Based on the concept that less is more

Good grief. Is it already time to do another article? By the time my term is up, I might have to resort to plagiarism. Just kidding. I would like for these articles to flow in some sort of logical progression – only my brain is anything but logical. So some topics may be out of order due to my state of mind at the time. If you are not satisfied, I will happily return your money. Anyway, it makes sense to me that the next topic of discussion should be story crafting. I will combine some basic tips in creating a story with my own original One-Sentence approach to story writing.

But I’m not a writer you may be saying to yourself. This article can’t possibly help me. I use stories that have been written by other people. If this is you, please flatter me and at least read the rest of the article. Even if you don’t consider yourself a writer. If you are a storyteller who takes a story and retells it, baby I got news for you, you are rewriting it. Whether you like it or not. Whether you’re good at it or not. Whether you put it down on paper or not. That’s what you are doing. You are taking the story and making it your own by adding your own flavor, and flavor includes words. Unless you are memorizing stories and repeating them word for word, in which case you are really an actress. And you could still probably benefit from a few basic tips. My head is starting to hurt from all this on-paper convincing. So I’ll proceed.

I have watched many storytellers, comedians, and speakers in my day, and have noticed something that many have in common. They use too many words. If you remember one thing from this article, remember this: It’s all about saying more with less. I repeat: It’s all about saying more with less.

Let’s take a moment to rethink how we view a story. Sometimes as storytellers we will set out to write/tell a story that is, for example, twenty minutes long. Or we’ll have a certain amount of time and we’ll make our story fit that time. STOP. I want you to stop going at a story from this direction. Start thinking of how to tell the story as quickly as you can. And I don’t mean quick like you’re on speed, I mean quick as in sticking only to the necessary details.

You see, that’s where many of us mess up with our stories. We think that more words make a better story. WRONG. Please believe me when I say that the more words you add to your story, the stronger your chances are of losing your audience. A point is best made with two sentences instead of two paragraphs. A poignant moment is best when kept short and sweet rather than four pages of “how sad am I.” A joke is much funnier when you tell it in thirty seconds, than when you tell it in twenty minutes. If you’ve ever been to a cocktail party, you can certainly attest to that.

When I performed for the cruise ships I told a story that was forty-five minutes long. This was just this past April, so you see that I don’t even follow my own advice. The show was a success but I still asked the client what I could do to make it better. She told me to do forty-five minutes of short stories, rather than one long story. She said that the attention span of the average American is short, and getting shorter. You have to give them breaks. Like it or not. So I came back and spent the summer reworking my portfolio of stories so that every story I have is ten minutes or less. Now when I do a forty-five minute show, I have lots and lots of variety. I have noticed a tremendous improvement in my act.

This is not to say that long stories are bad. That is not true. And thanks to the wonderful nature of storytelling fans, there will always be an audience who will appreciate them. What I’m saying is that a story should include only what needs to be said. And often you will find that you took four pages to say what could have been said in four paragraphs.

A storytelling hero of mine (Bil Lepp) once said that when you tell a story you are giving your listener a back pack. And every detail you give them is put into their back pack. And as you travel through the story, they are climbing that hill with you – carrying a back pack that gets heavier and heavier. Don’t make them get to the top of the hill (end of the story) and realize that they carried that heavy pack (all those details) for nothing. If this still doesn’t make sense to you, think of movies you’ve seen where they introduced a character in the beginning and you kept waiting for them to show why that character was brought into the story. Or you see a scene and wonder why that was put in there when it had nothing to do with the story. Or you hear a joke that had about ten minutes of information that had nothing to do with the punch line. Or you fell asleep listening to someone use three pages to describe a meadow.

But just making your story shorter is not the answer. It’s the start. It starts with cutting out those huge blocks of unnecessary information. But beyond just cutting, it’s about changing the words you use. It’s about finding a creative way to say something in one sentence, using words that another writer/teller wouldn’t use. This is where we fall into the area of “it’s not how many words you use, but what words you choose.”

If a sun is hot, I want you to show me how hot. If someone is tired, I want you to show me how tired. I want your characters to have names (nicknames even better) and stores to have names. I want your characters to have flaws – in their personalities and in their personal appearance. I want you to take your stories and cut. And cut. And cut again. And don’t expect for this to be easy. But it does get easier. And when you look over your newly edited story later, you will see how much better it is. And you will even have time left over to tell another one. My one-sentence approach to story writing is not something that can be taught in one article. But I’m going to give you some basics that I am sure will help you create a better story. And it starts with telling your story in one sentence.

That’s right. Tell me what your story is about (including the message or meaning) in one sentence. Don’t whine, if third graders can do this (and they can) then so can you. Let me give you an example:

My story is about a girl who travels to a distant land and finds out that there is no place like the home she left behind.

In case you guessed, it’s The Wizard of Oz, and many of you will have a different sentence because people get different meanings out of stories. Don’t over think it, just understand that I want you to start with that one sentence that tells what your story is about. You’d be surprised how many storytellers I have asked that question, and they weren’t able to tell me. That’s because often the story isn’t really about anything more than a plot. Or more importantly, the storyteller isn’t clear on how to verbalize what the story is about. This is important folks. You need to know why you are telling that story, and what it means to you and to your audience. You may not put it into words, but knowing it will make you passionate about your message.

I’m not telling you to tell a one-sentence story. And I’m not saying that one sentence is supposed to be the start of your story or even anywhere in the story. I’m just changing the way you approach the creative process. Instead of taking an idea and starting on page one….start with the one sentence. This works if you’re creating your own story, or making one your own. This sentence doesn’t have to be interesting or have neat words in it. It’s just a sentence that really sums up what the story is about. And remember that it must include the meaning. Don’t tell me it is the story of a girl who gets to go to a ball and meets her prince. That doesn’t cut it. If you are having trouble at this stage of the process (bless your heart) send me an email and I’ll help you through it. Practice with some stories that you already tell.

After you have told the story in one sentence, think about what the listener needs to know. Make a list (boring I know, but do it anyway) of the necessary details. What is imperative that we know about this story? Do we need to know how Cinderella’s stepfather died? No. And if you spend three pages talking about it I’ll smack you. Do we need to know where her stepsisters went to school? Do we need a description of the house she lived in? No. No. And no. I’ve got news for you. If a detail isn’t necessary to the story, don’t include it. Especially at this stage of the process. Later you may throw some extra details in, but I assure you that they will serve a purpose too.

Once you know what your story’s about and you have your necessary details, just connect them together to form the plot. You have put together the story. And it should be pretty boring. That’s because you haven’t added the flavor yet. Those little details that make a story interesting. The next part is what I refer to as “adding the flavor.” This article is getting long enough already, so I’m going to make a list of some of my top suggestions and a brief description of each. You can email me if you have questions.

1. Make the opening interesting. You have about a minute to get and keep their attention. Don’t waste it on “once upon a time’s” and lengthy descriptions of meadows. Open with a bang. Open with an excerpt from a later part of the story and then back up. Open with a conclusion like “last summer was the year I learned that sometimes too much fun is a bad thing.” Your goal here is to spark an interest. To tell your listener that this story is going to be different. Creating suspense is always a great thing to do in the beginning of your story.

2. Cut every unnecessary word that you can. Turn two sentences into one. And cut again. If you started with your one sentence and basic necessary information, you should be off to a good start. All you have to do is add details.

3. Find ways to describe things like nobody else would. And don’t forget to describe them. Don’t be lazy and call him a tall man, or a mean woman. Work a little. Show me how tall. Compare her to something mean. Name your people and places. Use your voices and accents. Spend time on those little details and your audience will commend you for it. Trust me.

4. Create interesting characters. Don’t make them cookie cutter people. Give them flaws. Give them unusual personality traits. It doesn’t have to be a whole paragraph. Just give them a sentence. For example: My Aunt Bitsy was a walking sponge of information – useless information for the most part – that she picked up at the drug store or the beauty parlor. (When you choose details to put in your story, try to use the details that are necessary to the story. Describe character flaws that later explain their actions.)

5. Some details serve a purpose other than furthering the plot. I use details to make jokes, to add humor, to set a scene. The One-Sentence approach is not about doing away with those details. It’s about having a reason for using them. Just know the reason and I’ll let you keep them. Kind of like what Milbre Burch said one time at workshop she taught us. She was talking about gestures. She asked someone if they intended to use their arms so much. She said it wasn’t a matter of whether they should, but whether they intended to. It’s okay to use them, if you are intentional about it. Does that make sense? Email me if you don’t understand and I’ll explain better. 6. Show instead of tell. This is harder to do, but the more you practice the better you will get. Take out phrases like “he was thinking about doing this” or “and then she decided she was going to say…” Just have the person do it.

7. Don’t feel the need to connect every moment together in your plot. It’s okay to jump ahead. Just make sure your listener knows what you’re doing. I have a story that is only about four paragraphs long. And each paragraph covers a different time period. I just make sure that the sentence opening SHOWS (not tells) the listener that time has passed.

8. Sometimes a story can be one moment. You don’t have to back up and give information about how they came to be there. You don’t have to explain what happened later. Many of my stories start with me describing a moment. And often the story will end without me ever having come out of that moment. Again, remember we only need to know the necessary information.

9. When you make a point, make it once. Don’t repeat it or find three other ways to say it. When you drill a point too much you will find that the reader/audience no longer buys into it. Sometimes it’s better not to even make the point. Let the reader come to their own conclusion. You want to avoid sounding like you’re preaching a message. If you tell your story well, you won’t need to end with the message.

10. Keep endings short and sweet. The longer they draw out, the more your audience starts to get bored.

11. Be careful of true personal stories – they tend to be more interesting to you than other people. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t write about true personal stuff, just try to be objective about it. I run into this quite often. My business is comedy and so my objective is making people laugh. I know how to write jokes and how to write stories that make people laugh. And I think I’m pretty good at it. Until I tell something that really happened in our family. Most of the time it bombs. Because much of what made that story funny is only going to be funny to my family and those who were there. I lose all sense of objectivity because it actually happened to me. This is hard to explain. But try to get someone to help you – to listen and tell you if it is funny. Or how it could be funnier.

12. True stories need some lying. Many people are afraid to alter the details of a true story. “But it’s true, that’s the way it really happened,” they’ll tell me. But that doesn’t make it interesting or entertaining. And that is your first goal when you take the stage – to entertain your audience. Find a good friend who can help you analyze your material.

13. The weaker the punch line, the shorter the joke. There is nothing worse than a twenty-minute joke with a weak punch line.

14. Be careful of repetition. If you’ve got a story where your character has a repeated action, then each time you walk through that repetition, walk through it faster. You can actually speed up your voice, but I want you to take some words out. The audience will forgive you when you repeat the action once verbatim, but do it again, and, heaven forbid, again, and you will annoy them. Trust me.

Darn it…. I couldn’t think of a number 15. What a bummer. I feel like I’m dangling in the middle of nowhere. Who ends on 14? But so be it. The timer on my Hamburger Helper is going off and I need to go.

That’s enough for now. This is a lot to take in, especially if it’s the first time you are hearing it. Even if you only do a couple of these, your stories will improve. And we’ll probably cover some of these again in future articles. I’m here if you have any questions.

I leave you with a challenge. Write a one-page story starting with the one-sentence approach. Add the necessary details and then add the flavor. What happens? I’d like to know. Until next month….may the force be with you. (I’m in a weird mood. No more drinking while Will takes his nap.)

A journey from the page to the stage

I promised as President of the North Carolina Storytelling Guild, that I would do a monthly article on a topic of interest to storytellers. If I didn’t promise, then I meant to. And please don’t rope and tie me if I forget a month. But I will do my best to ramble on a somewhat regular basis on the lessons that I have learned as a professional storyteller. I do not claim to be a master by your definition. I do claim to have made a lot of mistakes along the way and feel it my duty to keep others from making them too. So look at this article (not too closely, good grief, I can’t be the grammar expert too) as encouragement, advice, and mutterings from a fellow storyteller. Sometimes you will already know everything in the article and more, and sometimes it may seem overwhelming. Just read it and email me if you have any questions or glowing compliments. If you have any complaints send them to Sylvia Payne. (Just kidding. Get over it. I do that a lot when I write. And I never can remember whether the period goes in or out of the parenthesis. Don’t tell me, I’ll only forget.) Today’s topic is creation.

Stop fanning yourself. I’m not going to start off with a religious discussion. We’ll save that for next month. I mean creation in the artistic sense. We are artists. We create. We tell a story. Whether we dance, paint, sing, or play Beethoven’s Fifth on the jaw harp, we tell a story. A story about life. And when we tell this story we evoke an emotion from our audience. We take them to places in their own life or to distant lands where cultures are different but the emotions are the same. We are given our gifts for a reason. Our voices were meant to tell a story. And as artists, we spend our lives finding out what stories are in us to tell. It is important that you find YOUR story, YOUR message to the world, YOUR voice. So for this article I will talk about that stage that happens before you learn the story. The part where you decide what story you want to tell.

Many beginning storytellers already have the passion and the courage to dip their toe into this exciting art form. But they don’t know what stories to tell. Where should they look? What stories are they supposed to tell? What are the rules of being a storyteller? Do they have to tell a Jack tale? And I think that many storytellers jump over a step in this process. They look at what others are doing. They pick stories, memorize them, and start telling. I know, because that’s exactly what I did. I’m a writer so I happened to pick stories that I wrote so I wouldn’t have to worry about legal issues. But I jumped in and started telling.

I think that there’s an important step you need to go through that doesn’t require great skill or manual dexterity. You must search inside yourself (an ongoing process by the way) to find out what messages you have to share with the world. What stories your heart speaks.

Professional speakers are taught to speak about what they know, what life has taught them. I encourage you as artists to do the same. And to do so, we must at least wonder what our lives have taught us. What lessons have we learned? What sage wisdom have we stored up? What do we have to share with the world?

If you’re like me, upon hearing this, you went “huh?” and wondered if maybe you should have filled out that Wal-Mart application after all. I went so far as to get out a piece of paper and write across the top, “Things I have learned in my life….” And I stared at it for like fifteen minutes and then went to get some chocolate and an aspirin for my brain cramp. But I came back to it and decided, oh what the heck, just start writing. And my list was started. I gave myself no rules, no limits, no boundaries. I told myself it could be serious, funny, religious, earth shattering or silly. The point was just to write and keep writing without thinking. To write about what my life has taught me. And I knew (I was right of course) that in this process some things would start to take birth.

I came up with four pages of things I have learned in my life. Number one: Life is too short to eat okra. Number two: Big hair will make your thighs look smaller. Number nineteen: Ten years from now I will not remember who headed up the hospitality committee at church, but I will never forget that group of ladies who brought me a prayer shawl when I had a miscarriage. Number thirty-two: You can’t always change the road you’re on, but you always change the way you see that road. I can go on, but I’m sure you’re already thinking of your own life lessons.

When you have finished your list (which you never will) you will see the messages (i.e. the morals) that you have to share with the world. These are the things that life has taught you and now have become your passions. These are the things your stories should be about. I have heard so many stories where plenty of things happened, but the story was not really about anything. Does that make sense? If not, email me and I’ll explain further.

But to make sure you understand this I’m going to say it again. In your search for the perfect story to tell, start with the message YOU want to tell. Then find the story that has that message. Or write one! It’s easier than you think.

And when you tell the story, make sure that the listener knows the message. I am surprised at how often the teller isn’t even clear on the message, much less the audience. I know it sounds weird and maybe hard to understand. But nobody said creation was going to be easy. But you will be glad you went to the trouble because this is how you begin to find your voice, your attitude, the kinds of stories you want to tell. Shoot, you may even have the courage to start writing your own stories.

I want you to get a journal. Today. By journal, I mean a notebook with paper in it that can not be used for grocery lists or notes to yourself. Call it your life journal. This is not a diary. I repeat, this is not a diary. This is a place to start recording stuff. By stuff, I mean anything that gets your attention. I mean scenes that touch your heart, descriptions of people on the subway, funny ways to describe a drooling dog with three legs, what it feels like to get older, rants about voice mail and customer service, whatever you want to write. You don’t even have to write in complete sentences.

Keep the journal with you at all times. If you’re like me, you’ll have several in different places – your car, by your bed, in your purse. And I’m warning you to write this stuff down as soon as you think of it. You will not remember it tomorrow. What we’re doing here is recording the details in life so that when we sit down to write a story, we’re not trying to think of things off the top of our head. We can refer to our notebooks which over time will grow to be grand collections of material to use in our art.

This is not going to make sense to you right away. It didn’t to me. And sometimes I will write things down wondering where in the world I will ever use that. But that’s not the point. The point is to write. The point is to get used to looking around you for you material. Life is filled with more material than you could ever hope to make up.

On some of the pages of the journal, give yourself a topic and write about it. Here are some of the topics I have used in mine:

Politeness is of one most important qualities when we are talking about living in society and interacting with different people. Politeness is showing your level of personal development and shows your respect to the person you are interacting with. As a result of that writing in a polite manner gives a major plus when you’re addressing anybody by a letter, e-mail or other sorts of correspondence.

There were special systems of addressing in writing to show your politeness, for example in the end of a letter using word combinations like “Sincerely/ Looking forward to hear back from you/ Truly yours/ Looking forward to serve you” or in the beginning combinations like “Sir/Madam” etc. When a person receives a letter with “marks” like that he/she understands that you are taking him/her seriously and respecting his/her personality. Also being polite in writing means avoidance of the usage of words and word combinations that might seem rude. If you are addressing a person whom you don’t know do not try to be friendly right away using combinations like “What’s up?!” etc.

Another aspect of politeness in writing is spelling and being grammatically correct. Your relation to these matters might hint the receiver about your personality and about your personal relation to him/her. If you are spelling words incorrectly and misusing words or anything like that it will seem that you are not really taking what you are doing seriously and correspondently not taking the receiver seriously. He will do the same thing to you. And of course it’s a lot easier and more pleasant to just read a grammatically correct letter, e-mail etc.

Is there anyone who is not confused with the proper usage of the verbs “lay” and “lie”? I know I am from time to time. So that’s why I developed a “visual aid” to help myself remember what is what. It works for me and I hope it’ll be helpful for you as well.

and it is a transitive verb. That is, it needs an OBJECT to make sense. You always lay SOMETHING.

Imagine the letter “a” in “Lay” as someone bending over to place a heavy object on the ground.

“Our engineers will lay the foundation of our new headquarters building.”

Both the past and perfect tense of “Lay” is “Laid.” Lay-Laid-Laid (1-2-2).

“Our engineers have laid the foundation of our new headquarters building.”

Imagine the DOT on the letter “i” in “Lie” as the head of someone resting/reclining on a couch or bed.

But watch out — the PAST tense of lie is also lay! That’s why it can get pretty confusing.

“The puppy would not lay still even for a second!”

So when you see “lay,” you have to figure out whether it is to “put/place” or “recline/remain” from the context.

However the perfect tense of “Lie” is “Lain.” Lie-Lay-Lain (1-2-3).

“The overturned truck had lain in the ditch the whole night.”

Its past and perfect tenses are “Lied” and “Lied.” Lie-Lied-Lied (1-2-2). Usually it’s easy to tell this form of “lie” from the other.

(“Puppy lied.” Correct? No. Puppies don’t talk. It should be “Puppy lay.”)