It Is Very Hard to Write about Happiness

On the New York Times website, two authors ask this question: Is it harder to write about happiness than its opposite? They discuss the difficulties in writing about happiness.

Having ghost written a few biographies in the past, and working on fiction, there is no doubt in my mind that it is very hard to write about happiness. This is particularly the case when ghost writing biographies.

I’ve always likened ghost writing biographies to visiting a house. As a guest, you have to be grateful that you’ve been allowed into the house at all. It’s a neat and tidy place that has been showcased in various glamorous magazines. Yet, there is nothing special about it. Still, you’re aware that you’ve given the luxury of exploring the house in a way that others may not be allowed to. There is a fine balance you have to strike – you need to probe enough to get a good understanding of this house. Yet, you cannot probe too much in case you’re accused of snooping.

But here’s the thing: sometimes, in that overcrowded attic, where all this subject’s deep dark secrets are hidden, you might find that one thing – an old blanket, a miniature toy bicycle, an old fountain pen with the subject’s name etched on the side, a pressed rose in the folds of a diary, a worn out stub from a cinema ticket – that will trigger a memory and make the story of this house special. As a writer, you will never forget this house.

Likewise, when ghost writing biographies, I’ve found that, for some reason, the subject always wants to publicise what is good. It is a list of achievements, successes and a string of accolades. They never delve into any of their ‘failings’ from doing badly in school, ex-boyfriends/girlfriends (or both), previous marriages, illegitimate children, mistresses, embezzlement, bankruptcy or broken families. All of it has to be hidden, as though what makes them human is bad.

As a ghost writer, the constant need to project a sanitised version of the subject is exhausting beyond belief. As Kirsch says in the article: Even today, we harbor the suspicion that writers who offer happy endings are merely pandering, playing to our desire for reassurance. As a reader of such books, it’s even worse: such books are duller than dull.

That is not to say that I would like to read a book that has only ‘bad’ in it. In fiction, we’re often told that even the villain has to have a good side. You can’t make him a baddie all the time. He must have some good in him, even if it’s something very small.

In the end, it’s a question of balance. Especially in biographies, I want to know enough about the subject matter to appreciate who he is. That way, when you do tell me about what he’s achieved, I will be able to appreciate where he’s come from and see that he is, indeed, deserving of such an accolade.

What about you? Can you write easily about happiness?

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Why Review Poetry

A month or so ago, I received an email from Glyn Pope. He attached a review copy of a new chapbook, Shh! and asked if we would review it. This book was a collection of poems by John Eliot.

Since I was a child, I’ve had difficulty with poetry. Even in school, when we had to do the Bahasa Malaysia paper and had a choice between deciphering Pantun (which is Malay poetry) and Sastera Melayu (Malay Literature), I always chose the latter because it was much easier to understand and many of the stories were derived from Hindu mythology. After all, Malay words like permaisuri, putera, singhasana, manusia and bumi were derived from Sanskrit words I was already used to.

I can’t decide if this reluctance to even look at poems is a mental block or fear. At one point, I thought it was laziness because I didn’t want to make the effort to understand that meaning and messages the poet was trying to convey.

What is certain is that all these reservations about poetry remain to this day. This was precisely why the moment I received Pope’s email, I swallowed hard. I quickly chickened out of reviewing the chapbook and asked my other writers if they would like to attempt this task. Finally, my ever-reclusive columnist, Jacinta, agreed, but she too admitted that she had never reviewed poetry. She had one condition, though, and that was that we would do some research on this subject together.

I decided to start at the very beginning – how does one read poetry. I was lucky and chanced upon a very good article. Here’s the link: https://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/ReadingPoetry.html#top. The various steps about reading a single poem can be summed up in the following manner:

1. Get an idea of the basic subject matter of a poem.
2. Understand the context in which it’s written.
3. Try to learn something about the poet and his history.
4. Study the form of the poem and see if there is a rhythm to the words?
5. Consider the words the poet uses. Would another word be better? Would it change the meaning?

Now that I’d read it, I wanted to know how to write a review of a poem. For this, Jacinta found an article called How to Analyze Poetry: http://www.wikihow.com/Analyze-Poetry. There are altogether some 11 steps to this process. But what she was grateful for, as am I, was that this article provided a sample poetry analysis which you can download. Finally, the authors of this article gave very encouraging tips:

• 'If you're still having trouble understanding what the author is trying to say through the poem, go back and read through it a few more times. Pay attention to the kinds of emotions the poem relates to. Often a poet's goal will be simply to help readers feel a certain way or sense the reality of an imagined scene.
• Try not to get frustrated. Some poetry can be very challenging to understand. All in all, just practice! Don't give up. Learning to appreciate complex poetry is a skill that takes time to develop.'

With all that, Jacinta prepared her review of Shh! and here’s the link to it:http://howtotellagreatstory.com/2014/06/ssh-by-john-eliot-author-anne-lamali-illustrator/

What benefit did we both derive from this? An appreciation of how difficult the process of writing a review for poetry can be. And, perhaps, a smidgen more confidence of how to successfully approach this subject.

If you have any tips to share, please, we'd love to hear from you.

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ISBN in Malaysia

One of the most important details of any book is actually the ISBN. ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number and is the means by which a books is identified.

I was, therefore, pleased that in today's StarMag, Daphne Lee wrote a very informative piece on this subject:

ISBNs comprise 13 digits as of January 2007. The change has come about as a result of numbering shortages, which should be good news to book lovers because it means that there are so many books published that we were running out of 10-number combinations.

This is what the 13 numbers mean: The three first numbers (978) is a European Article Number prefix (EAN codes are used worldwide for marking retail goods).

The next group of numbers identify the country of publication. Countries may also be grouped according to language, which is why books published in Britain or the United States are identified with the number zero (0) or one (1), the codes for English-speaking countries. Next comes the publishers code, then the item number, and, finally, the check digit (arrived at by a formula involving the first 12 numbers in the code).

Whether you want to find out if a book is available in a store or you want the staff to order it for you, supplying them with the ISBN will help them identify the right book more quickly and efficiently, avoiding mix-ups with similarly titled books.

To add to Daphne Lee's article, if you're intending to self-publish, the National Library of Malaysia is the place to go to get an ISBN for your book. You can do it online by clicking on this link: http://www.pnm.my/new/melayu/khidpnerbit/mohon_isbn.htm [note: an english version is also available] And, more importantly, the application for an ISBN through the National Library is free of charge.

You can contact that the National ISBN Centre at the following address:-

Pusat Bibliografi Negara,

Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia

Tingkat 18, Menara TH Selborn

153, Jalan Tun Razak,

50572 Kuala Lumpur

(Attn: Unit Perkhidmatan Kepada Penerbit)

Tel: 03-26814329, 03-26871700 ext. 4288/4284/4271

Fax: 03-26811676

http://www.pnm.my/new/english/serv_pub/isbn_eng.htm#cara

Once an application is made, all necessary details, i.e. the number that will be provided for your book and the bar code which you will need to give your printers to typeset onto the cover of your book, will be sent to you.

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Should Storytellers Work for Free?

In several past articles, I have sung the virtues of volunteering and giving. But, as many storytellers have learned – some the hard way – working and performing for free has many drawbacks. We are often excited to have the opportunity to share our passion for storytelling. So, where do we draw the line? This article shares some of the ideas that were sent to the StoryTell List when this discussion thread was started.

Note: to become a member of this helpful, interactive list, click HERE and follow the directions for subscribing.

From Mary Hamilton I think storytellers should be paid - with very few exceptions.

Do I do anything free? Yes, I will go on radio shows to promote events I am part of and will not charge for the additional time involved to drive to the station and participate in the show (even though I cannot book anything else at that time once I've agreed to do the promotion). I help organize our local swap group. We currently meet monthly in members' homes and we will be adding a second public venue swap starting in May. I also currently working with others to help create a statewide storytelling organization here in Kentucky. So, my organizational time is free. I tell free as a gift to my own nieces and nephews in their individual classrooms. When I am working on new work, I may call a teacher I know to see if I can visit his/her class and tell a new work. They as usually very happy to schedule me. I see this as a service to the development of my work and would not even think of charging for it. At the same time, some school children are receiving free storytelling.

I do not expect payment for anything I do related to Tellabration. After many years of not being involved in any Tellabration, our local Frankfort group wanted to participate this year. I co-organized it with another member. I donated the cost of renting sound equipment (our local organization has no formal structure and no money, and within the group there is a strong bias against the creation of a formal structure, dues payments and such), emceed the event and, as it turned out, I did not tell a story because we ran out of time. Because several of our tellers were telling in public for the very first time, they just did not have as much experience as is sometimes needed to be sure not to go over time -- yes, they did time their stories in advance, but they got longer with a larger audience hearing them for the first time! I was determined not to burn bridges with the venue (free for our use) by running the program any longer than we promised, so I just did not tell. We are welcome back anytime we want.

So, I think we all must make decisions on what to do free. That said, some guilds view their mission as "donating storytelling to the community." I think if that is the mission of the local guild, then perhaps the mission needs to be revisited, or perhaps to be a member in good standing each member needs to donate x times telling free each year, and after that, you are finished and still a well-respected member. I do hope a guild with a "we tell free anytime, anywhere in our community" mission will work to develop strong standards for how members are to be treated and strong guidelines for what constitutes a community venue in need as opposed to a community venue that should be paying for entertainment/education/or whatever their goal for presenting storytelling would be. Or storytelling can be taken for granted and storytellers will not be treated professionally.

I think sometimes it is easy for a storytellers to be excited by the opportunity to tell anywhere and it's hard for a group to step back, evaluate, and really examine the why of telling out in the community and the how that will help the group achieve the why. For example, will people be asked to pay to attend the festival your guild is sponsoring? If so, how will giving them free storytelling shows increase their desire to pay for storytelling?

Now, if those freebies are very, very short – almost teasers, then perhaps they will serve to build desire for the paid event. But if I'm getting what feels like a complete show free, then why wouldn't I just wait for the next free event since clearly many are going to be provided?

Mary Hamilton This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. http://www.maryhamilton.info

From Mary Garrett

The key is certainly to limit the number of "gifts." Jackie Torrence said at her ETSU workshop that when she hired an agent, they agreed on a set number of free engagements for the year, and she chose the worthy few. Everyone else was told that her free dates were already allocated, and the rates were . . . whatever the rates were.

Mary Garrett This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

From Tom Farley

Our Tellabration is our main fundraiser with three guest tellers and three of our own group. All volunteer their time, but we do cover travel costs. Our usual pattern for donated or pro bono tellings is to send three or four tellers, each doing one or two stories. We have done this at Earth Day festivals, school arts fairs, service clubs [who usually feed the tellers well] and youth programs. We now do midsummer and Halloween weekend tellings at Big Basin State Park where they comp our tellers and families two campsites in exchange for several programs. This will be our fourth year there. These activities are valuable to us both for referrals to paying programs and announcements of our monthly swap as well as giving us times to work together and hear each other tell to an audience that is not mostly other tellers.

Tom & Sandy Farley This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. http://www.spont.com

From Billie Noakes

I used to run a coffeehouse/art center, where musicians and poets gathered to practice their new work, encourage each other, and just jam or talk. In time, I became a 'clearinghouse' for the whole community, helping connect worthy causes with talented people who would perform for free.

You know what? All those people who were so eager to call me and beg for free talent treated my people as though they were worth every penny they paid. It was disgraceful. And I realized that these same organizations had no problem paying their printers, sound technicians and insurance carriers.

All any of us was getting for being "useful members of our community" was being used, and I made a decision: I would not organize any more freebies. When people suggested that they were "supporting" the arts by giving us wider exposure as we entertained THEIR audiences, I suggested to them that "the best way to support the arts is to BUY some," whether that meant buying a chapbook, a CD or painting, or hiring the artist for gigs.

It took a little while. I wrote a couple of letters to local papers, pointing out that it would be a shame to have wildly talented burger flippers and checkout clerks who couldn't afford, any more, to support our entertainment with their volunteer efforts, and suggested that the community quit asking for handouts and start looking for sponsors to cover the cost of fostering these talents.

It worked. Soon, however, I was feeling beleaguered because I was arranging all these gigs, and not even getting a commission! Of course, we'll always want to volunteer to support our favorite causes, but it's just as easy to give our fees BACK as a donation, as it is o waive the fee in the first place. And it establishes that we know our own worth.

Constant freebies also give the public no basis for evaluation. A free show can't be criticized for not being worth the money, and if an adequate show is available for free, then it's too easy to "settle," and keep the really good stuff (available for a price) from ever being seen.

I don't envision or embrace a world where nobody ever volunteers for anything, but those who always give it away not only devalue their work; they make it harder for everyone else trying to make a living at it.

Billie Noakes This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

by Mary Hamilton, Mary Garrett, Tom Farley and Billie Noakes Original source: http://www.creativekeys.net

"Sevens" and Ways to Use the Magic of Numbers for Storytelling

Previously, I wrote about the prevalence of the number "three" in stories and story structure. Because this article received a great deal of attention, I decided it was time to investigate another number that crops up in titles, how-tos and stories - the number seven. After several hours of research about the number seven, I not only learned more than you and I would ever need or want to know about the number seven, but also found that this investigation sparked many other ideas about using numbers to enhance our storytelling and our story choosing. In this article, I will share some interesting facts and superstitions about the number seven, refer to stories with seven characters, and also some other thoughts about numbers in general.

Why seven? A brief overview of the history. The number seven was considered sacred not only by all the cultured nations of antiquity and the East, but was held in the greatest reverence even by the later nations of the West. The astronomical origin of this number is established beyond any doubt. Man, feeling himself time out of mind dependent upon the heavenly powers, ever and everywhere made earth subject to heaven. The largest and brightest of the luminaries thus became in his sight the most important and highest of powers; such were the planets which the whole antiquity numbered as seven.

In course of time these were transformed into seven deities. The Egyptians had seven original and higher gods; the Phœnicians seven kabiris; the Persians, seven sacred horses of Mithra; the Parsees, seven angels opposed by seven demons, and seven celestial abodes paralleled by seven lower regions. To represent the more clearly this idea in its concrete form, the seven gods were often represented as one seven-headed deity. The whole heaven was subjected to the seven planets; hence, in nearly all the religious systems we find seven heavens.

Other seven facts and uses:

• Considered a number that signifies both perfection and luck, seven pops up in many places. One of the best and most recommended self improvement books to be written during the past 15 years is Stephen R. Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (by all means, a spiritual approach to living).

• There are a plethora of important "Sevens" all of which include related stories that in themselves could become a storytelling program with a theme. For example, can you imagine a program that includes a story from each of the Seven Deadly Sins (pride, covetousness, lust, envy, gluttony, anger and sloth)? Right away I can think of a great story that would fit each of these. And, just think of the crowds you would interest with the title, Stories from the Seven Deadly Sins.

• Or, maybe the Seven Natural Wonders of the World (Mt. Everest, Victoria Falls, The Grand Canyon, The Great Barrier Reef, The Northern Lights, Paricutin and the Harbor at Rio de Janeiro). Besides stories surrounding their history and formation, there are many true life stories that have taken place in their presence. For example, I just finished a book about those who have tackled Mt. Everest - some who made it and some who didn't.

• Did you know that the Seven Senses include animation, feeling, speech, taste, sight, hearing and smelling? A current belief about the number seven is that if you include it in the price of a product you are selling (especially over the Internet), you will sell more. It is truly a magic number in that sense, because it works.

Have you ever heard of Seventh Son of a Seventh Son? Seven is the most mystical and magical of numbers, and in the lore of folk magic, the seventh son of a seventh son is believed to be born with formidable magical and healing powers: he is clairvoyant, capable of casting powerful spells, and possesses the ability to heal by a laying on of hands. This reminded me of a rather unusual story called The Seventh Father of the House. A folktale from Norway, this story tells of a traveler who asks permission to stay the night and is directed to a series of fathers until he finds the oldest and seventh ("the true father of the house"). For some reason, this has always been an unsettling story for me, but one I remember. You can find a copy of it included in Jane Yolen's Favorite Folktales from around the World.

A few other stories with sevens include Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Seven Ravens and The Seven Swabians. I wonder what stories with sevens you know or have heard. Please send me names and sources. This whole quest has become fascinating.

Additional thoughts about numbers and storytelling. As I was searching for stories that included seven in the title, or seven objects and/or characters within the story, I was struck with how many stories and story titles include a number. Of course, there are a huge number with "three" and there are a range of stories with "twelve," "six," "four," and "two." As I pursued this number project, I began to get ideas for storytelling programs: Seven Scintillating Stories of Sins, Understanding the Meaning of the Numbers Found in Stories (workshop), Why Don't We Find Stories with Fives or Eights?

Final thoughts about this project. I hope by working through this different approach to my articles and storytelling, I have sparked a new interest in your thinking about how to plan a completely different program or workshop. Or, at least, to take an afternoon to research a topic that holds some interest for you. We are so fortunate in this day and age to have the tremendous amount of information easily available on the Internet.

Let me know what you think. I love receiving your Feedback!

By Chris King Original source http://www.creativekeys.net/StorytellingPower/article1058.html

Writing

A passion for some; a chore for others, the basics of writing are relatively straightforward, involving simply throwing words together and making sentences, using pen and paper or more typically, today, a computer. Let’s face it, writing is something we do without a great deal of thought. For some, writing is easy and often a pleasurable solitary pursuit; for others writing presents a daunting task.
For others, writing is a creative outlet, and something that is thoroughly enjoyed. Writing gives people a chance to get their feelings down on paper. It can be cathartic.

Writing can help people deal with troubles. Journaling is a form of writing that is now a part of the technological age we live in and is called blogging. Many people make careers from writing. Journalists write the news. Advertising copywriters are busy writing ad copy.

Publishers employ novelists and they make their living writing books. The number of books and the styles of writing are many and diverse. There is commercial writing, which often takes flack from more serious or literary writing. The people who write popular fiction do commercial writing. Writing can make a lot of money for people who have talent and who also like most occupations, get lucky breaks.

To many people writing is a challenge, and for those people there is good news. The more writing you do, the easier it probably will get. Writing is like most things.

It involves using muscles. In the case of writing, the muscles are in the brain. Sometimes those muscles may need to be worked out a little before the work gets easy and the words flow.

Writing is necessary in so many ways, from conducting day-to-day business to corresponding with loved one.

From the time children are little, they are fascinated with reading and writing. The school system should foster a love of writing with kids, but it should also be done at home.

It would be impossible to get though the school system without mastering writing language. From the first grade onwards, kids are required to write exams, write projects, and write letters and much more. Writing is something that people need to do in order to communicate.

In recent years, writing has changed in parallel with society. Computers are fast becoming the preferred method of writing. Handwriting is falling out of favor, with word processing now the norm. Typing, using a keyboard, is now a vital writing skill for any child.

Email, nowadays, has largely replaced the conventional letter as a way of keeping in touch; formal writing conventions have been eschewed in favor of more relaxed forms of writing that require less attention to sentence structure and syntax. A career in writing is a dream for many, but a reality for few. Other writers put their talents to good use by making an all-consuming hobby of their writing, with the ultimate goal of eventually completely their literary opus.

Everyone has to write. However, only a few actually have considerable talent when it comes to the written word.

Those that want to make a living out of writing need to be aware that getting written works published is a highly challenging matter. Whilst fame and fortune beckons for some, most writers have to settle for enjoying their hobby.

Remember that if you enjoy writing, it is easy and cheap to indulge your passion.

Iscrizione Disimbol is the editor and writer of Alta Writing, Inc. which is one of the leading resources on the subject of writing available online. For questions or comments on this topic, go to: http://www.altawriting.com

Making Linear Storytelling Interactive

Movies and video games coexisted symbiotically for years. A video game would come out well after the film it was based on. The game was often an afterthought, sometimes developed using a movie character, but little else. Now, games are released simultaneously with or even in advance of major motion pictures. George Lucas took this approach with the final "Star Wars" film. The video game was released weeks ahead of the movie.

A colleague recently saw "War of the Worlds." He didn't like it. It felt like a video game, he said. It didn't feature the same tension as the original. I was reminded the first "Star Wars" prequel, "The Phantom Menace," was perhaps the first time I heard the suggestion a scene in a major Hollywood blockbuster was written specifically to be a video game. There was a lot of discussion at the time around how the pod racing felt forced in the movie. It was just barely believable; it felt out of place.

Sure enough, the racing turned into a game version featuring the same construct. I, and many others, felt Lucas was trying too hard to market the movie. He was forcing it to have legs, to extend into other channels, rather than just writing a good story. The second prequel was more of the same, though a better balance was struck in this last film.

A few years back, I hypothesized that if you take interactive TV to the extreme, where the viewer is somehow empowered to control the storyline, you'd need a completely different skill set to tell a compelling story.

Making storytelling's linear nature interactive requires a different kind of creativity. It's at least partially why some offline agencies have trouble with online. So many have built their business around the :30 spot. It's a very linear (and short) format, whereas online is mostly nonlinear and consumer-empowered.

It won't be the master storytellers who will be the respected geniuses in this world, I hypothesized then. Stephen King, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas -- they're all linear storytellers. Video game developers possess the right combination of skills and experience to succeed in this world.

My coworker's reaction to "War of the Worlds" sent me back to that idea. I don't know if a corresponding video game is planned. If there is, and Spielberg was involved in game development while making the movie, chances are the game's needs were factored into the way the film story is told. Maybe Spielberg hasn't yet figured out how to tell an interactive story. Or maybe we're not even talking about an interactive story, but rather a linear story that requires flexibility to be adapted to a nonlinear story -- such as a video game.

Interactive is hard. You can tell a story. You can make an emotional connection. And you most definitely can brand. But it's challenging. I've been doing it since the early days, and I'm still trying to figure it out. So I'll forgive Spielberg if he's having trouble cracking that nut. It ain't easy, but it can be done. It's fascinating to watch movies and video games as they continue to converge and show us interactive, multichannel storytelling's potential.

By Jeremy Lockhorn

Source: http://www.clickz.com/experts/ad/ad_tech/print.php/3520331

Magazines for Women

Every year we are seeing new women's magazines appear on the market, to join the masses already published. How can we determine which are the best value? It's easy to spend at least $20 per month, which totals upwards of $240 each year.

Most magazines target a particular demographic, so it's wise to check out any ones you think might find interesting, before buying or subscribing.

The teen magazine market has grown tremendously from as recently as seven years ago. Before then, Seventeen and YM were pretty much the only choices. Now you can find Teen People and Teen Vogues. Teen People focuses on celebrities and offers fashion advice. Teen Vogue is great for the fashion conscious young woman, looking for the latest fashion trend. Both of these publications also encourage attention from older teen readers.

If you're a young 20-something, then Cosmopolitan is definitely your cup of tea. It has long been heralded as the must-read for finding out about fashion, relationships and of course, gossip. Another super magazine for this age group is Jane magazine. Its focus is on the more outrageous celebrities as well as fashion advice. Their writers produce fresh and fascinating articles, often about unique new books and music. Mademoiselle is another tried-and-true magazine with excellent articles and fashion suggestions.

Late 20-something's might find Glamour the perfect magazine for them. Full of articles that are geared towards the professional working woman it has wonderful features as well, highlighting women's issues around the world.

Fashion advice is trendy and practical as well. In Style is another very popular magazine. Full of fabulous fashions and all the hottest designers, In Style is hip, trendy, and classical all at the same time. Vogue of course is the definitive guide to what's in this season.

While the fashion is often too pricey and trendy for the average person to buy, anyone who enjoys reading up on runway fashion and what the world's most intriguing designers are up to will find this women's magazine a must have.

This is just a brief overview of the magazines out there for women. Some are just for fun, while others can give you good advice on a variety of topics. Generally, they are pretty expensive if you pick them up from a newsstand. If you find a few that you like and want to continue reading, think about buying a subscription. You can save up to 50% a year.

Subscriptions also make great gifts for the "girl who has everything."

Keith Michaels is the owner and operator of Four Magazines, the #1 source on the internet for information about Magazines. For more articles on Magazines visit: http://www.fourmagazines.com/articles

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The Story of Becoming a Storyteller

When I first discovered that there was such a job as storyteller, I was 30-something and enrolled in teacher school in St. Louis (home to a warm and wonderful group of tellers). As I finished my teaching degree, I focused more and more on classroom applications of storytelling and saw first-hand the results on student motivation and achievement. Before I even graduated I knew that storytelling was my calling.

SO I MADE A PLAN. Unlike many artists, I have a strong background in business planning. I knew that my bread and butter as a teller would come from schools and libraries, so it was important to finish my degree (I later earned my masters in Reading — with an emphasis on the connection between oral language and the development of reading and writing skills). I felt that I needed at least two years in the classroom to gain credibility with educators, to show them that I understood the curriculum and developmental needs of students and that I understood how schools work. So I was a classroom teacher who told a lot of stories. I built up a repertoire that was tried, tested and student-approved. (It is much harder to tell to your own class than it is to a cafeteria full of strangers — hard to turn off the mother hen/teacher brain)

I was fortunate to have a spouse who could financially support me as I built my storytelling business. Even though I didn't have to worry about insurance and bills and a roof over my head, it was still scary to "Take the leap" and quit my job. In the early stages of my transition to full-time teller I had a lot of people willing to pay me to tell, mostly because I had spent two years laying the groundwork and I had a great network of potential patrons because of my work in the schools and through graduate school. I also did a lot of promotion to a diverse group of potential presenters.

In the planning stages I sort of decided what kind of work I would (and would not) do. Because I had a young child, I had no aspiration to tour nationally or to do a lot of festivals (which don't pay as well as other venues). I was/am greatly blessed to live in a place where there are very few tellers and where there is support from the Arts Council. I really didn't have to travel to work full time. (Well then there's always the prophet in his own country syndrome, but that's another thread). I did and do a lot of free programs. My policy is that I will do the first show free to local schools, provided they pay me my regular fee when they have me back — this has worked very well — often I am asked back to do residency work instead of just assemblies.

I gave a lot of thought to the sorts of places I wanted to work (state parks for example) and I also thought about the audiences that appealed to me. I targeted my promotions to those groups.

Since there wasn't a local guild to support me, I started one. That brought in more work for everyone and helped to cultivate both an audience and a corps of new tellers. I also became very active in NAPPS — then the National Association for the Preservation and Perpetuation of Storytelling, now the National Storytelling Network and International Storytelling Foundation and in STORYTELL —storytelling ListServe. Our state librarian saved the first three months' posts which I read on paper and then I got on-line — and have been on this list ever since. I consider it my storytelling lifeline.

I did have a sense of direction all along. But as in story writing — when the characters start to develop a will of their own and the written story starts to take an unexpected direction, my career has taken me to places I didn't expect. I still do a lot of work in schools, but my big passion right now is working with family groups and very young children (18 months to three yearrs old). I am in the second year of a weekly Little Listeners program at our Children's Museum. It's a big stretch for someone who prefers 8th graders! (I'd be happy to share more about this to anyone who is interested)

I view myself as an artist. Sometimes it is hard to choose my work based on artistic criteria and not solely because it pays. I have been known to turn down lucrative work because it is not within my artistic or ethical realm. As a now single parent I am proud to say that I support my daughter and myself solely by telling stories. I have not done any major promotion in over two years — all of my work comes by word of mouth or by providence. I'm asked to donate my services less and less (though I often donate storytelling to causes I support — without being asked)

How did I get here? By grace, and planning, and the support of many presenters and storytellers. And also by awareness of that 10th donkey — willing to follow it when it wouldn't stay in line (and sometimes making an ass of myself). One of my oldest and dearest friends heard me tell in Portland, Oregon several years ago. He remarked on my passion for story. I told him that it would be easier for me to quit breathing than to quit telling.

Note: Faye Hanson (who introduced your editor, Chris King, to the STORYTELL ListServ years ago) hales from Little Rock, Arkansas, and may be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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