Saturday, August 4, 2012

Campfire Stories

I am a huge fan of the oral storytellers.  It is almost like being around a campfire or getting a bedtime story read.  You guys know this about me.

When I tell my stories, there are differences.  While most people tell stories that are generational gifts, I tell stories no one has ever told before.  I make them up as I go.  I don't write down details before or during but just picture the plot as the words tumble out.  This, I have found, is a very healthy exercise for your imagination.  It is also one of the hardest creative things I do.

I take two minutes of preparation time to fix an event or person in my head and just go with it.  It is generally a full story unless time doesn't permit me to finish.  I have performed stories for a number of people, public and private, and have been told it is an amazing thing.  I don't think so but it feels good having someone believe I memorized a tale to tell beforehand.  Each time I tell a story, it is a new story.  There are no different versions of the same one.

Have you ever became a storyteller on the fly?  If not, you really should.  It stretches you in amazing ways.
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I have updated my "Poetry Corner" page with three new poems and my publications page to include the one from Poetry Quarterly.

5 comments:

  1. Hey Jennifer! That's great you have such a gift with oral story telling. I wish I could. I'm not good on the fly at all. That's why I'm a writer--I have to express myself on paper or it just gets all jumbled and doesnt make any sense.
    Campfire tales are the best!

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  2. You should totally take a video of yourself doing an oral story and post it on here. I used to make up stories when I was a kid and tell them to my friends on the playground but I don't think I could do it now like I use to.

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  3. That's an amazing idea! I'd like to try it, but don't feel I am nearly as creative as I used to be. I'd like to hear one of these stories in the future.

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  4. I used to do this A LOT when I was younger. Not nearly enough anymore.

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  5. I have been trying very hard to just do a reading of a few poems for this blog, much less a story! lol

    I get very nervous using media for some reason. Everyone who knows me in life swears I am a social butterfly...

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