I hope we have some late bloomers in the group. I myself am a late bloomer. If I were a flower, I’d be one of those century plants that only open once every hundred years. 

But I can’t be the only one who takes a long time to get around to things. Did you go back to school when you were 50? Did you get married for the first time at 60? Did you leave your spouse after 20 years and join the circus? 

Why did it take you so long to make that leap? Was it fear? Responsibilities?  How did it feel afterward? Was it worth the wait? Whatever it was, we’d love to hear about it at our next show on July 17.

Remember, all stories need to have something at stake. Ask yourself what obstacle you were trying to overcome, and build the story from there. Practice the story out loud on 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 8 minutes. Stories can be as short as you want, but not over 8 minutes. Stories also have to be clean in both language and content. Send me an email if you have any questions about that.

The rest of the rules and guidelines are below:

Storytelling Rules and Guidelines

Our free monthly online workshop is a great place to get feedback on your story. 

https://www.meetup.com/Fresh-Ground-Stories-Storytelling-Workshop/

I’m also happy to help anyone with a story they’re working on. Email me, and we can set up a phone call.

See you Thursday, July 17, at 7 pm at the Seattle Swedish Club 1920 Dexter Ave, N Seattle, WA 98109

Paul
Freshgroundstories at gmail dot com

Last Thursday, every single story made me smile. We started the night with what happens when you get too close to the wrong end of a hippo, and ended the evening with a sweet, ethereal story of a father fading away from Alzheimer’s. We also had our first story duet with Bob and his sister Kate, taking turns on the mic, telling different parts of the same story from their own perspective. Such a night!

Special thanks to all the newcomers in the audience that night. I know most of you had no idea what you were getting into. I hope each of you heard at least one story that touched you. 

When I got home, I saw that I had enough left in Mr. Coffee to give one more person a free annual membership to the Swedish Club. The first person to email me will get it! 

Our next show is July 17. The theme is “It’s Never Too Late.” I’ll get the invite out as soon as I can. Themes are just suggestions, and you can tell a story on any theme as long as it follows our usual rules and guidelines.

If you don’t want to wait until our next show to tell a story, there are a couple of great shows coming up that would love to have you 🙂

Our friends at 7 Stories have their show this Friday. Suggested theme is “Rude Awakenings”

https://www.meetup.com/7-stories/events/308153128

The next Bar Stories is Tuesday, July 1 in South Seattle at the Machine House Brewery. No theme, just bring your mind and your moxie.

https://www.meetup.com/free-monthly-storytelling-meetup/events/307294679

The next FGS free online story workshop is Sunday, July 13

https://www.meetup.com/fresh-ground-stories-storytelling-workshop/events/308237343

I’m always happy to help you work on stories if you can’t make the monthly workshop. Send me a direction email at freshgroundstories@gmail.com, and we can set up a call.

Have a great wee,k everyone!

Paul

Hi Everyone,

I hope you’re all excited about next week’s show and working on some stories to tell. The theme is Tiny Acts – Little things that meant a lot. Themes are just suggestions, though. You can tell any story you want as long as it follows our usual rules.

Storytelling Rules and Guidelines

Here’s a story I just stumbled on that I find inspiring in a writerly, storytelling kind of way. I’m pretty sure the teller started working on the story with nothing in mind except the last moment of the story and then went backward to add in just enough elements to bring the audience to that final moment. 

It’s usually easier to start working on a story from a single moment and flesh everything out from there, going backward and forward as necessary. This is especially true if the story takes place over the span of months or years. If the story happens all in a couple hours or one day, you probably already know where it begins and ends. But when we’re working with months and years, it takes a while to figure out which moments and memories to use to build out the story.

The story below takes place over at least a few months, so the teller had to think of all the things that happened during that time that had anything to do with the final scene and then choose 3-4 memories that would best get him to where he needed to be. I think he did a great job.

Hope to see you all on the 19th at the Swedish club!

Email me if you have any questions or need help on a story.

Paul

freshgroundstories@gmail.com