One of the things you end up doing a lot of as a storyteller is going back over your life to look for more stories. For some reason, the memories I always seem to focus on are breakups, failures, and death in that order. Breakups and failures being infinitely more painful than death. I only throw death in there to lighten things up.
I used to dredge up the same memories before I got into storytelling but it was only to reinforce my belief that misery was the mortar that held my life together. But once I started looking at those experiences as the basis for stories, I began to realize how often something good came out of those terrible times. It wasn’t until I started looking at certain moments as starting points instead of ending points that I was able to see all the good places I had been led to. Breakups led to new love. Failures led to new perspectives. Death often led to freedom.
I would love to hear some stories about how tragedies and disasters in your life led to something good. The tragedies don’t have to be big. They can be a small as a wrong turn that led to the place you should have been heading to all along. Or they can be as big as falling in love with the dentist who gave you a root canal. I don’t recommend that as a way to find a mate but it could be the only dating site covered by insurance.
We did a show on this theme five years ago and I think it’s time we brought it back. The show is February 18th at 7 pm PST on Zoom.
Remember to practice out loud on as many people as possible, and time yourself when you’re doing it. All stories have to be under 8 minutes. Stories also have to be clean in both language and content. The rest of the rules and guidelines are below:
https://freshgroundstories.com/2013/01/22/storytelling-rules-and-guidelines/
Workshops are a great way to get feedback on a story you’re working on. Here are two I highly recommend:
Both are free and run by experienced tellers who have told many times at FGS. I’m also available to help on stories. Send me an email and we can set up a call.
If you want to tell a story at the show, email me at freshgroundstories@gmail.com as soon as possible so I can get you on the list.
I send out the Zoom registration link to everyone in the Meetup group the Monday before each show. You must register for the show in order to attend. After you register, Zoom will send you a link to the actual show. Each link is unique to the person who registered so you won’t be able to share it with anyone.
Feel free to RSVP on Meetup if you want the automatic reminders, but I’ll be sending the Zoom link to everyone in the group regardless of your RSVP.
We only have 100 spots in each show (98 actually since me and my assistant each take one spot) so the first 98 people to register for the show will be the only ones who can attend.
Hope to see a bunch of you on the 18th!
Paul
freshgroundstories@gmail.com
Fresh Ground Stories 