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Writing is really just about telling a good story, and who doesn't love a good story?
A good story can be about anything from a major life-altering event to the most seemingly mundane thing that happened during your day. The art is to tell the story like you would if you were reading to a child. It must have a beginning, middle and an end. It also must have an arc where you bring the listener up to the peak of the mountain only to dangle a suprise, a laugh or an inspirational moment at the top of that mountain.
Being a writer doesn't make you a good storyteller, listening to other people tell their stories makes you a better storyteller. Like tennis, telling your own stories over and over again until they reach that perfect pitch where you are dangling the prize at the top of the mountain that makes you a good storyteller.
Tonight I will get the chance. The Monti (www.themonti.org) is a live storytelling event where authors tell a story to a live audience in the Triangle. This is not a reading, but an actual storytelling where the author has no notes, just his or her memory of the event and hopefully a well-crafted story to go along with it.
I am humbled to be asked to be part of it and look forward to hearing other people's stories because they will no doubt make mine better in the future.
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