Tonight at the Timp tellers, storytellers, meeting, Stephanie gave a presentation about how to find or create a story. She had some wonderful ideas. She illustrated her idea by first cutting out a snowflake out of a piece of paper. She made a comparison of how cutting little pieces of paper away from a folded piece of paper is similar to how we can create a story by collecting various little tidbits of experiences from our lives. We add sensory details plus other impressions. Gradually those impressions might start to form some kind of pattern that can be the nucleus of a story.
Just like a snowflake is unique as it is created by distinct elements of nature such as wind and temperature, so our personal experiences contribute to creating a unique story that is distinct from all others. Our personality contributes to its uniqueness.
Stephanie presented a series of photos with titles beneath them, that became a source of creativity for various stories and much of the rest of the evening was dedicated to various storytellers giving experiences that came to mind when we saw her illustrations. Here are some of the titles that she had beneath her illustrations.
First Place (where we lived)
First home
First love
First garden
First car
First ticket
First kiss
First concert
First day of school
First cooking
First move
First time on a plane
First best friend
First pet
First bike
First airplane ride
First road trip
First the broken bone
First surgery
First extreme grieving
First big joy
The objective is that all these events on the list can bring a memory to our mind and from that memory come stories. This list can also be used when writing a life story. Stephanie presented a wonderful way to come up with storytelling plots and even fictional stories. As I spent the evening listening to some delightful experiences and stories from fellow tellers I came to realize that I haven’t had the same type of experiences as my companions. I was often a solitary child and teenager. That might be why I’m so interested in writing fantasy and science fiction because sometimes experiences of the imagination can provide mental stimuli that I may not have experienced in real life.
Maybe this year’s challenge or new year’s resolution can be to try some new experiences to add to my bucket list.
When I consider my wish to have had some of the experiences of childhood and teenagers many others had, I need to remind myself that as an adult I have been able to experience some unique adventures. Some of my experiences include traveling to several countries and experiencing many sensory details of those countries. I find that I like three-dimensional sculptures over famous paintings that are 50 feet long and 12 feet high. I’ve collected some unique experiences while traveling to various countries in Central/South America and hiked around a number of Mayan ruins before they became off-limits. I’ve also enjoyed the experience of going down river rapids, repelling off of 30 foot cliff and swimming down an underground river.
I’ll have to see what new experiences I can gain for 2013.
If you are a storyteller or aspire to be a storyteller please feel free to give us some of your own ideas of how you come up with interesting and engaging ideas for your stories and share them in the comment section this blog. Thanks. This same invitation goes to authors or scriptwriters.
