Back at the beginning of Lockdown I watched the contents of my diary get sucked down a big hole leaving nothing but crossings-out and the question ‘What do I do now?’ I had been offering some storytelling coaching in a fairly ad hoc way so I decided to try and do some more of that. I put out information about a 4 sessions for the price of 3 coaching offer and within twenty-four hours all the slots were full! There are some more online storytelling training options at the bottom of this post.

My gallant cohort wrestled with, cajoled and teased their stories into shape and I was delighted by the variety of material, the reasons for telling and the uniqueness of style and voice that emerged. A couple of months down the line, when it was all over, I had another look at my notes thought that others might like to know about it too. So here we go…

Storytelling is the quintessential social art form so it is strange that we know so little about each other’s practice. I was also in a privileged position of working one-to-one with people who wanted to really get to grips with their storytelling practice but none of the cohort ever got to witness the others’ work. This blog post is, in part, a way of redressing that imbalance

What does storytelling look like when it works?
‘While the story is told, the jointly created ‘fictive’ world of the story becomes more real than the ‘real’ world.’ That’s what we are aiming for and, frankly, it’s a bit of a tall order, as anyone who’s tried it will tell you, but it can be done.

Make the Story Real
Work out what your storytelling tools are and apply them to the story you’re working on. You approach the work with rigour, clarity and joy. When you’re ready, you share your work with like-minded colleagues for some supportive and insightful co-coaching before telling your story to a rapt and responsive audience.

Storytelling Chops
“I get it. So what are these storytelling tools then?”
It’s dead simple…
You’ve got your basic storytelling modes - Action, Description, Information, Dialogue and Comment. Each one has a clear and obvious function and each one also has a preference for a particular type of gaze.

For example, description is all about the sensation detail of the story and when you’re in it the forward motion of the story is forgotten as we sink into the sensations aroused by the storytelling. The storyteller’s gaze is predominately in the scene which is suspended between themselves and the audience. With action, on the other hand, there is an embodiment of the activity of whoever or whatever the protagonist is and the doing of it is the most important thing. Embodiment can vary from between ‘marvellously over the top’ to ‘liminal’. If you use a lot of action telling your story will be over very quickly!

For structure I use a chunking system similar to the bare-bones pattern that many people use. I work out exactly where the beginning and end of a chunk is and when I practice each chunk begins with a launch, followed by a development and finishes with a close. After that, there is a gap in which you put absolutely nothing. The first few times you do it it may feel like a yawning chasm but stick with it. That gap gives your work articulation, flexibility and responsiveness.

I could go on for a very long time about storytelling tools but I’m resisting that temptation. There is more information about the tricks of the trade in the subscribers’ section of my website. To get access to that you need to sign-up.

But You Already Know All This
Storytelling works because we already do it in our everyday lives. All the modes, the structuring and the sense of storytelling event already exist in social storytelling. When we are allowed to be our normal social selves again, just watch the people around you. You will know intuitively which groups are just chatting and which ones have gone into story mode. If you look for them you will spot the different modes, use of difference gazes. You will notice how a social group will gather into a storytelling huddle and then release back into a social group, often with a laugh or a sigh. I’ve done activities based around this in Norway, Italy, the Middle East, the Far East and Brazil and, so far, everyone is the same.

Practice is not Storytelling and Storytelling is not Practice
I’ll just come out and say it. Most storytellers are rubbish at practice. If I send people off to work on a story individually they usually pace the floor, looking down and mutter to themselves. The principle of practice is ‘you get better at what you do’. So, if pacing and muttering is how you practice, that is what is you will get really good at. Is that a wise investment of your time and energy?

There is usually a number of musicians in the groups I lead and I ask them what practice sounds like. “Terrible” they say, “Awful, painful”. I ask them why they do it and they say, “Well, to get better, of course.” Then I ask, “And do you enjoy practicing.” And they tell me “We love it, it’s the best part of the day!”

Practice is not storytelling. It is slower, clearer and uses one tool at a time. It strives for efficiency and articulation. It thrives on improvisation. It is a patient and tender meeting of us, as artists, and the material of our work. And it should be the best part of our day.

Quantum Practice
And that is all there is to it. However when we give a complex system like storytelling a prod with one of our storytelling tools it is not to get a specific effect, it is to see what happens. By giving the story our focused attention things happen that we cannot predict and that is where the real genius and potential of storytelling lies - creating the quantum effects that are above and beyond the interventions we are making. We see what the main character sees, we feel the heat of the sun, the swell of the waves, we fall in love and ride over mountains on an eagle’s back.

We are not trying to make an effect, because if we do, we will just come over as someone trying to make an effect. We are making the story real. That’s our job.

I’ve got some storytelling training opportunities coming up…

An Online Storytelling Pilot Course This is a stripped down version of a course that will appear in a fully fledged form in a couple of months or so. All the places are now booked for the course and there is a substantial waiting list. Email me if you would like more information about the full course, which will be Three Month Stortyelling Programme starting later in the year. Subscribe to my mailouts if you want to get early info.

Cwrs Chwedleua Cymraeg An introductory course in storytelling for those who siarad Cymraeg/speak Welsh. Hala ebost ataf os oes diddordeb ‘da chi

One to One Coaching Yes it will happen again but no dates available yet. I’ll keep you posted.

Unfortunately we have taken the decision to cancel this years courses at Bleddfa because of Covid-19.

If you want to be kept in the know about courses and coaching sign-up for my updates and remember to tick the ‘coaching and courses’ option.

Cheers - Michael