TOP CONTENT | Creator's Corner: Best Story Content Grounded In Our Past & Current Life

NOTE: Creator's Corner is now being published on Wordpress, so you can access and read all of the columns (past and future) easily at one location. Click Here.

I ATTENDED ONE OF THE FIRST "alternate" high schools in the United States in New Jersey. The Team School was innovative and unique at that time because the students, teachers, and parents worked together to determine the courses, type of government to address conflicts and issues, and handled the daily operations. The mornings were dedicated to academic courses necessary for college preparation, and the afternoon courses were electives taught by parents who were professionals in their chosen fields.

LISA SANDERSON'S DAD TAUGHT the creative writing elective, and he drilled into our heads the following regarding story content: Write about what you know, what you are experiencing in your own home environments and communities. You will never go wrong with paying attention to what often goes unnoticed, and how these events and relationships affect you and those around you. 

Nick Lupi and Jimmy Nice, of Spit Syndicate. 
Image Credit: The Sydney Morning Herald. Photo: Nic Walker

Column Inspiration:
"Boho Sydney: Mapping Our Creative Clusters"

MR. SANDERSON TAUGHT US TO PAY attention and mine for gold in our own hearts, thoughts (and those of others), and locations grounded in our daily experiences of life. 

I CHOSE THESE TWO ARTICLES BECAUSE they remind me that there's so much value in the wealth of content in my past and current communities that I used to take for granted before taking Mr. Sanderson's class. As a storyteller, screenwriter, film producer, healing artist, content specialist (and award-winning writer/blogger, editor, art director, and marketing specialist) I know from past experience and successes that unlike Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, I don't have to travel to realize that "there's no place like home" for stories and other content.

FOR EXAMPLE, THE FLASH FICTION STORY, Back Up The Truck, is inspired by a domestic violence true story from my childhood. Many of us grew up in a war zone of domestic violence that impacted our lives in those moments and beyond.

ONE DAY MY BEST FRIEND WHO LIVED next door came running to my house to get my help. His "uncle" was beating his mother and we needed to find a way to distract him. First, we tried to physically pull Uncle Charlie off his mom, but he was too strong. So, we decided to distract him by taking as much of his clothing as possible from his room, putting the clothes into a pile in the backyard, and soaking the clothes with liter fluid to create a bonfire. We then ran back into the house and started yelling "Fire!" It worked!

THE SHORT STORY "GIFTS" is also inspired by a true story about a highly-anticipated first date gone wrong and what happens as a result.

Image Credit: Medium.com

Column Inspiration:
 "Living On The Edge Is A Creative Place To Be"

Creative Strategy: How I See Using This Story

1) USE THIS FLASH FICTION STORY in an anti-domestic violence campaign focusing on how it impacts children. Create a number of story scenarios to drive home this point to attract and engage audience stakeholders.

2) USE THE STORY IN A RAW, EDGY marketing campaign about childhood friendships that survive traumatic situations and endure the test of time that leads to happiness in some form--a product, event, fine arts project, or service they share (an antithesis to the traditional "Hallmark" variety content). My friend and I had to instantaneously come up with an intelligent, creative and practical solution under intense stress. The physical approach failed, so we quickly moved on to save his mom from that attack. We worked together to accomplish it. We were both about 11-years-old. 

THERE'S A LARGER MESSAGE in these stories for us: If two 11-year-old children are capable of these types of creative and practical solutions under this kind of duress, then certainly we can (or can learn how to) access these qualities within ourselves.

THIS STORY IS JUST ONE IN A SLATE that are either already written as short stories (some written under strict time constraints as the creative structure model) that are to become short film scripts or expanded into larger formats for film, television and theater.

MAY YOU DISCOVER MORE CREATIVE ideas and spiritual support now (and in the future) by exploring the Creativity & Storytelling 'Zine, and previous Creator's Corner columns:  How To Work (And Play) Well With "The Others" To Succeed; Best Visual Content = Storytelling Solutions via A&E Professionals, Lies & Storytelling: Strange Bedfellows in Shades of Gray; Best Storytelling Has Sensory Empathy (or It's Important to Engage the Senses), Get Up To Speed On Quality Do-It-Yourself Storytelling: On a Low Budget, Best Storytelling is Copied, Stolen Content? (or The Lighter Shade of Led Zeppellin), The Joy is in the Story Journey (or Mission Impossible), Best Story Content Grounded In Our Past & Current Life; Conflict Has Creative Value, Learn How To Use It; Card Decks & the Mystic or Visionary Persona, Here Comes Play-Doh, and Sacred Geometry–Visual Storytelling Content: One Of Top Four Creative Trends 2016.

Dare to shine, be generous, and love this life.

Valerie







Original Publication Date: May 4, 2016

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CREATOR'S CORNER is dedicated to sharing ideas that come to mind after reading and selecting articles for The Creativity & Storytelling Magazine (as the editor) that may be useful in a professional or personal capacity. Interest in creativity and spirituality as content for usage in arts & entertainment, media communications, marketing and advertising, and as lifestyle choices for businesses, projects and services (groups that have a way of life that may or may not be included in their brand identity), can be relevant to anyone anywhere in the world covering a variety of professions.

Creator's Corner: Lies and Storytelling: Strange Bedfellows in Shades of Gray

NOTE: Creator's Corner is now being published on Wordpress, so you can access and read all of the columns (past and future) easily at one location. Click Here.

LIAR! 

WHO HASN'T HAD TO ENTER INTO AN ALMOST DAILY RELATIONSHIP WITH LIES IN OUR POLITICAL CLIMATE TODAY as we countdown to choosing our next president of the United States of America (#45).

"HE'S LYING!" "SHE'S LYING!" THE WORDS LIAR AND LYING KEEP BEING BANTERED, TOSSED, HURLED, yelled and spat. My ear distinguishes them in the cacophony of words used by guest panelists on CNN.

SOMETIMES IT'S SPOKEN IN A SUBDUED MANNER BY POLITICAL AND MEDIA WORDSMITHS. FOR SOME REASON when I hear it the child in me starts thinking--well, really singing in my head: "Liar, liar, pants on fire."

THOSE WHO LIE GET SPANKED IN A VARIETY OF WAYS NOW (OR NOT), but we'll have to wait until November to learn who receives the final punishment. Unfortunately, lies are often hurtful and harmful; yet, this leads me to share my thoughts and an experience about the relationship between lies and storytelling.

(Photo Source: Video Capture)

Column Inspiration:

OREO Canada Wonderfilled Anthem

CREATIVITY AND IMAGINATION ARE THE BEDROCK OF GREAT LIES, TALL TALES; OTHERWISE KNOWN AS STORYTELLING. In fact, during my childhood, my mother wouldn't say stop lying to me as much as she would say: "Stop telling stories!" Or perhaps I just want to remember it that way because it's more palatable to me; and therefore, my recollection is fiction.

IS IT LYING IF I HAVE NO IDEA WHICH STORY IS REAL? If I just can't remember? Do the best storytellers know the difference? Does it matter? Is there an ethics to storytelling? Depends on the context or situation? Yes. No. Maybe So. So we say.

AS A CHILD, I LEARNED LYING CAN CARRY SOME HARSH REPERCUSSIONS OF THE KARMIC VARIETY. Mom would ask me who took those cookies after she told us (my three siblings) not to touch them. My favorite answer was: "I don't know." I don't know was an invisible entity in our household who did the things to which none of us wanted to admit. I couldn't resist oatmeal cookies (and I have a pack that I really don't need right now).

ONE DAY MY MOTHER PUT THE COOKIES HIGH UP IN THE CUPBOARD. AFTER SHE LEFT THE KITCHEN, I moved the step stool over to it, opened the cupboard, and reached behind the iron to get them. I knocked over the hot iron! It slid down my arm. I fell off the stool, and have a long, visible scar on my arm to this day. Storytelling usually doesn't carry such hurtful results.

I received an A+ from my peers (aka the press) for an expert complete and total fabrication . . . 

 

Convince People of the Nonexistent

MAKE UP A WORD THAT DOESN'T EXIST. CREATE A STORY AROUND THE WORD. GIVE A PRESS CONFERENCE CONCERNING IT. Use your co-workers, family or friends as the press. Make it a game. You have 20 minutes to prepare the story you are going to tell which is essentially a lie, not true, unreal.

IT'S NOT QUITE LIKE THE GAME "TO TELL THE TRUTH" WHERE THE AUDIENCE MUST GUESS WHO IS TRUTHFUL. Your audience already knows you're making it up: but judge whether you excel at telling a story so effectively that it appears believable. You have ten minutes to address the press, and the press has ten minutes to ask you questions.

(Photo Source: Panon | Shutterstock)

Column Inspiration:

5 Ways To Open and Nurture Your Imagination

I CAN'T REMEMBER IF IT WAS MY ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS OR THE ART OF PERSUASION COURSE. IT WAS DURING THE FIRST WEEK of the semester. At the end of 20 minutes, I received an A+ from my peers (aka the press) for an expert complete and total fabrication.

THEY WANTED TO TOUR THE FACILITIES BUILT THROUGH GOVERNMENT and investor partnerships where the serum to preserve jungle eco-systems was created! They fired questions at me like crazy, and I answered every one of them with confidence and ease:

• Question: In which jungle in what country did you test the serum? How do you know it works in every jungle in the world?
• Answer: We created huge greenhouse facilities here in the U.S. in Arizona, took a sample of every major plant species from each jungle, recreated each environment, we introduced the known variables to-date that serve as threats, and tested the serum for two years.
  
  We were meticulous and committed to almost a religious fervor in our efforts since our failure or success impacts our children, our children's children, who are our future. It would be incredibly monstrous and selfish for us as ancestors not to do everything we can to assure them healthy and safe environments.

Lies may indeed include reality but only as partial components, never pure truth. 

LIES CAN BE LITTLE WHITE ONES OR HUGE WHOPPERS. THEY CAN BE USED TO DECEIVE, INJURE, PERSUADE, REFLECT, RE-DIRECT OR PROTECT. THEY ARE FICTION (KNOWN OR UNKNOWN)? Lies may indeed include reality but only as partial components, never pure truth.  Stories can be short or epic, and they can be used to hurt, harm or manipulate. Are they used with an intent to deceive as are lies?

THE BEST STORIES ARE ENGAGING IN WAYS THAT HELP US EMPATHIZE WITH THE CHARACTERS AND/OR SUBJECTS (sometimes environments, conditions, attributes, and situations) so we can connect and care; become interested, inspired or motivated, or are moved to a powerful emotion or action (even inaction).

STORYTELLING CAN BE 100% FICTION (IMAGINATION) OR MIXED WITH ELEMENTS OF REALITY, or 100% non-fiction (truth, unlike lies) or mixed with elements of imagination (though kept secret in a lie of omission) in a multitude of creative forms that are ever expanding and bursting boundaries.

NOW TO USE all of this in a creative storytelling ways as part of the fabric of the human condition.

MAY YOU DISCOVER MORE CREATIVE ideas and storytelling support now (and in the future) by exploring the Creativity & Storytelling 'Zine, and previous Creator's Corner columns: How To Work (And Play) Well With "The Others" To Succeed; Best Visual Content = Storytelling Solutions via A&E Professionals, Lies & Storytelling: Strange Bedfellows in Shades of Gray; Best Storytelling Has Sensory Empathy (or It's Important to Engage the Senses), Get Up To Speed On Quality Do-It-Yourself Storytelling: On a Low Budget, Best Storytelling is Copied, Stolen Content? (or The Lighter Shade of Led Zeppellin), The Joy is in the Story Journey (or Mission Impossible), Best Story Content Grounded In Our Past & Current Life; Conflict Has Creative Value, Learn How To Use It; Card Decks & the Mystic or Visionary Persona, Here Comes Play-Doh, and Sacred Geometry–Visual Storytelling Content: One Of Top Four Creative Trends 2016.

Dare to shine, be generous, and love this life.

Valerie







************

CREATOR'S CORNER is dedicated to sharing ideas that come to mind after reading and selecting articles for The Creativity & Storytelling 'Zine (as the editor/curator) that may be useful in a professional or personal capacity. Interest in creativity and storytelling as content for usage in arts & entertainment, media communications, marketing and advertising, and as lifestyle choices for businesses, projects and services (groups that have a way of life that may or may not be included in their brand identity), can be relevant to anyone anywhere in the world covering a variety of professions. 

Creator's Corner: The Joy Is in the Story Journey (or Mission Impossible)

NOTE: Creator's Corner is now being published on Wordpress, so you can access and read all of the columns (past and future) easily at one location. Click Here.

ONE OF MY FAVORITE TELEVISION SERIES OF ALL TIME IS Mission Impossible that is also a successful film franchise starring Tom Cruise. If you're unfamiliar with it, basically, it revolves around a team of special covert agents who are given an extremely dangerous mission to accomplish within a tight time frame.

WHAT REALLY KEPT ME ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT WASN'T the mission getting accomplished or the end (though I was happy to get the payoff): it was everything that occurred prior to actually accomplishing it.  In effect, the joy for me was in the journey--that was the story! Or as David Byrne of Talking Heads sings in the song, Once In A Lifetime: Well, how did I get here?

David Byrnes of Talking Heads

 

WELL, HOW DID I GET HERE?

 
THE MISSION IMPOSSIBLE TEAM WERE MASTERS OF CREATIVITY serving a practical purpose; who were constantly aware, alert, mindful, paying intensive attention, and had to be extremely close to perfect timing, synchronicity in order to make the impossible possible. How about you and I? Aren't we all in the same or similar story in one way or another?

Things are only impossible until they are not. --Jean Luc Picard of Star Trek: The Next Generation

ARE WE OPEN-MINDED ENOUGH TO EXPERIMENT WITH NEW ways to create art, content, ideas, marketing strategy, content strategy through mindfulness, intuitive knowing, spiritual synchronicity, or some channel we can't fully comprehend or explain as part of our story?

I WAS HIRED TO DESIGN THE ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE NEW YORK STATE BAR ASSOCIATION, and was researching legal images, symbols, colors, sounds, words; and had two rough compositions based upon them to share at my first meeting. In the course of that week, I had been noticing windows over and over again. They kept drawing my attention. Why?  

 

John Steinbeck & His Children

Column Inspiration:
"John Steinbeck on Writing, The Crucible of Creativity, and The Mobilizing Power of the Impossible"

THE NEXT TIME I SAT DOWN TO WORK, I DREW WINDOWS AND EXPLORED HOW WE USE THEM and what they represent. They allow those of us on the outside to look at what is occurring on the inside. Eyes have been described as windows to the soul. There's an intimacy associated with looking in on the activity of others. Windows are related to opportunities.

SO, I CREATED ONE MORE COMPOSITION WITH WINDOWS FLOATING AROUND a central window in which a man is having an intimate conversation with a young boy. The floating windows were colorful (like Microsoft Windows), and the central window was framed with legal columns. I decided to trust what was being visually communicated to me.

Spirituality means stepping back and clearing that channel you believe in. --Gabby Bernstein

I PRESENTED THE THREE COMPOSITIONS TO THE DECISION-MAKERS (THREE OF THEM), who immediately chose the one with the windows while exclaiming how well it fit the message content of and intention for that year's report: it focused on all the pro bono work they do (immigrants, domestic violence, child abuse, etc.), and they needed to attract lawyers to participate in their pro bono program (offering them opportunities to be of service). We had not conversed before the meeting about the theme of the annual report. It truly caused me to pause and begin opening up to more of these experiences.

WOW, WHAT STORIES WE HAVE TO TELL WHEN OUR EXPERIMENTS LEAD TO SUCCESS (the happy ending). No success? Sure there is in that we have opened ourselves up to more possibilities that may lead to more opportunities for something extraordinary to occur through that channel in which you may come to believe and experience the impossible as possible.


1) Content Inspiration: 3 Unthinkable Behaviors Behind Content Marketing

2) Content Inspiration: Creativity As Devotion

3) Content Inspiration: John Steinbeck on Writing, The Crucible of Creativity, and The Mobilizing Power of the Impossible

MAY YOU DISCOVER MORE CREATIVE ideas and spiritual support now (and in the future) by exploring the Creativity & Spirituality Magazine, and previous Creator's Corner columns: Creator's Corner: How To Work (And Play) Well With "The Others" To Succeed; Best Visual Content = Storytelling Solutions via A&E Professionals, Lies & Storytelling: Strange Bedfellows in Shades of Gray; Best Storytelling Has Sensory Empathy (or It's Important to Engage the Senses), Get Up To Speed On Quality Do-It-Yourself Storytelling: On a Low Budget, Best Storytelling is Copied, Stolen Content? (or The Lighter Shade of Led Zeppellin), The Joy is in the Story Journey (or Mission Impossible), Best Story Content Grounded In Our Past & Current Life; Conflict Has Creative Value, Learn How To Use It; Card Decks & the Mystic or Visionary Persona, Here Comes Play-Doh, and Sacred Geometry–Visual Storytelling Content: One Of Top Four Creative Trends 2016.

Dare to shine, be generous, and love this life.

Valerie







************

CREATOR'S CORNER is dedicated to sharing ideas that come to mind after reading and selecting articles for The Creativity & Spirituality Magazine (as the editor) that may be useful in a professional or personal capacity. Interest in creativity and spirituality as content for usage in arts & entertainment, media communications, marketing and advertising, and as lifestyle choices for businesses, projects and services (groups that have a way of life that may or may not be included in their brand identity), can be relevant to anyone anywhere in the world covering a variety of professions.

“What if we consider the possibility that a primary way we can experience the revelation of God’s mystery is through the process of our own creative expression?” - See more at: http://candler.emory.edu/news/blog/2016/05/creativity-as-devotion.html#sthash.EItCwnzQ.dpuf

“What if we consider the possibility that a primary way we can experience the revelation of God’s mystery is through the process of our own creative expression?” - See more at: http://candler.emory.edu/news/blog/2016/05/creativity-as-devotion.html#sthash.EItCwnzQ.dpuf

“What if we consider the possibility that a primary way we can experience the revelation of God’s mystery is through the process of our own creative expression?” - See more at: http://candler.emory.edu/news/blog/2016/05/creativity-as-devotion.html#sthash.EItCwnzQ.dpuf

What if we consider the possibility that a primary way we can experience the revelation of God’s mystery is through the process of our own creative expression?” - See more at: http://candler.emory.edu/news/blog/2016/05/creativity-as-devotion.html#sthash.EItCwnzQ.dpuf

What if we consider the possibility that a primary way we can experience the revelation of God’s mystery is through the process of our own creative expression?” - See more at: http://candler.emory.edu/news/blog/2016/05/creativity-as-devotion.html#sthash.EItCwnzQ.dpuf

What if we consider the possibility that a primary way we can experience the revelation of God’s mystery is through the process of our own creative expression?” - See more at: http://candler.emory.edu/news/blog/2016/05/creativity-as-devotion.html#sthash.EItCwnzQ.dpuf

What if we consider the possibility that a primary way we can experience the revelation of God’s mystery is through the process of our own creative expression?” - See more at: http://candler.emory.edu/news/blog/2016/05/creativity-as-devotion.html#sthash.EItCwnzQ.dpuf

What if we consider the possibility that a primary way we can experience the revelation of God’s mystery is through the process of our own creative expression?” - See more at: http://candler.emory.edu/news/blog/2016/05/creativity-as-devotion.html#sthash.EItCwnzQ.dpuf

Healing and the Greater Reality: CHILL™-Chumpi Illumination

Healing and the Greater Reality: The New Stories program event on The Healing Artist Studio Internet radio channel on Blog Talk Radio was a success!  The Blog Talk Radio staff chose to feature the program on the day it originally aired on their Home page. Only 12 shows among thousands are chosen each day that represents the best content being broadcast on the largest talk radio network in the world.

The main messages in the show that featured Eleanora Amendolara of Sacred Center Academy of the Healing Arts and Sciences, are that in the Greater Reality, healing doesn't mean fixing ourselves. It does mean embracing a new relationship with duality, plus uncovering ourselves and emerging while in an expanded space. The key is to open the door and discover the more via CHILL™-Chumpi Illumination!

If you missed the live conversation (over 200 live listeners), the podcast is provided below (over 5,300 listeners so far).

After listening to the conversation, I recommend reading Eleanora's new article published in Elephant Journal: The Power of the Chumpis In the Hands of the North American Seeker.

Thanks for listening!

Listen to internet radio with The Healing Artist Studio on Blog Talk Radio