Story telling workshop

I've spent the last week or so at Broadstairs Folk Week, during which I attended a workshop being held by a wonderful storyteller called Mark Lawson, on how to be a successful and engaging storyteller, so I decided to take notes as I decided that these may aid me in narrative writing and/or directing voice actors for future projects. Below are the notes that I took during the workshop:

Key Points:

• Pacing
• Moral of a tale
• Try to avoid "Once upon a time" - Like waving a little banner + untrue
• Perrault - France, Grimms - Germany, Jacobs -England; fairytales/folk tales.

What is a story?

• Something that fires up the audiences imagination - often a tune/rhythm in the story - takes time and practice
• Has to be more embellished than just a timetable or report - description work usage very important.
• Important tools:
• Alliteration
• Tempo
• Mood
• Atmosphere

What makes a Storyteller?

• He or she narrates a story - NOT a story reader - tied hands/energy - Storyteller draws in audience - performance art
• Must be entertaining - not anthropological
• Make the story your own - ie if you learn it as a straight speech, it will be boring
• Don't be afraid of making changes to the narratives. 
• Don't give full descriptions of everything - establish purpose and rough outline of components. 

4 Essential skills:

• Memorisation
• Editing and revision
• Presentation
• Performance

Memorisation:

• Must have whole story - not word perfect, but skeleton and ability to flesh out stories
• Length is key
• Structure - framework - basics

Enemies

• Hesitation
• Deviation
• Repition

General points:

• Use names that occur over and over - generics
• Try and make surrounding experiences - allows everyone to be engaged & get the full experience
• Persona of narrator - fully built character in the same way other characters are
• Lighting - candle light, etc. Important for setting mood. 
• Tell yourself the story - work & rework out loud - will refine it for you and finish the sound  - affect. 
• Avoid repeated words
• Wide Vocabulary & eclectic words will help the stories be more interesting - well spoken - full understanding & enjoyment. 
• Good/Bad, Ethics, Consequences, Karma etc.
• Record yourself; listen and improve
• Idea of marrying well to secure a good and stable future - challenge it?

I know not all of these points will apply to narrative for animation. However, I think it creates a good basis for the development and working on scripts for upcoming projects.