November, 2007eTips is a free, monthly electronic newsletter from Doug Lipman. You can subscribe, unsubscribe, or read a more detailed description of the newsletter at the eTips web pageContents1) THANKFUL FOR YOUR BUMPS?The other day I watched Pam slice an English muffin. I was horrified!I said, "You're using a knife? Use a fork! It leaves the lumps and crannies. The bumpy texture is the best part of an English muffin!" Being married to me, Pam knew I was joking. She laughed and separated the halves of her muffin with a fork. I don't know if she liked it better or worse than her usual smooth, flat English muffin, but my mind was off and running. Slice Your Storytelling With a Fork?The English muffin, humble as it is, has much in common with being a storyteller. Most storytellers spend time trying to be smooth. Perfect. Polished. Professional. Those are all fine things. But what makes us succeed in the long run is our lumps and our bumps. Think of the storytellers you most love: Kathryn Windham, Ray Hicks, or Jay O'Callahan. Jackie Torrence. Kevin Kling. These tellers are distinctive. They are not cookie-cutter, interchangeable parts. They are one of a kind. In fact, that's true of every great artist, from Caruso and Billie Holiday to da Vinci and Picasso. We want personality with our art, just like we want a distinctive flavor with our stew. But I'm Not as Lumpy As They AreStill, it's easy to think, "I'm not unique." But that's just like saying, "No one has yet taken a fork to my English muffin." In other words, you have lots of unique flavor in your storytelling. If it's not evident yet, it's because you haven't yet developed it, like the image developing on photographic paper. The fork is a metaphor for removing what doesn't fit, but leaving intact the natural profile of your expressive style. Beyond style, there is also your unique point of view. Your angle. How you see the world. In the end, your point of view may be the most important gift you can offer. Your job as a storyteller is not only to "perfect your art," but also, in the process, to find those things that bring life to your work. That bring a point of view to the stories you tell. That make you light up. The natural ways you have of being alive. The Pull of the KnifeThe enemy of your storytelling success is the knife, the unconscious thoughts that "I need to fit into the existing slots." Or "What is the right way to tell this story?" Or "I'll tell it like Laura Sims tells it." It's useful, of course, to be inspired by others. But not to imitate them. Why? Imitation takes us away from our uniqueness - the contour of our success. Why are we pulled toward the knife, then? Well, we've learned to be ashamed of our lumpiness. After all, our bumps stick out. They make us different, visible, and inconvenient to slide into a narrow slot. The forces of uniformity have impinged on us often enough that most of us have learned to hide or even cut off our own bumps. But that's the enemy of art, which depends on honesty and wholeness. Gratitude for My AttitudeThis Thanksgiving season, I suggest that all storytellers take a moment to think about our craggy, lumpy selves: the bumps we've already uncovered with the forks of our story work, and the crevices we have yet to reveal. Let's notice the ways we naturally talk. The ways we react to the world around us, large and small. Even the things about us that people make fun of - which are, after all, things that make us different. Let's not hide them any more. Let's count them as the blessings they are. Let's be thankful for them all, in ourselves and in each other. 2) LET YOUR WEBSITE SHOW YOU TO THE WORLDTo show the world who you really are, no tool gives as much bang-for-the-buck as a web site. But few storytellers have sites they are satisfied with.Why not? Storytellers face two major problems with their websites: 1. Creating a website in the first place. This not only entails finding a web designer who won't charge the price of a new car, it also means deciding what to say about yourself - and getting all the information together at one time. If you don't have the time to plan this out right, you end up with a site that doesn't represent you well. Therefore, if you're low on organization or time, it's easy to put off your website indefinitely. 2. Updating and adding to the website once it's up. You get a site up on the web; you breathe a sigh of relief. But within a few months at the most, you realize that the site needs improvement. You have developed a new program, new ideas, or a different take on how to describe your work. But to add or change pages, pictures and text, you need a designer again. And as friendly as a designer might have seemed when you began working together, it gets harder and harder to interest any designer in a constant stream of additions and corrections - without paying as much again as the whole site cost in the first place. And how can you know for sure what you want until you see it on the web? Your need for trial and error will make even the most patient web designer dread hearing from you. At Last, Both Problems Solved!The Easy Web Update System - Professional Version (EWUS-Pro) solves the twin problems of creating a site and updating it, by giving you a site that you can add to and change - at any time, as often as you want - without any knowledge of web design. Imagine: you can start with just one page, if you like, and add as you wish. EWUS-Pro is so non-technical that, if you know enough to do a web search, you can create and edit your own website! And I'll give you whatever help you need to feel comfortable with your site, even phone support. Many designers charge you $495 for just a basic web site. But EWUS-Pro provides an infinitely expandable site completely under your own control for the same price. Even better, the No-Write Introductory Special lets you save $200 on that already low price. The No-Writing SolutionRecently, I made an offer to some folks who had paid for websites from me but hadn't gotten around to filling out their easy questionnaires: an hour of my time on the phone, plus up to three more hours of my time editing their materials - at an incredible discount. Now, for up to ten tellers, I'm offering the option of this same help on a trial basis, so you can create your website without even having to write a word! (It's on a trial basis because, after these 10 people get their websites, I don't necessarily want to give away this much of my time again.) On top of that, I'll even create a new graphic design that suits your site, if none of my existing 30 templates (18 of them brand new) seem right for you! The special ends Wednesday, November 28, 2007. Read how you can get started with your new site (or convert your existing site): http://www.storydynamics.com/easyweb And don't forget: this offer is limited to the first 10 who register. Yours in storytelling,
Doug P.S., Don't miss this information, on the web: HOME . SERVICES . PUBLICATIONS . STORIES . ARTICLES . RESOURCESDoug Lipman This page was last updated on
November 22, 2007
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