tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post5939115034772135855..comments2024-03-28T02:36:30.029-04:00Comments on Jungle Red Writers: Telling StoriesJungle Red Writershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16646429819267618412noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-10818384063809439902009-04-04T16:06:00.000-04:002009-04-04T16:06:00.000-04:00Welcome Susan!I grew up with story tellers. My gre...Welcome Susan!<BR/>I grew up with story tellers. My great aunt and grandmother would tell stories for hours--some true, and some fiction. I try to carry that on to my children and now grandchildren. They love Nana's invented stories much more than any book. I think the storyteller has that wonderful advantage of feeling the connection with her audience, knowing when she "has" them, when they are truly hooked.<BR/>We writers have no way of knowing how our books are received, when people become bored, when excited.<BR/><BR/>Keep up that great work!Rhys Bowenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06663634889908752121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-63553363014435096912009-04-04T11:22:00.000-04:002009-04-04T11:22:00.000-04:00Thank you, Jan. I'm so happy to know about your s...Thank you, Jan. I'm so happy to know about your site. As an avid mystery reader, I will no longer be wondering what to read next...<BR/>SusanSusan Danoffhttp://www.susandanoff.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-44317040912806727322009-04-03T22:24:00.000-04:002009-04-03T22:24:00.000-04:00Sooki--you bring tears to my eyes. I remember that...Sooki--you bring tears to my eyes. I remember that, too.Hank Phillippi Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17420701704169428286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-21072390269685177442009-04-03T16:51:00.000-04:002009-04-03T16:51:00.000-04:00Hi Susan,Welcome to Jungle Red, what a terrific ap...Hi Susan,<BR/>Welcome to Jungle Red, what a terrific application of story telling! Your career is inspiring!Jan Broganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11323983086318138814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-25637680115993452922009-04-03T15:59:00.000-04:002009-04-03T15:59:00.000-04:00As I young teen, I couldn't wait for Girl Scout re...As I young teen, I couldn't wait for Girl Scout retreats. Our storytelling troop leader eased us into slumber for hours by firelight. <BR/><BR/>I stayed awake the longest, letting my senses fill up with wilderness sounds, sights and smells that merge with her voice and stories. <BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/>Confucius says, forget injuries, never forget kindnesses.Sookiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04309019627346019836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-63376323784432164172009-04-03T12:47:00.000-04:002009-04-03T12:47:00.000-04:00Susan-Too funny. Will do. Great to reconnect.Bar...Susan-<BR/><BR/>Too funny. Will do. Great to reconnect.<BR/><BR/>BarbBarbara Rossnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-34369659691762589862009-04-03T11:36:00.000-04:002009-04-03T11:36:00.000-04:00Dear Barbara,Amazing! I have sometimes wondered w...Dear Barbara,<BR/><BR/>Amazing! I have sometimes wondered what happened to you, But I had no idea how to begin looking for you. Please email me through my website and let me know how to continue our conversation. I'd love to know more about what's happened to you since junior high school.<BR/><BR/>Yes, Roberta -- I would love to welcome you all here in this new venture of exchanging ideas (and stories) at The Story House. <BR/><BR/>Hank-<BR/>About that invisible audience...one of the reasons that storytelling is so powerful in a classroom where students are novice readers and writers (through high school) is that they cannot yet imagine that invisible voice. As the storyteller embodies/interprets story, children learn to understand how to hear/understand the language of the written word. By learning to truly "imagine" they can eventually become the audience on the other side of the invisible wall between writer and reader.<BR/><BR/>SusanSusan Danoffhttp://www.susandanoff.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-28701142187583516962009-04-03T11:11:00.000-04:002009-04-03T11:11:00.000-04:00Barbara, that's too funny. we all need to take a t...Barbara, that's too funny. we all need to take a trip up to Susan's New Hampshire retreat house and tell stories from our pasts!Lucy Burdette aka Roberta Isleibhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04660402177299546055noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-4077380997666936422009-04-03T10:43:00.000-04:002009-04-03T10:43:00.000-04:00Susan--I love the idea of an invisible audience. A...Susan--I love the idea of an invisible audience. And I think about them all the time. <BR/><BR/>There's something that happens between story-teller and audience, I'm sure, and I bet you can instantly tell when you're reaching them, and when you aren't. Even with essentially the same story.<BR/><BR/>And I think of writing books with a sort of tree-falls-in-the-forest element. If no one reads <BR/>it, then it's not really completed. Like--the reader has to be there for the book to "be."Hank Phillippi Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17420701704169428286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-52494639562185591192009-04-03T10:37:00.000-04:002009-04-03T10:37:00.000-04:00Well--this is pretty funny. Susan may be a blast f...Well--this is pretty funny. Susan may be a blast from Roberta's past, but she is also a blast from mine--we went to junior high together! The internet is such a funny thing.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, my path has been a different one, but as an executive at educational technology companies, I am constantly emphasizing the power of telling the story of who we are, telling stories about what our customers do with the technology, it's impact on the students, etc. The stories bind us togther as a tribe and bind us with our customers. It's such a human need and compulsion.<BR/><BR/>Susan--hoping you are well. In my spare time I write fiction, but I can't imagine doing what you do! Amazing.<BR/><BR/>All the best,<BR/>Barbara RossBarbara Rossnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-62646425573366539072009-04-03T10:26:00.000-04:002009-04-03T10:26:00.000-04:00Hi, Hank.Thank you for your question.Over the yea...Hi, Hank.<BR/><BR/>Thank you for your question.<BR/>Over the years I have had a number of writers come to my storytelling institutes in the summer, and I have thought about the differences and similarities between telling and writing stories. Where storytelling can help a writer, I think, is in developing voice and paying attention to the rhythm of language and how it sounds in the ear. When we read we "hear" the voice of the writer in our minds, and storytelling makes us produce this voice and really listen to it. <BR/><BR/>A writer does some of the same things that a storyteller -- such as envisioning scene and trying on character. Perhaps some of the storytelling techniques of physically embodying the character and using improvisation to get to know the character might be helpful to a writer as well.<BR/><BR/>A storyteller has more tools than a writer -- we have the ability to pause; to inflect our language through tone, volume, and pitch; to use gesture and posture to convey our meaning; and to look straight at our audience and respond directly to the feedback we are getting. The writer has to be able to do all this just through language with an invisible audience. <BR/><BR/>Once upon a time we were all storytellers and gradually those who would have been storytellers in a traditional culture have becomes writers. Getting in touch with the oral language can, I think, be an eye-opening journey for a writer.<BR/><BR/>SusanSusan Danoffhttp://www.susandanoff.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-56265694303037588742009-04-03T09:18:00.000-04:002009-04-03T09:18:00.000-04:00HEy Nancy..what a beautiful--story. It makes me th...HEy Nancy..what a beautiful--story. It makes me think about what techniques you use that writers could also appply to the written word.<BR/><BR/>Any thoughts on that?Hank Phillippi Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17420701704169428286noreply@blogger.com