And another great site for stories, storytellers and articles about storytelling

Last week I got tagged on Facebook in this entry:

Who has the most searches at Storyteller.net in the last 30 days? In order, Michael D McCarty, Jim Woodard, Linda Goodman, James Nelson-Lucas (as Patchwork Players) and Priscilla Howe.

I thought I'd written a blog post about Storyteller.net, but looking back, I see I've only mentioned it. This site is another that ROCKS! Sean Buvala dreamed it up many years ago, even before Google. I think I joined back in about 1997 or 1998. What is it? Storyteller.net is the place to find storytellers' information, recorded stories, texts of stories to tell, interviews with storytellers, articles on the artform, and tons more information in one easily accessible place. Whew!

I wrote a few of those articles. The first one I submitted was the one on the tyranny of themes. I'm also in a bunch of the ampitheater recordings--the most memorable for me was when I called Sean from a stairwell at the National Storytelling Conference in San Diego in 1999 to report on how the conference was going. That might even have been from a pay phone!

I've been recommending to storytellers for years that they have a page on this site. I want to make this an even stronger recommendation, especially for the Premium Pages (and no, I get no kickback from recommending this). Yeah, yeah, you might be saying, "But I have my own website. Why would I want to have another over there?"

Here's one reason: I've been booked and have sold recordings from my storyteller.net page even though I have a pretty nice site of my own. The more places I put my name on the web, the more likely it is that people looking for my kind of storytelling will find me, especially on a site that is dedicated to storytelling. It works even better if I keep that page updated (I'm saying this as a prod to get myself to do just that). Premium pages allow me to have audio and video, while a basic page is just that, basic information. My page also includes a link to my main website.

That has been enough of a reason for me to have Premium Page. There's another, one that Sean has just offered: Premium Pages give you exclusive access to videos and other information about the business of storytelling. I just watched the January video today. Sean always provides useful info about the nuts and bolts of what we do--this video is no exception. I'm looking forward to the February video.

So if you're a storyteller and you don't have a page on storyteller.net, why not?

P.S. Sean says he's working on a facelift for the site.

Storytelling Bootcamp in August

Hey, remember when I wrote about Sean Buvala's Outside-In Storytelling Bootcamp? He's doing it again, and I'm helping him again, all things being equal. This camp is about how to do the business of storytelling, how to think like a CEO, how to work from a model that considers what your customers need first.

Camp? Sort of. It's not in the woods. It's in a hotel in Phoenix, and it's run the way other corporate events are, designed to give you a huge amount of useful information. Phoenix in August? Think air-conditioning. You might even want to bring a sweater.

There's still time to register for the August event. If you follow the links on the site, you'll even get a discount code for 20% off.

Outside In Storytelling Boot Camp

Remember this? Back in February I flew out to Phoenix to join Sean Buvala of Storyteller.net at the first Outside In Storytelling Boot Camp, which focused on marketing. We spent three days immersed in practical ideas about how to make a living as a storyteller (or other performing artist).

Tonight we had a follow-up conference call with a few of the participants. While I knew that I had benefited from the camp, I didn't know the extent to which others had. It was great to hear about specific changes participants have made since then, such as redefining their niches in storytelling, getting new promo pictures taken, launching web pages, and rewriting marketing materials. It was inspiring to hear how people's perspectives about the business of storytelling had changed for the better, thanks to the camp.

Sean has asked me to join him for another OISBC in August (he's doing a special one-day Storyteller.net Live in Austin, TX on May 10, so check that out if you're nearby). They'll have to crank the air conditioning up at the conference hotel, because all those good ideas generate lots of energy and heat!

Home from Phoenix

It's 29 degrees Fahrenheit here. I've got a fire in the woodstove and am considering moving from the cold office to the warm living room (I don't usually keep the front doors open, but it made a better picture). What a contrast with last week in Phoenix, where it was 80 degrees. Not that I'd want to live in Phoenix (think of July!), but it was wonderful to bask in the warmth for a while.

In fact, the whole trip was pretty wonderful. On Monday, I told Queen Berta and King Pippin to Liz Warren's class on long stories at South Mountain Community College. The beginning storytelling class next door came over to listen as well. What a great audience! Afterwards we had a long discussion, with lots of useful feedback. Did I get a recording of it? I thought so, but it turns out I need to reread the manual on my minidisc recorder. Grrr.

I'm so impressed with the Storytelling Institute at South Mountain. If I lived in Phoenix, I'd take classes there to keep my skills sharp. The next day, I told stories to two more beginning storytelling classes, one Liz teaches and one taught by LynnAnn Wojciechowicz, director of the institute. I gave them a mix of stories and puppets, with storytelling tips thrown in for good measure. Very fun! I've had a couple of e-mails from students in LynnAnn's class since then.

The Outside In Storytelling Bootcamp began on Wednesday. That was my original reason for going to Phoenix. LynnAnn kindly gave me a ride over to the west side of Phoenix, as she was also attending the bootcamp. That was after an entertaining morning of hanging around with Liz and her husband Mark.

OISBC is the brainchild of Sean Buvala, director of Storyteller.net. When he called me last fall to ask if I'd be interested in being a co-presenter, I agreed right away. I knew that whatever Sean planned would be well worth attending. His idea is to use a corporate training model to teach storytellers how to succeed. The session last week focused on marketing. While I did give the participants my perspective on being a full-time storyteller, I also learned a ton. Sean has broad experience with marketing and he brought in a CPA to talk about taxes for one session. (More on the bootcamp in the March/April issue of Storytelling Magazine.)

One of the key elements of OISBC was the way the attendees bonded during the three days of intense learning. It was a lovely group. I'm looking forward to being in touch with the others, as we help each other keep on track. Sean blogged about it, with plenty of pictures, most taken by his daughters.

An added bonus was getting to meet and hang out with Sean's family (Kelsey, did you learn to drive yet?).

Making a living as a storyteller, Part 4

Part 4 of my white paper on making a living as a storyteller:

Learn about running a small business.

· Visit the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) or Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) for free advice on running a business. They can help you write a business plan and set goals.

· Learn from other storytellers. Sean Buvala offers an intensive on the business of storytelling, as do other tellers, such as Doug Lipman and John McLaughlin.

· Pay attention to other people’s successful marketing endeavors. Always be ready to learn.

To be continued...

What is storytelling?

Dang. The gauntlet has been thrown. Tim Ereneta wrote about storytelling definitions in his blog, Sean Buvala echoed the topic in his. I find myself saying, "Eh, do I have to?" Can't I just walk past that glove on the ground?

Maybe. Or maybe a little clarifying would be useful. I once, briefly, had a boyfriend who was a filmmaker. As we were getting to know each other, he proudly proclaimed, "You know, I'm a storyteller!" I didn't say what I was thinking: "Right. Your documentary tells a story, but lissen up, buster, you're not standing up telling a story out loud without a lens, without props, with only the pictures in your mind as you make connections with the audience. Do not call yourself a storyteller!" No, I smiled and said something fatuous, I'm sure.

Anyway, it has become high fashion for filmmakers, novelists, musicians of all styles and anybody else who does anything creative to say that they are storytellers. Yes, they do tell stories--we all do, in an attempt to define our lives-- in their way, but please, let them keep their named professions and let me have mine.

So what do I mean by storytelling? I mean the oral transmission of stories, usually live (though of course I have recordings, and though they were recorded with a live audience, the present audience is far from where I am), usually without the use of notes and with a fluid or nonexistent fourth wall.

Oral transmission. I'm saying the words out loud. I'm not painting them, filming them, drawing them. Dadgummit. Already I'm in trouble, because I've seen incredible deaf storytellers who may or may not speak their stories. Never mind, I'm keeping this.

Stories. By this, I'm thinking of narrative, something that has setting, action, plot. At times poems will fit the definition. Does that mess me up? Not too much.

Usually without the use of notes. Hmm, I've seen storytellers who have notes nearby in case they get lost. Is that okay?

With a fluid or nonexistent fourth wall. Huh? The fourth wall is a theater term, that wall between the actors and the audience, so the audience is just looking in on the action. In storytelling, the fourth wall goes up at times, say when one character is talking to another, but for the most part, the storyteller is directly addressing the audience. Bill Harley wrote about this in an essay called Playing with the Wall in the excellent book Who Says: Essays on Pivotal Issues in Contemporary Storytelling, edited by Carol Birch and Melissa Heckler.

Now I have to write about that title. According to the introduction of the book, "Five years into her storytelling career, Carol grew tired of hearing people say, critically and knowingly, under their breath: "Well, that's not storytelling!" She wondered, "Who says?" Her book helps me think about what storytelling is, and why. It's probably time I reread it.

Shoot. I'm not happy with my wishy-washy definition above. I don't know that there is one for all storytellers. Maybe we each have to work out our own.

Here's what I do: I tell stories out loud in front of an audience, without notes or a script or props (except for once or twice when I use a puppet in a story, and one story that uses a harmonica). I don't dress in costume, I don't have a set. I don't memorize the stories, though if I tell them a lot they do settle into a groove, and if there's a particularly nice turn of phrase, I remember it and use it every time. I use my body, my voice, my facial expressions to underline the words. I adjust my performances to the listeners, watching how they listen and paying attention to what works and what doesn't. I allow improvisation in.

Storytellers range from those who tell at the kitchen table on up to what have been called "platform storytellers." I'm one of those (do you like my platform shoes?) because in my profession, I tell in a more formal way than just hanging out shooting the breeze.

I've seen some great storytellers in costume, with props, with stories that are told word-for-word but still sound natural. I'm getting even more mired in what storytelling is and isn't, aren't I? Must be time to stop for the night.