Showing posts with label place. Show all posts
Showing posts with label place. Show all posts

March 4, 2020

Family traditions and customs are included in my stories.

Including family traditions and customs in my stories is what makes them real.
The fun of writing is telling what I know. My life as analogies or metaphors are in my characters, usually the ole grandma, auntie or cousin names changed, places changed, and time changed. 

The stories of elves, trolls, pixies, fairies spirits and unwanted guests came from different places and times to the Oakgrove gardens (my yard). These characters from mythology arriving here for the adventure of living with humans. Each character brings a story (folk stories, myths, or legends), mostly from what I perceive and blended with what I have read, researched, experienced, or traveling.

AS I SAY, "Adapted, enhanced, re-imaged, embroidered, modified, elaborated, embellished, and fabricated from what I know and am into the story." 

The spirits from the other dimensions are especially interested in what the human youngster Lassie JooJee does her friends and the days of parties, holidays, and celebrations now and before. They compare what they know from their homelands (realm) to what they see and hear from the human Lassie JooJee. And so, the stories started.
Read other blogs!

AS I SAY, "Story is my life from my early years fishing and haunting the gold museums in my Colorado, to backwoods travel in Alaska, and then nesting in the richness of diversity in the Bay Area of California. I know my stories through child, daughter, sister, wife, mother, aunt, and grandmother as well as art, teaching, writing, and verbal telling – everyone important to create an outstanding fantasy." 
St
my e

August 1, 2019

My writing taking me by surprise!

Read other bloggers.



Well, not writing specifically; verbal storytelling came in with a blast. Twenty years ago, the computer I used wiped from within and the floppy disk all my children's stories, a first draft novel I finished, and a family tree I had spent 3 years compiling.

 As I recovered on my couch, a thought ran through my mind, "Time for you to stand up and tell a story." To stand up and tell one of my creative stories, never. A disgusting, impossible idea, farther more where to start.

I never heard a person tell stories, only lectures about specific subjects. (This was before YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, google blogs, before the cell phones and the videos we watch.) I did find a program at a Park and Recreation Center. Finally at Dominican University in San Rafael, I found a whole series on "How to Tell a Story." Verbally telling was precisely like writing a story; characters, plots, and scenes. And, there were thousands of public domain free stories, the TRADITION TALES, from all over our world to preform.

SO, I stood up and told a story.


NOW . . . TODAY - I write traditional fractured stories. That means I re-write or re-tell folklore by adapted, enhanced, re-imaged, embroidered, modified, elaborated, and embellished characters, scenes, and make subplots. I fabricated to suit my time and to create a better read. All folktales, fairy tales, legends, fables, myth are analogy, metaphors, or simile we use in writing. Traditional tales are the bones of today's movies and novels.


November 2, 2015

WEBS of ATTACHMENT

The long web . . .


There are friends out there!
The virtual web is long lines that attached somewhere. I needed to find out where and to whom for my stories, especially Rhyonna's Flight, and I hoped to put some of my storytelling on video or audio. Actually was like I dangled out in space on a bouncing line in nowhere, confused by all the banners, ads, movie promotions with flashing lights waiting for a spider to eat, I liked spiders. Frankly, I was lost on a busy noise street downtown in the gigantic city, when I'm from the open, simple country with grass, trees, flowers and music flowing happily on two lanes, not multi lanes going in all directions. Finally, I went through google.blog, then bought a that website, bobbiestoryportfolio. Now I have two other blog sites, blobblobandblogging. And when the faeries and elfin stories arrived, I started Elfin and Faery Tales, now I have a website, Bobbie Kinkead. Then Facebook appeared, then twitter about the same time. These are easier for me and social; the web does attach to others!

May 27, 2015

The director throws the image!

SUCCESS!
The reader, listener, or viewer need a stage. An artist paints images within or around a frame to bring the viewer inside and hold them, same with a photo. The writer has written words symbols that pull together and create images of person, voice, and scene/place on a flat page. The storyteller, who faces the audience, has that audience looking at them while acting the voices and gestures of characters. A storyteller directs the voice, words, gestures, and body movements.  The goal is to keep the listen/viewer in their own minds while the storyteller directs the video/movie of the story. The place, the clothing, the character the viewer/listener supplies to the story. Writing a story is like this and depends on a voice in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd person and in present or past tense to immersed the reader into the scenes. The readers lifts the story off the page to play in their minds as they read. A writer need to fill in the image with more word symbols while the storyteller uses tones of voice, face expression, hands, and body gesture to direct actions. The character is not on the stage, or painted on canvas, or worded on a page; character and plot are in the mind of the listener/viewer. When the viewer looks at a picture, one is in for the moment and makes-up the story, most times without a plot. 
Using all three is an exciting way to process a story journey. The joy is creating the story.

The Producer for BobbieTales

August 14, 2013

Clarion's write-a-thon June 23 to August 3, 2013

Another Clarion write-a-thon came and is gone. Book III of the Elfin Letters finished! AS IT IS Now, Magic,


After intense writing for 28 days, plotting, characters sorted, corrected names, and the Lassies' letters in order, very important, I finished 22 chapters of AS IT IS, Now MAGIC. The letters from the Lassies tell of the Elfin magic in Rainbow Village and the spirited folk around the gardens. The hardest decision was what villagers to be in the story. One winner was Alfegar the pixie, he does bring his special magic and humor to the Member's Circle. Also for spice a few seedy spirits arrived via the INBetween into the gardens.

The point of the story is that the Elves learn about their magic, good and bad; and what they give to the Lassies, good and bad; who else is attracted by this magic. 

January 23, 2010

The thinker at work on the 'where'!


The where! Here I am again in my head going over and over the place of the story - this voice and that voice of the characters here and there. Oh! there's the character.

WHERE IS this character?

I see her dancing in the sky. I'm carefully observing what the character looks like, and how does she move, what age. Opps! That's me! I'm looking around thinking. Where? There she is, young about 10 years old, dancing on a dry dirt path, yes, with her friend. Or, is that her brother? Yes, her brother who is younger. They run to catch huge green grasshoppers. The dirt path is dusty and long. Now I see the overview: the long dirt road through the field of tall dry grasses in front of them, the old brick train buildings behind and to the left, and the trees and creek to the right. They are running on the old train road in the old forgotten train yard.

Okay that is the physical place?
How is the character feeling about the path, her brother, and the grasshopper? How she feels is the emotional place for the reader or listener --- the audience.

Where is her mental place?
Okay, I'll float awhile gathering the moment. Happy, tired, excited, or maybe mad? No, she is happy running and dancing. The air is hot, she is sweating. No breeze, still and hot! Only for wind created while running. Opps! the grasshopper she holds spits on her hand, now she jumps, screaming, ICK! No, water to wash he hand. Her brother, much younger, comes over to help. He wipes the 'tocacco' off. She feels love and trust for him. They are on a journey alone with no mom and dad to their grandma's house. They run fast afraid of many bums, which live there. They have seen them and hear the stories of their gangs. The girl is very thirsty and getting tired from the running, now dancing. Although happy to be with her strong brother, they are in a race to reach Grandma's and to enjoy her fresh baked cinnamon rolls with butter which always wait for them.

Now the story unfolds.
Next, dear writer, what do the characters look like?

June 3, 2009

Storytelling helps the writing!


Oral story, the oldest form of storytelling, vibrates
in our bones. We tell stories all day to many
people. Writing the stories follows the same
structural processes of plot, characterizing, and
scenes as a verbally told story but we use word
symbols for the voice symbols. In verbally told
stories we can use body movement and facial
expressions for the characters. For both crafts,
concise, clear words paint images and bring the
characters alive to hear and see.

When crafting the ‘oral story’ the first sentence is
the set-up -- the when, where, who, and what:

Once upon at time so-and-so lived somewhere and felt something. In a picture
book the first three illustrations are the set-up (when, where, who, and what). In
a chapter book or middle-grade novel it's the first page, and in a young adult or
adult novel the first chapter is the set-up for the story. Then the listeners or
readers are lead by words to the emotional event -- the why: a conflict, problem,
or puzzle to resolve.

Clear, accurate words direct and focus the journey. Plotting starts. For the
youngest audience, one character interacts with someone or something in three
to five scenes. For the more mature audience, many characters interact in the
main plot with subplots traveling an A to Z path with many emotional events.
The storyteller or writer intrigues the audience with twists and mystery to
enhance the story.

Carefully selected written or verbal words focus the characters in action. The
characters move, react, and talk -- not telling but showing the characters in the
scenes. Words connect images to the listeners or readers. The present or simple
past tense makes the drama stronger. The characters push the plot forward.

The emotional actions, reactions, and dialogues of the characters reach out and
emotionally cord, bonding to the listeners or readers, who then plug into motives and feelings of the characters’ or their own. The charge is the emotional impact of conflict, adventure, or the puzzle. The audience is glued into the story waiting for the final charged event -- the how. Satisfying stories have a solution for the audience. The conclusion shows change in the characters, and the ending brings the audience back to their world.

A story can be told in five sentences or written into hundreds of pages to enjoy
for days. To know how your written story affects readers, tell the story to
listeners and watch their expressions. The facial expressions will tell if the story
is good, or needs more work.

STORY seems so simple, however; STORY is complicated on many levels.
Here are websites that post events and classes, fests, and workshops for
storytelling, ultimately helping in crafting the written story.

Stagebridge is a school for seniors in acting and storytelling. In one semester you'll experience teachers and their special skills and styles.You learn how to have fun while developing stories. Check their website stagebridge.

Storytelling Association of Alta California has a calendar of events for storytelling. STORYLINE (SAC newsletter) is a $30 yearly subscription, which lists all upcoming
storytelling events. Check out SAC Facebook

SAC Storytelling Festival, 2010 was the 25th celebration Bay Area Storytelling Festival, which is a feast of stories told by selected professional storytellers. Check out BASF for next years events.

National Storytelling Network, NSN for a listing of event and storytellers.

A MUST! An archive of stories since September 2006! A feast for the ears! Jackie Baldwin's radio show, Story-Lovers World!, airs every Sunday from 5-6 p.m. Pacific time on public radio station KSVY in Sonoma Valley. Contact to Jackie visit her website story-lovers.

Bobbie Kinkead is an illustrator, author and storyteller, can be viewed at following web addresses to learn more about BobbieTales and her work: