The wonderful young man known to me as Owen, a friend of poet Jamilla Woods, wrote this down for us in response to Chicago Samworks’ Two sides.
Apr 06 2012
Two Sides
Permanent link to this article: https://storyluck.org/two-sides/
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A personal narrative story, whether it’s told around a Thanksgiving table or on stage to a live audience tends to last 3–10 minutes.
Not a lot of time.
Brevity is appreciated… start as close to the moment of change as possible.
We like to think everything is under our control.
We aren’t millionaires because we don’t invest correctly.
We aren’t married because we haven’t been on enough dates.
We aren’t a super model because we don’t put in the reps.
What actions do you take if you give up control?
A good storyteller makes it look easy.
But when you’re struggling, that’s the sign it’s going to be a great story, because it’s one you’re invested in.
Eventually when it looks easy, it will be all the more glorious.
When stories don’t feel like stories, it's usually because your scope is too big. This can happen for two main reasons.
1. Everything is important!
2. You don’t know your main reason for telling the story so you don’t know what is or isn’t important.
