First of all, what I love about Joe's talk is that he truly is a storyteller. He even uses his own theme music!
I took a storytelling class a few quarters ago, and I loved it, but it was hard work! Just getting my brain to remember the course of the story and all the words and motions that went with each story was a challenge. Joe here had to remember his script, the order of the buttons he used, their placement on the iPad screen, and push them all at the right time so his story made sense.
I can tell you it takes a lot of concentration to tell a story in an exciting way. I almost feel like I could see it on Joe Sabia's face a few times, despite how careful he was to seem excited about his narrative.
It's the same way for blogs. Blogging is just another outlet for people to tell their stories--with new perspectives and through a new medium. And it still takes a lot of work to keep the stories interesting
What I've found most interesting in the last couple days is how online (on screen) storytelling is different from the way we tell stories out loud.
In this week's TED talk, Mr. Sabia was very excited, using intonation and inflection and the nuances in his voice to tell his story. His speech is practiced. He knows it so well, it's familiar to him--as familiar as a conversation with your best friend. He actively anticipates what's coming next, and, unlike a conversation, he doesn't have to account for unexpected responses from whomever he's talking to.
What surprises me is how different people can sound in their writing than they do in real life.
For me, I can hear my own voice in my writing. On paper (or on screen) I'm a little more formal--I say "like" MUCH less. But on the whole, if I were to read my blog out loud, I could read it fluidly in my own voice, because I read it aloud to myself at home in order to edit it. My best friend's blog sounds just like her when she talks. But that may just be because I've read so much of her work that I just can't help but hear her voice in my head when I read it.
When I called her this week I brought this question up to her, and she said that there are some parts of my blog where she can definitely hear my voice. Where she has to shake her head to get my voice out of it because my voice should not be with her in Seattle. But on the whole, she thinks my blog makes me seem more confident. (yay!)
I think it was last week that my Living Writers professor, Brenda, asked my classmate, Natalie, to read her blog aloud. (Natalie. That girl.)
Ultimately, I was surprised when I heard her read. It seemed like she was uncomfortable (or at least, unpracticed) reading aloud, which, as writers, we know we need to get over. But, to be fair, Brenda asked her to read a very opinionatedpost rant on how catcalls are inappropriate and don't have the same effect on girls as guys seem to think they do. Personally, I would have been embarrassed to read it aloud.
On top of that, Natalie is normally a very sweet girl. I've met her. She tends to be pretty quiet in class. (but then again, I've only met her academic side. >.<) When she did a presentation for class, she admitted to attempting to write like this opinionated lady, and that she typically doesn't let herself write in such a snarky, opinionated, appealing way. That said, her snarky blog voice and intonation didn't come out until she reached the swearing mid-way through the post.
The contrast between her writing voice and her reading voice (prior to the rant) was astonishing to me.
I have another friend in class who stays quiet unless he's called upon, and that's Tom. He's been in a few of my classes over the course of my degree, and to be honest, I really didn't notice him. (Sorry Tom!) He just didn't talk very much.
His writing is beyond belief, though. He's an awesome writer, I'll give him that. He wrote a death scene and a sex scene in our Senior seminar class last quarter that just floored all of us. Who knew the quiet guy in the corner had such a powerful voice on paper? He just posted a short story on his blog, and I can't wait to get the time to read it.
Imagine my surprise when I found out that he's a great texter as well. He'll respond to nearly every text I send, and the best part is, he's a completely different person over texting. Tom through text is what Erin calls a "Chatty Cathy". Hell, he even uses double exclamation points!!
Texting is yet another medium through which our voices can sound different. You have to remember, of course, that 160 characters is rarely enough room to convey a complete idea and an emotion--but that's what emoticons are for. =)
Here's the kicker. Tom's conversation voice is not like his texting voice, his blogging voice, or his writing voice. It's like he's got different voices for every occasion! (not a bad thing, Tom. It's exciting!)
But I want to bring this back to how telling a story is actually selling a story.
Joe Sabia sold his story to me because I sat there and watched 4 minutes of video on how a guy named "Lothar" changed the world because of his invention of the pop-up book.
Natalie and Tom don't need to read their blogs aloud to sell their writing. Their words on the screen (or the page) do it for them.
There have been cases, in fact, where authors have actually lost their readership because their readers didn't like how the author read his or her own work.
Take T.S. Eliot, for example.
He's reading The Wasteland...and quite frankly, he sounds a bit stuffy.
Most of the comments under the video on youtube are negative ones, though it isn't as if Eliot has lost his readership--it's more that his current readers think less of his reading voice (which is a shame, because when he reads The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, his voice is actually quite nice there.)
In that strategy, Eliot failed to sell his writing to me, and others. And when Natalie began reading her blog, quite frankly, I was bored because she wasn't reading it with the same gusto I imagined her writing it with. However, she got into the groove towards the end, either because she jumped back on the train of thought she had while she was writing the post, or she finally shook off the nerves that inevitably appear when your teacher says "Natalie, I won't do this justice, will you read your blog for us?"
******************************************************
I'm sure you've all come to realize that you have different voices, especially when you're talking to different people. But blogs (and poetry?) are supposed to be those places where you can "be yourself", right? And these places are probably where we're most likely to sound like ourselves (hopefully?)
******************************************************
I'm curious about your thoughts on this...so leave your comments below, and I'll end with this:
I took a storytelling class a few quarters ago, and I loved it, but it was hard work! Just getting my brain to remember the course of the story and all the words and motions that went with each story was a challenge. Joe here had to remember his script, the order of the buttons he used, their placement on the iPad screen, and push them all at the right time so his story made sense.
I can tell you it takes a lot of concentration to tell a story in an exciting way. I almost feel like I could see it on Joe Sabia's face a few times, despite how careful he was to seem excited about his narrative.
It's the same way for blogs. Blogging is just another outlet for people to tell their stories--with new perspectives and through a new medium. And it still takes a lot of work to keep the stories interesting
What I've found most interesting in the last couple days is how online (on screen) storytelling is different from the way we tell stories out loud.
In this week's TED talk, Mr. Sabia was very excited, using intonation and inflection and the nuances in his voice to tell his story. His speech is practiced. He knows it so well, it's familiar to him--as familiar as a conversation with your best friend. He actively anticipates what's coming next, and, unlike a conversation, he doesn't have to account for unexpected responses from whomever he's talking to.
What surprises me is how different people can sound in their writing than they do in real life.
For me, I can hear my own voice in my writing. On paper (or on screen) I'm a little more formal--I say "like" MUCH less. But on the whole, if I were to read my blog out loud, I could read it fluidly in my own voice, because I read it aloud to myself at home in order to edit it. My best friend's blog sounds just like her when she talks. But that may just be because I've read so much of her work that I just can't help but hear her voice in my head when I read it.
When I called her this week I brought this question up to her, and she said that there are some parts of my blog where she can definitely hear my voice. Where she has to shake her head to get my voice out of it because my voice should not be with her in Seattle. But on the whole, she thinks my blog makes me seem more confident. (yay!)
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| you never know what google will give you when you put "epic win" in the search bar... |
I think it was last week that my Living Writers professor, Brenda, asked my classmate, Natalie, to read her blog aloud. (Natalie. That girl.)
Ultimately, I was surprised when I heard her read. It seemed like she was uncomfortable (or at least, unpracticed) reading aloud, which, as writers, we know we need to get over. But, to be fair, Brenda asked her to read a very opinionated
On top of that, Natalie is normally a very sweet girl. I've met her. She tends to be pretty quiet in class. (but then again, I've only met her academic side. >.<) When she did a presentation for class, she admitted to attempting to write like this opinionated lady, and that she typically doesn't let herself write in such a snarky, opinionated, appealing way. That said, her snarky blog voice and intonation didn't come out until she reached the swearing mid-way through the post.
The contrast between her writing voice and her reading voice (prior to the rant) was astonishing to me.
I have another friend in class who stays quiet unless he's called upon, and that's Tom. He's been in a few of my classes over the course of my degree, and to be honest, I really didn't notice him. (Sorry Tom!) He just didn't talk very much.
His writing is beyond belief, though. He's an awesome writer, I'll give him that. He wrote a death scene and a sex scene in our Senior seminar class last quarter that just floored all of us. Who knew the quiet guy in the corner had such a powerful voice on paper? He just posted a short story on his blog, and I can't wait to get the time to read it.
Imagine my surprise when I found out that he's a great texter as well. He'll respond to nearly every text I send, and the best part is, he's a completely different person over texting. Tom through text is what Erin calls a "Chatty Cathy". Hell, he even uses double exclamation points!!
Texting is yet another medium through which our voices can sound different. You have to remember, of course, that 160 characters is rarely enough room to convey a complete idea and an emotion--but that's what emoticons are for. =)
Complete Idea + Emotion = a writer's "VOICE"
:)
Here's the kicker. Tom's conversation voice is not like his texting voice, his blogging voice, or his writing voice. It's like he's got different voices for every occasion! (not a bad thing, Tom. It's exciting!)
But I want to bring this back to how telling a story is actually selling a story.
Joe Sabia sold his story to me because I sat there and watched 4 minutes of video on how a guy named "Lothar" changed the world because of his invention of the pop-up book.
 |
| I even remembered the name of the guy who invented the pop-up book! |
Natalie and Tom don't need to read their blogs aloud to sell their writing. Their words on the screen (or the page) do it for them.
There have been cases, in fact, where authors have actually lost their readership because their readers didn't like how the author read his or her own work.
Take T.S. Eliot, for example.
He's reading The Wasteland...and quite frankly, he sounds a bit stuffy.
Most of the comments under the video on youtube are negative ones, though it isn't as if Eliot has lost his readership--it's more that his current readers think less of his reading voice (which is a shame, because when he reads The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, his voice is actually quite nice there.)
In that strategy, Eliot failed to sell his writing to me, and others. And when Natalie began reading her blog, quite frankly, I was bored because she wasn't reading it with the same gusto I imagined her writing it with. However, she got into the groove towards the end, either because she jumped back on the train of thought she had while she was writing the post, or she finally shook off the nerves that inevitably appear when your teacher says "Natalie, I won't do this justice, will you read your blog for us?"
******************************************************
I'm sure you've all come to realize that you have different voices, especially when you're talking to different people. But blogs (and poetry?) are supposed to be those places where you can "be yourself", right? And these places are probably where we're most likely to sound like ourselves (hopefully?)
******************************************************
I'm curious about your thoughts on this...so leave your comments below, and I'll end with this:
I've often had that experience: the disconnect between a writer's spoken voice and written voice, and what happens when the two intersect.
ReplyDeleteWhat was interesting to me about that moment in class: the stories Natalie's story inspired. Did you see how animated everyone got? And believe me, that's the first time in my 12 years of teaching that I've heard those kinds of stories in a classroom setting! I kind of loved it, but it also put me at the edge of my own comfort level.
Well, you opened the door to those stories when you asked Natalie to read her own post. We're a generation that adheres to societal expectations unless the barriers are breached first--and then the deluge (especially in a classroom where most of us know each other well).
DeleteSo by encouraging Natalie to read her ranty post in her own voice (knowing how many time she swears in that post), you encouraged the rest of us to share our own opinions and points of view on the controversy that Natalie brought up.
I don't know if you're the type who likes to push beyond your own boundaries, but we'll be happy to oblige more often if you're okay with it. You'll find you'll get to know us a lot faster that way. =)