How to be a Storyteller: Essays and Advice on the Art of Storytelling by How to be a Storyteller

Author:How to be a Storyteller
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Creation Company Consultants
Published: 2012-11-19T16:00:00+00:00

2. Expect that you will need to challenge the storyteller stereotype.

Here is where you need to be aware of a challenge. Storytelling, at least in my part of the world, is still perceived by both adults and adolescents as something that the "little kids" get at the library or is the bedtime ritual for preschool-aged children. When you are telling for adolescents, I want you to lead off with your best "you really have no idea what I am going to tell you" type of story.

For example, I specialize in telling folk and fairytales, especially from the Grimm Brothers. Trust me, when I tell this to an audience of adolescents, their eyes begin to roll back into their heads as they proleptically pass out from the potential for boredom. So, I will lead my teen programs with a darker Grimm tale such as "Seven Ravens," where the young heroine, whose brothers have been turned into ravens, must pass bravely through the threats of being eaten by the moon and sun only to find that she must cut off her finger in order to save her feathery siblings. Told well, adolescents (both boys and girls) in the seats begin to squirm and shake their heads as the knife makes its first appearance. Because I use a lot of foreshadowing, the self-mutilation soon is enough to shake any remnants of this-is-like-story-time thinking from these young minds. I told this story of loyalty-to-one's-family once at a festival in Canada where two very-trendy teenage women kept hiding behind their hands for fear of what might happen next in the story. It was truly a stereotype-busting moment that let my storytelling move past "this is kiddie stuff" to "let's hear what else he's got."

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