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writercises2012-01-31 07:28 pm
mbarker.livejournal.com) wrote in writercises2012-01-31 07:28 pm
Entry tags:
FILL: The little daily stories
Original Posting 25 Jan 2012
"Good story telling, either verbal or written, is not always natural."
Very true. I'm not at all sure it is ever natural. But...
I'm not sure how to say this best.
Yep, good story writing, good story telling, is hard. It takes time, it takes practice, it takes trying things out and watching what happens and then thinking about it and trying again and again and again -- it's work! And just like every other mastery... well, the research shows that 10 years and a million words will get you started. So it isn't something that just happens naturally.
But, on the other hand, we do talk a lot. Maybe we're more patient with each other than we should be, but we do talk and listen, helping each other out, drawing out the interesting points, laughing when there's something funny, making it easier to tell that story about the time when...
And it may not be the greatest story, or even particularly good, but it's a story.
All I meant was that instead of trying too hard to tell deep, meaningful stories, maybe it is easier to start with the little daily stories.
I don't want to get into the question of whether everyone can tell stories or not. Although, I have to admit, as a teacher, part of what I'm supposed to do is try to unlock whatever abilities are there and help build them up as far as possible, so I've got a vested interest in at least assuming that just about everyone can do more than we might expect -- although what's needed to get them started and keep them going to the point where they are reasonably good at it can be tough. But the good news is that the folks around here (WRITERS, that is) want to tell stories -- and this is a game where desire can certainly help push things along, even though it also takes a passel of hard work and practice.
So! What the heck. Sit down, pull up a friend, and try telling them one of your daily stories, the ones that you talk to your friends about, the ones that you write in letters, the ones that you tell over a cup of coffee. That's all I'm saying.
(Do people still write letters? Someone must, right?)
"Good story telling, either verbal or written, is not always natural."
Very true. I'm not at all sure it is ever natural. But...
I'm not sure how to say this best.
Yep, good story writing, good story telling, is hard. It takes time, it takes practice, it takes trying things out and watching what happens and then thinking about it and trying again and again and again -- it's work! And just like every other mastery... well, the research shows that 10 years and a million words will get you started. So it isn't something that just happens naturally.
But, on the other hand, we do talk a lot. Maybe we're more patient with each other than we should be, but we do talk and listen, helping each other out, drawing out the interesting points, laughing when there's something funny, making it easier to tell that story about the time when...
And it may not be the greatest story, or even particularly good, but it's a story.
All I meant was that instead of trying too hard to tell deep, meaningful stories, maybe it is easier to start with the little daily stories.
I don't want to get into the question of whether everyone can tell stories or not. Although, I have to admit, as a teacher, part of what I'm supposed to do is try to unlock whatever abilities are there and help build them up as far as possible, so I've got a vested interest in at least assuming that just about everyone can do more than we might expect -- although what's needed to get them started and keep them going to the point where they are reasonably good at it can be tough. But the good news is that the folks around here (WRITERS, that is) want to tell stories -- and this is a game where desire can certainly help push things along, even though it also takes a passel of hard work and practice.
So! What the heck. Sit down, pull up a friend, and try telling them one of your daily stories, the ones that you talk to your friends about, the ones that you write in letters, the ones that you tell over a cup of coffee. That's all I'm saying.
(Do people still write letters? Someone must, right?)