I have become enthralled with story lately. Everywhere I turn I hear folks talking about story, sharing their stories, or extolling the virtues of story. It wasn’t something that I was really paying attention to up until a few years ago. I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, Creative Pep Talk with Andy J. Pizza one afternoon while I painted my front porch, and he interviewed Brian McDonald and Jesse Bryan and they talked about story. I just lit up listening to them talk about story. Something resonated deeply within me, and I immediately started listening to their podcast, You Are a Storyteller. I began using some of the ideas from the podcast for my art and even for presentations I was giving. The ideas just resonated with me, and I’ve probably listened to all of the episodes of You Are a Storyteller three or four times now. Every time I listen, it seems to go deeper and deeper into my bones. There is just something about story that keeps pulling at me.
Actually when I think about it, stories have always been a big part of my life—not that I told stories or ever thought of myself as a storyteller, but stories have had a profound impact on me. I was 3 or 4 when I saw Star Wars in the theater—what we now call A New Hope—and it wowed me. I wanted to be Luke Skywalker, and the whole narrative just blew me away. I was a poor kid from the middle of nowhere. Luke was a poor kid from some middle of nowhere planet, and if he could save the galaxy, at the very least, I could grow up and do something pretty cool. I soaked in all of these stories of the little guy taking on the big guys and of ordinary folks overcoming the greatest of odds in movies, books, and tv shows, and I knew that I could and would overcome the odds as well.
Growing up poor like I did, the deck was stacked against me, but I made it to college, began teaching, travelled all over this country, and had an impact on quite a few people throughout the years. That’s a long way from where I came from, but I believed it was possible because of all of those stories.
And now, I’m beginning to understand the impact that story has had on me, and maybe there’s a way that I can use story to have an impact on others. I’m still figuring it out, but I know that story is going to be pivotal to what I do. Hearing about story was like someone handing me a key, but I’m not sure what it’ll unlock. I’m still figuring that part out, but I know that story is the key.
It’s only appropriate that I share the impact that Brian McDonald has had on me over the past few years. From listening to him on the podcast to reading his books, I feel like I know him, and one day I’d definitely like to meet him, shake his hand, and thank him. And I definitely want to take a class with him in the future. In the meantime, I’ll keep returning to the You Are a Storyteller podcast and to his books. I just got the second edition of Invisible Ink, and I can’t wait to dig into it and see the changes and additions since the first edition. And if you’re looking for a simple and concise book on storytelling, Invisible Ink is definitely a good place to start, and if you want a good example of storytelling, Brian’s graphic novel Old Souls is good to turn to.
Brian writes in a very clear matter of fact way to present his points, and he draws examples from movies, fairy tales, fables and more to illustrate them. So, if you’re interested in storytelling or even if you want to be a better presenter or communicator, check out the You Are a Storyteller podcast and pick up Brian’s books. I can’t recommend them enough.
Thanks so much! And Happy Creating!
Eric