What makes a yarn worth telling?
Reflecting on insights from a panel of star storytellers at Shining a Light On The Truth, by Andrew Murdoch.
Why stories should be treated like fragile treasure. Why the craft of storytelling is being lost in some areas. And why spinning yarns is more important than ever.
These were just some of the topics explored by the Yarn Spinners panel discussion on November 2 at the State Library of Western Australia.
ABC documentary producer Kirsti Melville, author and Sydney Morning Herald journalist Helen Pitt, journalist and filmmaker Michelle White and the Guardian Australia editor Lenore Taylor made up the panel.
Melville said all it took was a kernel of information to ignite a story — so long as it sparked her interest.
“For me it is always that little spark that I feel when someone says something, or I hear something, or I read something, and I think ‘oh didn’t know that’. That is usually where it starts for me, with that little spark,” she said.
“Then I test that spark, I start telling people… if it’s something that just I didn’t know and I was being stupid or if it was generally something that was not known or that others find interesting.
“For me, it is always paying attention to what interests me and then thinking about why is it interesting and why should I be doing that story now and answering those questions before I take it further.”
Through her work with Community Arts Network, Michelle White shares stories that promote and celebrate Aboriginal people and culture.
She said the role, which sees her working closely with Aboriginal elders, taught her the importance of treating other people’s stories with great care.
“After so many years of telling other people’s stories, when you are doing it in the community context there is such a heightened level of responsibility,” White said.
“I suppose in with my work with elders I find they are very generous with their stories, but it’s also like ripping a Band-Aid off; it is making them face and talk about things that are really traumatic.
“The duty of care is you have to make sure there are mechanisms in place to support people through that process. You can’t just expect people to spill and then you take your recorder and go away and all is well and good.”
When dealing with personal and sometimes traumatic stories, Melville said the mental health of those telling the story was the most important element.
“That is always something that is first and foremost on my mind,” she said.
“It involves me making sure they are very certain they want to participate.
“If they are committed it is then just treating their story like a very fragile treasure and developing a very respectful, meaningful relationship so they don’t feel like they are spilling their guts to me and I am walking away and doing whatever I want with it.”
The Shining A Light Newsroom was supported by Edith Cowan University. See the full Shining A Light Newsroom coverage here.
