Advice: Starting A Storytelling Career

Subject: Advice: Starting A Storytelling Career
From: Folkie101
Date: 22 Mar 07 - 03:24 PM

I've been reading the old threads on Storytelling, and wanted to start an updated thread to get additional advice/tips, etc. on starting a career in Storytelling. I'm interested in advice/tips on getting stories together, telling and performing them. I play the guitar and will be adding Traditional Folksongs and Spirituals to some of the stories. I'm really excited to start in a new direction (even though I will continue to perform as a singer of Traditional Folksongs. I'd also like to know of websites and groups you feel would be helpful to me. I'm open to your tips, advice and experiences.

Cheers,
Folkie

Subject: RE: Advice: Starting A Storytelling Career
From: Peace
Date: 22 Mar 07 - 11:46 PM

Refresh

Subject: RE: Advice: Starting A Storytelling Career
From: GUEST,DonMeixner
Date: 22 Mar 07 - 11:59 PM

Hi Folkie,

Go to http://www.storynet.org/. The storytellers site. Also there are many festivals with storytellers at them with workshops to be attended.
Look for Clever Gretchen's societies in large cities.

Look up Bill Smith and The Adirondack Liar's Club.

I'm considered a bit of a windbag my ownself. May be some day I'll tell you how my Dad crashed a plane and invented the down filled vest all in the same week end.

Good luck

Don

Subject: RE: Advice: Starting A Storytelling Career
From: GUEST,Mike Miller
Date: 23 Mar 07 - 12:08 AM

Is Folkie interested in storytelling as an avocation or as a profession? The paths are quite different.

Subject: RE: Advice: Starting A Storytelling Career
From: katlaughing
Date: 23 Mar 07 - 12:15 AM

Anything Don shares with you will be well-worth it!

I would also suggest listening to as many master storytellers as possible, study how they deliver the lines, intersperse the music, etc. Two I can recommend, highly, would be Mudcatters Art Thieme, and Kendall Morse both of whose CDs are available .

Here's a Discography for Art Thieme and HERE is a thread about his latest CD at Folk Legacy. I also highly recommend his The Older I Get the Better I Was.

HERE's one about Kendall's CDs available at Folk Legacy, also.

Have fun and good luck!

Subject: RE: Advice: Starting A Storytelling Career
From: Folkie101
Date: 23 Mar 07 - 01:05 AM

Hi Mike,

It's too soon to tell. I'd really like to take my stories and songs into schools, retirement centers, nursing homes, festivals, etc.

cheers,
Folkie

Subject: RE: Advice: Starting A Storytelling Career
From: Jim Lad
Date: 23 Mar 07 - 03:12 AM

Libraries, cartoons, community cable networks etc???

Subject: RE: Advice: Starting A Storytelling Career
From: GUEST,Cats
Date: 23 Mar 07 - 05:20 AM

Which country are you in Folkie? It makes a difference as to the advice.

Subject: RE: Advice: Starting A Storytelling Career
From: GUEST,Storyhearer
Date: 23 Mar 07 - 05:40 AM

Listen to lots of storytellers. It's like singers only worse- some get so carried away with their own voices that they forget that the audience are listening for pleasure. There's little worse than a story teling festival where everyone wants to tell, and no one wants to hear.

Choose stories that aren't just formulas. Boy meets girl, nasty (usually magic) things happen, all comes out well in the end. Good person does altruistic things to someone, turns out to be fairy/ saint/ magician, rewards richly, bad person hears, rushes out, meets f/s/m, isn't altruistic, gets punished. listen to enough storytellers to know the list. If you feel impelled to do the standards, the Fields of Athenrys of storytelling, remember the joke about the jokes-told-by-numbers, and save everyone's time.

Subject: RE: Advice: Starting A Storytelling Career
From: Folkie101
Date: 23 Mar 07 - 07:52 AM

Hi Cats,

I'm in the U.S.A.

Subject: RE: Advice: Starting A Storytelling Career
From: Azizi
Date: 23 Mar 07 - 08:52 AM

Here's the hyperlink to the storyteller's website that DonMeixner provided upthread:

http://www.storynet.org/.

**

Since 1970, I've shared adapted West African stories with children, youth, and adults throughout the Pittsburgh PA area. I began telling stories as an avocation. However, I was fortunate to be employed by the Carnegie library system as a full time and then upon my request, as a part time Library staff person. I also was fortunate to have a television program in which I told adapted West African stories to a group of children while an artist drew the pictures of the stories. Since I left the Carnegie Library system in 1973, I've continued to share stories -mostly to children & youth-in schools, after-schools programs, chuches, community centers, and festivals. I've gotten grants from local foundations and state Council of the Arts; and Council on the Humanities to share these stories. {I add this particular information as you may also want to explore applying to specific foundations and state Councils on the Arts and Councils on the Humanities}.

I've also provided this information as a means of establishing some validity background to the suggestions that I offer:

1} Focus on a particular type of storytelling that you become known for {if you are all across the board in the stories you tell-meaning stories from specific populations of people than imo, it might be harder for you to advertise yourself and it might be more difficult for people to distinquish you from other storytellers who are probably working in your city/region

2. Be selective in which stories you tell from whichever genre of storytelling you have picked.

3. Know your audiences. Certain stories work best for specific age groups. You may find-as I have-that if you set it up right {introduce the story] you can tell animal and other stories to older children, youth, and adults that some might think are for younger age children. For instance, you might ask your audience to pretend that they are younger children, or ask them to remember when they were younger. But it is far more difficult to tell stories for older audience sto younger children...

Also, I've found that in older elementary grades, I often tell stories that some may think are geared to boys {like stories about a wrestler or stories whose main characters are boys}. This may seem sexist, but I've learned that it's easier to get girls' attention than boys, and also if a story gets the boys' attention, I'll get the girls' attention too.

4. Develop your own style of telling stories
I like stories that include some audience participation/interaction {for instance, in a particular story that I love to tell, when the owl is counting and says {1,2}..he stop and say to the audience
[in his owly older man's quivery voice] "Oh, you don't know how to count?. Let's try that again." I've never known an audience who didn't then count along with the owl.}

Also, I like to ask questions of the audience within my stories.
For instance, in a story when the farmer is coming, I make the sound affect of stomping feet {either with my voice alone, or with a microphone, or the drummer, if I have a drummer working with me makes those sounds}..and then I say to the audience "Who do you think is coming?" One or more persons from the audience answers that quetion. In doing so, they are adding energy to the performer and they are adding to the performance.

5. Don't make your stories too long and too involved. Know how to begin as well as how to end your story.

6.Be alert to your audience. If the audience is restless and non-attentive, find a way to re-connect with them within the story, or end the story and seque {though singing a song or chatting, or otherwise}

7. Work on your stories.
Develop that story until you know it inside out. But if it gets tired for you, it will be tired for other people. If it does get tired, retire it for a while, or add something new to the story to make it come alive for you again {if it comes alive for you, that energy will be transmitted to other people}

8. Understand your role in keeping traditions alive, and that you are a role model to others. However, while you are right to be serious about your responsibilities as a storyteller, remember to have fun!

Best wishes,

Ms. Azizi

Subject: RE: Advice: Starting A Storytelling Career
From: GUEST,Mike Miller
Date: 23 Mar 07 - 10:06 AM

Ms Azizi gives solid advise. I, particularly, like the part about specializing. Venues, like schools and libraries, like to know what they are buying. They understand "West African" or "Native American" or "Pennsylvania Dutch", etc, better than, just, "Storyteller".
Besides, it is easier to get grants when you have a specific genre.
You might want to specialize in stories from, or about, your geographical area.
You might, also, want to consider costuming. Storytelling is a form of theater and appearence is a vital part of the presentation.
Good luck,

                   Mike