felt like to be a teenager
· If I had a week left to live
· Ways to describe a man with a long neck
· Things you don’t see in church
· The dinner table at a our family reunions

FINDING YOUR OWN VOICE

Your main goal in storytelling is to tell the story in your own voice. To be different than the twenty-five other people who may be telling that same story. To be different than the storyteller they just saw who told the same story. The key lies in what makes you different. And the details will be what make you different. The way you describe things, the funny voices you use, the way you have of seeing the world from where you sit. This will give flavor to your storytelling. When you tell a story you are telling it in your own way. Whether you ever put it on paper, like it or not, you’re writing. You’re creating. You are taking the words and making them your own.

IF YOU STILL DON'T GET IT

Email me (Kelly@kellyswanson.net) and I will be happy to respond. I suggest that you start your journal first, get used to it for a little while, and then if you still have questions let me know.

SHARING THE JOURNEY

I’m excited to walk along this journey with you - the journey to discover your unique voice. Trust me, you have a gift. You were given this gift for a reason. We need your voice. Until we meet again, happy creating!

Kelly Swanson

It's all fun and games 'til the hair gets messed up

www.kellyswanson.net

kelly@kellyswanson.net