Become a better story teller

I went out for lunch with a coworker the other day and we chatted more and more, past rush hour and dinner and into the night. She knew how to tell stories, introducing all the characters and what their quirks are, how she warned them about something, then it happened anyway, and how they ran around dealing with it. And of course, the punchline at the end where she was right and essentially told them “it’s your problem now”.... sounds more like bragging to me sometimes. My life’s events don’t have punchlines. I tell it like it is, and there’s no resolution, just an ever shrinking back and forth…. I don’t know if I should make up a good ending, or just end the story when I’m winning?
I feel like I’m not exciting enough…

i don’t have much to say that is important today. so it is rather silly for people to listen. but someday. i will have stories to tell and children and grandchildren and young strangers to tell them to. and when that day comes, i want to be ready. i want to be a master of the telling of the stories. but. in order to have stories, i need to do things. and in order to remember to do things to tell stories, i need a list to keep me in line.

thats where this comes in.

that I recently told a tall tale, and had several people rivited in the process. I don’t know if I could do it again, but I am cleaning up my goals, so I’m going to mark this as done. After all, I don’t think I would have been able to do it at all if I hadn’t been putting my mind to it all along.

i want to be able to express myself in front of people without fear. Stories are engaging and can create positive associations with a person, also prompting for them to share their thoughts, feelings, expriences. i will become a better storyteller

My wife is a great story teller and I’m really in awe of her at times. She’s so entertaining and lively. Whenever it comes my turn to tell a story I go blank. I will use the advice you guys gave to at least tell one good story this year. :)

yuuhuuu.. I’m still wonder how I can hide my weakness :((
I didn’t have enough grammar skills… anybody can help me ?

not sure what direction to take – mythology? a big one. time consuming. personal tales? have to redo 2 or 3 that I’ve started and not sure how much opportunity I’ll have to tell. spoonerisms? Work on snow white – or wo snite and the devon swarves…

I’ve found that it takes the right kind of listener at the right moment in an unselfish mood and at a tolerant level of intelligence to relay a story to…...if they are not interested then they will not hear the importance brought upon them by your story or accept you as a legitamate storyteller…...Understanding.

my storytelling workshop in Oaxaca – not a peaceful place, at the moment, and I’ll inconvenience my boss if I take off, not to mention spending too much money. Still, I feel a tad depressed – might have been fun, might have learned a lot, formed new relationships, created new stories. Bummer. Still torn – probably not to late to get back in – but do I want to???

..performed Dialogue with Writing Saturday Night at Cafe Express – went well. Also read it at the Chicago Writers Group – a couple of minor changes need to be made…