Don’t Do It!

This is a piece of advice that I got from a friend of mine recently. He’s not a storyteller but I applied his information to my craft. He was facilitating a workshop that dealt with the arts and education. In talking with a group of educators he told them, and I’m paraphrasing here: “If you don’t love the material or tools you are using to gain access to the thought processes of your students then don’t use them! Find material that resonates with your teaching style, that you are enthusiastic about. Once you’ve discovered your proper tools and material, this will translate to successful teaching because then, and only then, will your students feel your passion for the subject matter.”

I sat in this workshop and thought, “Wow!” he’s addressing my craft as well. I have always had a rule that a story must resonate with me before I’m willing to work with it. I never force myself to tell a certain genre of tale because it may be popular or what people want to hear. I choose my stories by the way they affect me when I hear them or read.

So, my advice to any beginning tellers out there. If a story does not strike a resonate chord somewhere within you. “Don’t do it! Don’t try to “make” it work! Don’t tell it! Let it go.

There are literally billions of tales waiting to be told, why marry one that will eventually lead to a sepertation due to irreconcilable differences?

“dooni dooni kononi be nyaga da!”