Try Out Your Story
“Trying out’ your story – that’s what I call it. The process of exploring ideas about content, word choices, a tone used in presentation, or any other aspect of your story early in the creation process, and this is done in front of an audience. In an earlier entry, I refer to this when I suggest informal presentations to help discover a personal style or rhythm – getting a better understanding of what is your natural voice – this entry explains some ways you can go about that process because, while this is informal, there is still preparation that is required –not scripting the words or ironing out all the performance details, but taking time to make decisions about what you want your story to be. Keep in mind that all of these decisions are malleable and can change at any time, but by making choices you are beginning to mold a shape for what will be your performance piece.
Because these are early steps in creating a final performance, the first thing that should be done is deciding what you feel comfortable sharing. Taking the brave step of telling a public audience about your injury is a frightening experience as it can reveal vulnerabilities, weaknesses, and details that you never planned on other people learning. While sharing an unscripted, unrehearsed story with no preparation might lead to exciting discoveries about instinctual performance style, the excitement of a presentation sometimes allows unprepared words to flutter out and touch on topics you feel are personally taboo. Set boundaries for yourself by acknowledging topics that make you uncomfortable and think about your story with those restrictions in mind. In other words, make certain that you don’t talk about what you don’t want to talk about. Personal boundaries are welcome to change as you work on the storytelling and become more comfortable with the material, but be clear about personal boundaries from the beginning of the process because if you find yourself sharing information you don’t feel comfortable with it can negatively color your experience of sharing your story.
Once these boundaries are set, consider what specific event from recovery that you want to share. An informal sharing is not a good time to present the whole of your story, as the complete piece will likely either not be filled with enough details to be catch the audience’s attention or simply too long for an informal event. Instead, pick one moment, experience, or emotion from your recovery that hangs out in your head and seems personally important. For me, the story I first started to repeat informally was the time when I felt a presence – perhaps holy – come into my hospital room and fill my body with hope. Before I even planned the storytelling project, I found myself sharing this memory time and time again, and with repeated tellings the story began to take on an unintended scripted format. Then, when the intention of creating a storytelling piece became real, I would share memories with friends and through these conversations I was able to discover what able to begin molding a script. But remember that this process takes time, and you should try to share your story many times with multiple adjustments to gain a better understanding of what style personally works.
Another suggestion (that I didn’t do) is to try and record these conversations – get an audio recording of your unrehearsed story. When I composed my piece, smartphones were just starting to become a thing, and not nearly as ubiquitous as they are in 2022 – I had an “old-fashioned” cellphone (with actual buttons for numbers) and didn’t use gadgets or apps with the same ease as I currently can. Now it seems that most people have an immediate recording device – either video or audio – that can be quickly accessed. If you can remember to do this, it might be helpful to unobtrusively hit the record on a phone application when you do these informal sharings. That way you have a record of both how your thoughts came out and the vocal tendencies that come naturally. Or maybe that’s not a good idea, as recording can sometimes create unnecessary pressure and it can be difficult to listen to yourself speak without self-condemnation – my recommendation is that you try both ways, recorded and unrecorded, and see what makes you more comfortable. Personally, while I didn’t make any audio recordings, my reflections worked best if I wrote in my journal soon after sharing, jotting notes about what I noticed in the conversation or writing new ideas that may have popped into my mind. While I recommend documenting thoughts in some way, remember to follow whatever process is most personally rewarding.
But what about the actual conversation? Where can you give such an informal presentation? The quick answer is that you need to find a person or persons who can happily take the time to listen to you. Expanding on that, your sharing could be a with friend over coffee or on a walk, with a therapist, at a support meeting of survivors, or if you live in a city there is a popular new fad of “storyslams” where audience members are encouraged to share short personal stories, and my experience has been that the listeners at these events are supportive and appreciative of all stories shared. Those are a few suggestions, though I’m sure there are many other locations where you can share, but the most important thing is that you find a place where the audience (be it one person or many) is prepared to listen to you. To emphasize, do not share this sort of story about recovery if your listener is not expecting it – I know this because at times I can be aggressively talkative and have verbally blundered into an unexpected story about brain injury, and the initial response from the listener has always been discomfort. There may even be support and genuine interest about what happened, but an emotional story about recovery can quickly become overwhelming for the listener(s) and seeing such a reaction from your audience is disheartening and may strip confidence from your desire to share. An audience needs to be in the right place both mentally and physically to appreciate your story, in other words your listeners should be prepared for what to expect.
Finally, remember that this is a trial run and is in no way a final performance. If you don’t like how a story feels after you shared it throw it out, rework what you didn’t like, or keep practicing with the material until it feels better. The goal is to no pressure, and while that’s always easier to say than to do keeping the stories short and focused can relieve some of that stress for both you and your listeners.
These are some beginning thoughts on the process, but I’d love to hear how my ideas resonate with you. Please drop some comments and share your thoughts about informal story sharing. Any thoughts, suggestions or personal tips will be appreciated. Keep in touch and I hope we can chat soon.
