Author: Craig
-
Storytelling tip 6: You only get a few hooks, so use them wisely
By hooks, I mean lines that stand out (and pull the listener in) because they are clever, or lyrical, or profound. Writerly lines. They may introduce a powerful metaphor or capture a meme. The tension is that if you use too many hooks, you will definitely sound too writerly—very few people speak in hooks. So…
-
Storytelling tip 5: Think about leaving pathos in the wings awhile
Personal storytelling is, by its very nature, a manipulative art. You want your audience to care deeply about what happened to you, and to experience something of what you experienced. And your audience wants to care. Your listeners are there for the vicarious experience your story offers—whether it is hilarity, wonder, emotional empathy, a combination…
-
Storytelling tip 4: Dump your info at the beginning—or not
Storytelling tip 4: Dump your info at the beginning—or not
-
Storytelling tip #3: Don’t be too writerly—unless you are
A common dis on personal stories, especially those that have been scripted in advance, is that they are too writerly. And for good reason. The idea is to tell believable stories, not to create high art. You can avoid sounding writerly by choosing short Anglo-Saxon words; composing simple, declarative sentences; avoiding obvious contrivances like long…
-
Tip for Storytellers #2: Pay attention to tone throughout
Tip for Storytellers #2: Pay attention to tone throughout. You—the narrator you, the storyteller you—are a character in the story.
-
Storytelling tip #1: Start with a script–but not a sacred text
Tip #1 from my ten tips for storytellers: Start with a script–but not a sacred text
-
The Fox Demon
In the summer of 1986, eighteen months after my HIV diagnosis, my friend Susan said she wanted to drive to Seattle. “I don’t have anyone to go with,” she said, “but if I have to, I’ll go alone.” That was all the invitation I needed. Little did I know that during the trip, a Japanese…
-
Burning Toast
When I asked my daughter why she was being so uncooperative, she looked at me for a moment, looked in the direction of the den where her mother was recuperating from the latest round of chemo, and then went into the kitchen to get a pen. When she came back, she started writing something on…
-
Jason and the Hells Angels
We my step- foster sister showed up claiming the Hells Angels had killed on of her dogs and were coming back for the other, we sat around the table and discussed options. One possibility was for someone to go home with Diane and stay up all night to keep watch—and to fight off the Hells…
-
A Great Disturbance in the Force
NOTE: I first performed this piece on Feb. 6, 2013 at Fireside Storytelling in San Francisco. The theme was “Bad Medicine.” One morning many years ago, I was standing over the sink, getting water for my coffee, and I was overcome by the sudden bout of sobbing—that shoulders-heaving, unable-to-fill-my-lungs, abdominal-muscles-cramping, random-guttural-sounds-escaping-from-my-throat kind of sobbing. As…