Storytelling

How would you answer the question, "Are you a good storyteller?" My guess is that most of us would respond in the negative when, I think, we all should reply with a resounding 'Yes!' Everyone tells several stories every day. We don't realize it because we tend to think about stories as fiction. We think of stories as words written by someone else, someone who has skills and learning beyond our own abilities. We forget about autobiographies. We forget that we are the author of our own story and that we are ever and always telling it. How we dress tells a story. How we organize and decorate our home tells a story. How we actually tell a story, such as relating something that happened to us, be it around the water cooler or over the phone or a cup of coffee with a friend, tells our version of an experience. If that experience includes other people, their description would be different. It is by putting all the stories together that a detective might solve a case and how reporters craft the news. Some days we scream the plot, the emotions, the setting, the characters. Other times we barely utter a whisper. There are people who readily tell details to any and every one, sometimes even including TMI, and those who keep their stories secret or hidden until a friend finds the right crowbar to open the book just a crack. Besides not understanding that we are a storyteller we forget that we are also the author. We can claim the power of the pen. With it we can turn the page, delete, change the narrative, rewrite, that is we can claim control of our own story. At least to a certain extent. Sometimes we need to find a co-writer. Or an editor. Or inspiration. As we prepare collectively to turn the calendar page in a few weeks, here are a couple of possible exercises for all of us autobiographers.  ü  If you look at your life today as part of your story, what is the name of the chapter you are in and what do you want the next chapter to be?  ü  Is there a storyline that you need to pick back up and bring to some conclusion?  ü  Is there a primary or secondary character who needs to reappear or get written off?  ü  Is it time for some comedic relief? Is the drama is out of control? Do you need to insert some type of action?  ü  Is it time to let someone else hear a certain part of your story? ü  What story do you need or want to tell today? I've not thought of my weekly musing as storytelling but in following today's premise, they are, so I'll bring this chapter to a close and mull on those possibilities myself. Let me know if you have a ready answer. Marilyn