We’re a week away from our next show, “Temptation!” I can’t wait to hear how you overcame or gave in to temptation. Giving in usually leads to a better story unless you overcame the temptation to push someone off a cliff. That could also be a good story.
Earlier this year, Cliff told a story about surprising himself by moving across the country without a plan. The theme that night was surprises, but his story could easily have fit in with temptation. Last month, I told a story about not wanting to accept money for doing something I loved. I didn’t write it with the theme of temptation in mind, but I could have.
If you’re struggling to come up with a story, think of a time when you made a decision. Almost any decision can be seen as a temptation of some kind.
Do you remember a time when you decided to shoplift something? Temptation!
Do you remember telling someone you had a crush on them? Temptation!
Last week, I gave in to the temptation of looking up my symptoms on the internet. I should not have given in to that temptation. Now I have to call my gastro guy and tell him what Dr. Google said.
Here’s a story I just fell in love with. It’s about a teacher who was tempted to give up mediating an argument between two kids.
Our free online workshop is this Sunday at 1 pm. It’s a friendly, low-stakes place to work on a story with others who are working on their own. You get to help them, and they get to help you. If you’re thinking of a moment but not sure if it could become a story, come to the workshop and throw it out there. Dave and Colleen are sweet hosts and love helping people flesh out ideas.
This month’s theme is a juicy one. Temptation. I’m nervous just thinking about it. I can’t wait to hear about a temptation you’re still thinking about years later. Was it a person? A purchase? A powder? Did you give in or hold off?
Once, I gave in to temptation to hire a singing telegram company to give my two-week notice at the bank where I was working. I even wrote the song to include the word “putz” because it rhymed with the bank president’s name, Strutz.
If I were going to tell that story, I’d start with the moment I should have realized what a terrible idea it was. It was when the woman who showed up to sing the song read the lyrics I’d handed her and said, “Oh, honey, I can’t sing this.”
I said, “No, it’ll be great. It’s funny. Sing it to the tune of ‘Yesterday.’”
She said, “Baby, you really don’t want me to do this.”
I said, “Don’t worry. They love me here. They’re all gonna laugh.”
Of all the temptations I’ve given in to, this wasn’t the worst, but it was probably the dumbest. I’ll never forget seeing the difference between what I thought would happen and what actually happened.
Almost any memory can lead to a story. The easiest way to come up with a story is to start with a moment that meant something to you. Once you have that, write down all the memories that have something to do with that moment, both before and after it. Then choose 2-3 of those memories to be the story.
Of course, our themes are just suggestions, so you can tell a story about almost anything as long as it follows our usual rules and guidelines.
Whatever the story, we’d love to hear it. Remember that a story isn’t just a series of things that happened. There needs to be something at stake that you overcome by the end.
Practice the story out loud to as many people as possible and time yourself when you’re doing it. Please don’t get onstage if you haven’t practiced your story. The audience is giving you their time and attention. It’s not fair to them if you get up there and try to wing it.
All stories have to be under eight minutes. Stories can be as short as you want, but no longer than eight minutes. Stories also have to be clean in both language and content. Send me an email if you have any questions about that.
Our free monthly online workshop is a great place to get feedback on your story.
Last Thursday’s show was just what I needed. it was 90 minutes of laughs, gasps, and applause. We had two first-timers who did fantastic, and a returning teller who finally told us the end of the story she told with us back in our Olive Way Starbucks days.
We talked about falling in love with mulch, falling in love with a guy covered in blue paint, and falling in love with a culture that’s in your DNA but not your daily life. So much love!
Chris and Gretchen told stories of working with difficult bosses who surprised them in the end with their humanity. Sue told us about a prom from 45 years ago, and Deb told us about the time her mother surprised her by letting her go to Russia when she was 14.
Megan and Sam did great as our first-time tellers. I hope they come back and tell more stories with us. I’m so happy when people discover storytelling with us. I may be a little biased, but I think FGS is the best place to tell your first story. There’s a lot of love in that room.
Melissa told the sweet story of her friendship with two eagles in Sammamish, who, I’m pretty sure, are due a finder’s fee for her new place there.
Ashley continued her streak of telling stories about things you couldn’t pay me a million dollars to do. This time it was descending into the pit of hell. Well, that’s my personal take on it. Technically, she rappelled into a 600-foot hole, crawled for an hour on her belly, and then did the whole thing in reverse. Most of it in the dark. This is how some people escape Mordor. For Ashley, it’s just another weekend with friends.
Tracey showed us what life is like with twins and in the process reminded us why she’s won so many Moth slams. I’ve seen her tell dozens of times, and there hasn’t been a single story where I knew where it was going.
Our last teller was me with a story I’ve been working on for a lot of years. It stayed in my notebook for 10 years while I tried to decide what it was about. Over the years it got bigger and bigger and at one point included Monica Lewinsky, an enforcer from the Crips, a princess from the Middle East, the United Nations General Assembly, and a bowl of macaroni and cheese. I guess you can say it kind of got away from me.
But after some deep thought over the last three years, I finally figured out what it was all about. It all came together when I discovered what the last line should be. The Moth and others often say you should know your last line first. It’s good advice. If you know what your last line is, it’s easier to know what to leave in and what to leave out of a story.
But sometimes you don’t know what the last line is and you just gotta plow ahead with the story and hope it comes to you. Ten years after the story happened in real life, and three years after I told the first version of it, the line finally came to me, lying in bed a couple weeks ago and going over the story for the millionth time. I don’t know if this story was worth working on for 10 years, but I’m glad I can finally move on.
Thanks to everyone who came out and cheered for all the tellers. I met some cool new people that night. I hope they come back and tell with us. The best part of each show is meeting people afterward. Stories are just a way for us to connect. That’s my real goal for FGS. Get out of the house, hear some great stories, meet people you never would have run into otherwise, and maybe make a friend.
I hope everyone who came out that night heard one story that stayed with them on the way home and talked to one person they hope to see again next month.
If you weren’t able to make it to our show, I’ll be onstage with this Thursday with living legend Auntmama.
Our next show is on July 16. The theme is Temptation. I’ll get the Meetup invite out as soon as I can. In the meantime, enjoy the sun, have fun watching the soccer games, and look for moments in your life that can lead to stories.
Yes, it’s the return of Auntmama’s StoryTable. It ran for 15 years at the old Madison Way Starbucks. COVID knocked it down for a bit, but it’s back, and we’re all better for it.
I’ll be sharing a new story, but the real show is Auntmama and the aunties Kathya Alexander and Olubayo Johnson reading and telling their own stories. It’s been years since I’ve seen all three together, and I’m excited they’re back at it again.
Are you excited for our show this Thursday? Can you picture yourself sliding gracefully into one of our 109 spaces of free parking?
I honestly get excited every time I pull into that lot and don’t have to study a sign that says parking is free 2am – 5am every other Tuesday on leap years ending in 5. When you come to Fresh Ground Stories, you just park your car and walk into the building like it’s 1952.
Here is one of my favorite stories to get you inspired:
I also want to share a great new project I just heard about from Ed, one of our tellers from last month. He’s involved with a project called “Belongings,” a short docuseries about ordinary objects from people’s lives. They record people sharing short stories about these little things that mean a lot. I love this idea.
“Belongings explores the emotional lives of ordinary objects. A watch. A chair. A photograph. A stone. The things people keep are rarely just things. They carry memory, grief, identity, history, and love.
Through intimate documentary storytelling, Belongings invites people to share the objects that have stayed with them and the stories those objects still hold.”
They are looking for story submissions, so sit back and look around the room for an object that means something to you. There’s a form to fill out on their website where you can submit your story. This weekend I’m going to wander from one end of my house to the other looking for something that tugs at my heart and then figure out a way to talk about it.
In the meantime, I hope to see you this Thursday on the top floor of the Swedish Club at 7pm for our next show. The theme is, “Stories of someone surprising you.”
Fresh Ground Stories 