Storyteller's Perspective: 5 Things a Storyteller Can Do for You, and 5 Things They Won't

Following in the line of my previous post, here is another handy list about the little-known profession of storytelling.
Let's say you located a storyteller, and you would really, really like to throw some money at them in exchange for their visit to your school / library / museum / festival / theater / children's event. There is a problem, though: Many times organizers are not quite clear on what a storyteller is, and what it is that we do - or don't do. Not making things clear in advance can result in awkward conversations, mutual annoyance, and toddlers having uncontrollable pillowfights on the storytelling stage.
In order to make sailing the ocean of story smoother, here is a handy list.

STORYTELLER'S DON'T...

1. Babysit.
This is important, you guys. Do NOT expect the storyteller to watch the kids while you walk off to have a beer at the festival tent. Storytelling is performance and entertainment, not a child care service. Most of are are not even qualified for that.

2. Train your students.
Don't take a storyteller into your classroom and then sit down in the back to grade papers / read the newspaper. If your students are disruptive, it is not the storyteller's job to break up the story in order to keep regulating them. Do the courtesy of helping to create a classroom environment that allows for the best possible storytelling experience.

3. Work for free.
Okay, so sometimes we do. On very select occasions. But never assume we do it for free just because we enjoy what we do.

4. Do stand-up.
Some of us are funny. A lot of us are funny. Some of our stories are funny. That, however, is still not the same as stand-up comedy. Stories require longer attention and investment from the audience. If you plan on having three hundred mostly drunk people in a hotel restaurant with music in the background, storytelling might not be your best bet.

5. Do background noise.
This is essentially the same as above. If you have people playing cards / having conversations / filling out raffle forms / getting their nails painted, invite someone who does music. There is nothing more annoying that being delegated to being a background radio channel at an event and having to speak your stories while people have their backs turned to you.

Okay, so these five probably sounded outrageous and self-explanatory, but you would be surprised what storytellers run into every so often. Better safe than sorry.
And now for the more entertaining part:

STORYTELLERS DO...

1. Work with adults.
While most of our invitations are for schools and children's events, we do work with teen and adult audiences. In fact, there are many stories that are too long, too serious or too complicated for children. It is always a special pleasure to have engaged grown-up audiences.

2. Educate.
We like telling stories, and we like talking about our stories (yeah, I established that before, didn't I). Storytellers work well with school and library programs because we bring a lot of extra knowledge along with our tales. Storytellers are not just pure entertainment. We also educate and question. We do breakout sessions, classroom discussions, and workshops. A lot of us are educators by origin. Do ask.

3. Adapt.
Ever thought "too bad there are no stories that would go with this theme?" Stop thinking that. Storytellers have vast repertoires and it is part of our job to seek out new stories and new topics. However outrageous your theme for Summer Reading Program or history class is, ask a storyteller if they can work with it. You'll be pleasantly surprised.

4. Travel.
We do. Quite often. You might have to cover the cost, but we will come to you and bring all our stories. Don't let distance stop you if there is a storyteller you really want to hear.

5. Return.
Storytelling is not a one-shot show. Most of us have enough stories and themes to work with for years and years in the same place. And the more we return to the same audience, the more we learn about them, and the better we get at picking the right stories for them. Just because you heard a storyteller once, doesn't mean you heard it all.

In case you are interested, try finding your local storytelling organization. For the USA, you can search through the National Storytelling Network. For Europe, you can look for the Federation for European Storytelling. For the rest of the world, search for storytelling in your respective languages, or look for Facebook groups! There are a lot of us out there.

Cheers!

Csenge (@TarkabarkaHolgy) at
The Multicolored Diary - Adventures in Storytelling
MopDog - The crazy thing about Hungarians...

September Wrap Up

When I was writing Double Negative, I started researching reading and literacy programs. What I discovered made me very nervous about the future of our country. Our low literacy and illiteracy rates are shocking.

Here are two stats from literacy advocacy groups that made me sit up and pay attention.

• 33% of the population in Los Angeles 
• 25% of the population in New York 

have been identified as being low literate or illiterate.

So when I learned that September was National Literacy Month (NLM), I decided to try something to promote literacy awareness, and I targeted writers as participants. Since I didn't know if this would work, I started small. Here's what I did.

• I created a List on Twitter @WeWrite4U_Lit, telling about NLM.
• I wrote 12 Tweets (three sets) for those interested to copy and paste, and I supplied sources.
• I posted a Linky on my blog just so I knew who would be interested.

This is what happened.

• 18 people signed up
• We generated a lot of (I couldn't keep up with them, so I don't have a count) of Tweets and RT's
• Some writers became very creative and Tweeted with the @WeWrite4U_Lit and a free book link
• On International Literacy Day, we joined the #selfielit event and posted selfies as we read books. This turned into a nice promotional bonus for several writers.

For the first time out, I think this was a success. I loved that we were using Social Media for such a positive and important cause. I plan to do it again next year with some changes based on what I learned. 

And so that's a wrap for September. It's been a hot but glorious summer. I hate to see the sun move low in the sky and the days grow short, but it's part of the cycle of things. I know fall will bring its own joys and rewards. 

#atozchallenge #roadtrip - Stormy on the road less traveled.

 Hi!
It's ME!

Stormy the Weather Gnome!

We're changing things up a bit so you don't get bored.

Don't worry, we're still on the road to nowhere, still can't drive 55, AND still running against the wind.

I went to visit some of those go-getters at the beginning of the list.

Here's a few that I think you should visit.

Remember to tell them that you're visiting from the Post A-to-Z Road Trip!

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AJ Lauer from Naturally Sweet!
One of the most excellent co-hosts of the Challenge.

Her Alphabet theme was 'Things I Know'! She knows a lot! She talks about all kinds of stuff. Life lessons, writing, her favorite things and a few of her favorite people! Never a dull moment during her Challenge posts!

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Nita from Nita's Books

Nita reviews books. You know. Books. See, something we all have in common! She specializes in children's, middle grade, and young adult book reviews so her A to Z Theme was full of awesome goodness. Authors like: Diana Lopez, Joanne Harris and Lisa Yee. 

Days and days go by and no one leaves her a comment. Let's say hello to her today.

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L.G. Keltner from Writing Off The Edge

You've got to hand it to people that can whip together a new piece of writing for 26 days in a row. L.G. wrote a drabble (a 100 word piece of fiction) for each A to Z Letter day.

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Kristen Dyrr from Random Musings from the KristenHead

This A to Z Theme is CRAZY cool! Kristen talks about all things wonderful including, but not limited to, TV shows (Almost Human, Teen Wolf, Elementary, The X-Files), nature, podcats, iPhones, and Androids!

But, that's not the best part! Her posts are riddled with tweets and gifs and pics and hilarity! I love how she ties it all together, each post better than the next.

Thanks for visiting with us today!
Are you finding any great blogs on your trip?

Why Highlighting Books is an Easy Way to Participate in the A ot Z Challenge

When I began participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, blogging about books was a no brainer.  I figured I had a large collection of books, I knew alot about books, and I loved books, so why not?

Except that after I started in on the challenge I realized my choice was going to prove more difficult than I expected.

Why is that?

Because you can't just choose books randomly from the alphabet.  There are choices to be made:

1. Horror, romance, mystery, picture books, etc?
2. Blues, pinks, golds covers
3. Adults, Young Adult, picture books
4. Books you've read or books you want to read
5. Books you have at home or books you want to own
6. Male writers or female authors
7. etc, 

See? The choices drove me batty. 

Not really.  I was already batty. 

Anyway, my first year I thought I knew what I was doing! I chose books that I'd had at home and had read all or part of. I thought I was being authentic by only highlighting books I knew something about. 

Imagine my frustration when I got to the letter Q. Fortunately I found a copy of Alex Haley's Queen. I hadn't read it but I kept that secret to myself. Take a look at what I dork I was!

Fortunately, I had my braces removed and I'm back to looking somewhat less like an overgrown 8th grader.  Anywho...

My list of books continued up through XYZ. Of course I cheated with the letter X but what are ya gonna do? 

What I learned from my first year is that while it was cool to highlight books from A to Z I needed a tighter definition because my type A self wasn't satisfied until I'd put a chokehold on my choices. The next year I chose to highlight kids books.  I can't remember if it was Young Adult, Middle Grade, or Picture books but you get where I'm going with this, right?

Give yourself more specific directions because "one man's attention to detail is another man's glut of information"  which I interpret to mean, you'll have an easier go of it if you pay attention to the details.  Choose Young Adult books then you'll be more focused and the stars will align for you.  Or at least you'll have focus.  

As it turns out, in the years since I started participating in the A to Z Challenge, I learned that I was so interested in reading kids' books, that I narrowed the focus of my book review blog, An Unconventional Librarian, to only kids' (middle grade, young adult, picture) books which makes my life focused and pretty happy. 

And I'm probably the only person on the planet who knows all of the book titles that start with XYZ. Which might only come in handy on Jeopardy.   

How do you choose your topic for the A to Z Challenge?

Themes that Rocked the Challenge - Classic Monsters with Mina Burrows!

Today’s featured Challenge participant, author Mina Burrows, rocked with a theme of classic monsters!

What made you choose classic monsters as your theme for the Challenge?

I had a few themes in mind this year, but ended up asking my blogger friends for their opinions. They helped me pick the monster theme. I’m a huge fan of classic literature and am fascinated with classic authors and the original monsters they created. Monsters like Washington Irving’s Headless Horseman or Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. These beasts and their stories have mystified fans for years, and I thought it would be cool to highlight them.

Which monster was your favorite?

This is a tough one to answer. Out of this year’s A-Z posts, I think the Orc was one of my favorite monsters. These creatures, or a version of them, have been referenced in classic literature like Beowulf and then of course reinvented thanks to J.R.R. Tolkien. Orcs are menacing, man-eating, elf-like beasts and I just love them!

Many came from movies – care to guess how many monster movies you’ve seen over the years? How many of the films you featured have you seen?

I can’t even begin to guess how many monster flicks I’ve seen. I know I saw a ton when I was a kid, but I’m not sure if those count when I can’t remember much of the movie anyway. I believe I saw most of the monster movies from my A-Z posts, including almost all of Universal’s mash of monsters. Off the top of my head, I haven’t seen the latest Godzilla film (*smacks forehead*) and The Creature of the Black Lagoon.

Which letter was the most difficult?

Y. I wanted to choose Yeti, but that was another way to say Abominable Snowman so I couldn't do that one again since I used it for my A post. I ended up choosing Yule Cat, which I thought was so cool when I discovered it. Come to think of it, Yule Cat would be a great story to retell or write a spin-off in some cool way.

Are you a gamer? Did any of your monsters come from RPG’s like Dungeons and Dragons?

I used to play a ton of video games. Now I play stuff with my kids like Lego Star Wars and Harry Potter. Zombies are probably my favorite with respect to gaming. I’m a huge Resident Evil fan. When I decided to post on Dragons for the letter D, I knew instantly I would discuss Dungeons and Dragons. Unfortunately, I don’t know much about that game realm, but I had a wonderful time learning about it from Timothy Brannan’s blog, The Other Side. He has an amazing depth of knowledge about monsters, witches and the D&G realm. He's incredibly talented.

Do you think the Loch Ness Monster is real?

Yes I do! There is too much unknown lurking in bodies of water like the Loch Ness that I think it's completely plausible. That and there have been many sightings. In general, the Scottish Highlands is known for its legendary tales of magic and mystical forces like fairies, druids, witches, stone circles, gods and Nessie too. I think there may be some truths to the legends.

How many Godzilla films have you seen?

Gosh, I've forgotten how many. Several, when I was younger because I had two older brothers who made me watch stuff like that all the time. I was the youngest, so I didn't have much choice it what we watched so I’m glad I liked it.



Do you have a theme in mind for next year’s Challenge?

Not yet. I've been thinking about it too. I’ll probably do what I did this year and come up with a few ideas and let the readers pick. When you get audience or reader participation, you get people involved in the process and somewhat expectant or excited about what's to come.

That’s a good idea. Although I’d be worried what they might choose for me… Thanks, Mina!



Co-host Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh is the author of Amazon Best-sellers CassaStar, CassaFire, and CassaStorm, and his blog can be found HERE