True Stories and the Lost Dog
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I had the pleasure and privilege of attending a Moth StorySLAM in Ann Arbor this week. The topic was “clumsy” and it brought the storytellers out. Twenty people put their name in the hat, and the place was standing room only.
I was lucky to be picked first and got to tell my story. I didn’t have an epic tale about clumsy, so I put together two small clumsy stories and escalated tension to a third story about the time I dropped my son on his head.
The fun thing about the Moth StorySLAMs is that you hear some crazy stuff and some epic stuff. The crowd is usually hot and forgiving.
Today I heard about a lost dog in the neighborhood and searched the nearby woods for an hour. It was ankle deep water in places, and I stumbled on a shooting range that was really creepy. I’d blown past two different PRIVATE PROPERTY STAY OUT signs — dude, I’m looking for a dog, okay? — and suddenly wondered if my family might form a search party for me later in the day.
The Week in Creativity
I presented at The Moth which was fun, sent out my newsletter for readers of my books, which was also fun, but stalled working on my novel.
Last week, I did the marathon session to read the entire manuscript of that novel. I thought I had things in control. But self-doubt crept in and I wondered about all my choices.
That led to an opportunity for other distractions, and I had to read a bunch of stuff to get my head back in the game.
Funny thing about sharing your creative work is that it opens up vulnerabilities and shakes your confidence in random moments. On Tuesday everything was fine. By Thursday I wasn’t sure of anything.
I’ll get back on it in a few minutes, just as soon as I press send. The novel won’t write itself, and I want this story out in the world no matter how vulnerable writing makes me feel.
Oh, and if you’ve read this far, you deserve to know that the dog hasn’t been found (so I’ll go out tonight). And my son wasn’t injured in the fall. I caught a break on that one.
Now go tell your stories!
