Anyway, Lopez came to UT today and he led a great discussion about storytelling in one of my classes today. A lot of his philosophy on storytelling ties in really well (or overlaps) with Johnstone and the vibe here in Austin.
I have a whole lot of notes, but here are some key points he made:
- A storyteller is someone who recognizes and responds to patters he/she observes in society. Storytellers, like choreographers and musical composers, are usually gifted at making patterns.
It's never a good idea to think too much - it gets in the way of your story and bogs everything down. Venture out into the void of the unknown and let something come to you.
The key to successful storytelling is to take a pattern you've observed and write it in a language where others can identify with it and say "That's exactly what I was thinking!" (Circle of Expectations, anyone?)
A story should remind people about aspirations they have forgotten about.
Authentic vs. Inauthentic storytelling: Authentic stories are about "us" and not just the storyteller. Inauthentic stories are solely about the storyteller and inaccessible to the audience. It's possible to tell a story about "us" based on your personal experience. (This part of the conversation was pretty hazy. His main concern is that the audience should be able to recognize and relate to your story.)
There is a difference between a storyteller who poses as a figure of authority who looks down at his audience and a storyteller who uses a companionable relationship with his audience. If you don't treat the audience as a companion, things get bad when their imagination is larger than your own.
When telling a story, it is important to establish yourself as a real person first. You must be a well-defined character that doesn't appear to be artificially constructed. Once your character is established, then you can focus on conveying his/her views as well as answering the important questions of "Where are we?" and "Where are we going?" (CROW, anyone?)
Trust the wisdom of what you initially say when telling a story. The core of it should be accurate, so don't abandon it in favor of another idea.
With fictional stories, the landscape of emotional truth has far more importance than that of factual truth. If you screw up a fact while telling a fictional story, most people are willing to overlook it entirely. This is not the case with non-fiction. (I think this point was proven on Thursday night with the Miles Davis references in PGraph's show. The facts weren't wrong at all, but the audience clearly favored the relationships and emotions in the show.)
Always pay attention to what is going on around you. Get life experience, and lots of it. This will help you recognize more patterns and tell better stories.
Read (observe improv) a lot. Your goal is not to imitate the prose other authors (improvisers) use, but to imitate their intensity. It should be "I want to do my own thing as well they do their own".
Barry Lopez is a really cool guy. Although a lot of this seems like restating the obvious with Johnstone, I found it interesting to hear it from someone else in addition to the rest of his insight.
