Storytelling is My Passion
Writing is my most prolific storytelling outlet.
I call myself a storyteller. That’s because storytelling is my greatest love.
As far back as I can remember, I made up stories. As a very small child, the living room window was the helm of my starship. The swing in my backyard was my starfighter. I made up many adventures in the galaxy in my head. Later, I created all sorts of Star Wars adventures with my playsets and action figures outside the movies back in the 70s and 80s.
I started writing my own novels at age 9. My imagination has spanned post-apocalyptic worlds, technothrillers, deep-space adventures, fantasy realms, Steampunk, and other fantastic times and places. For years, the movies I watched influenced this. Then, when I got back into reading more, that started to influence my storytelling.
I’ve always been drawn to storytelling outlets. Theater, choir, radio, podcasts, blogs, and books have all been given portions of my time and attention. I’ve always been happiest and felt the most balanced when I’ve been a storyteller.
Not everyone gets to pursue that. But I’ve always been most content in my life experience when I’ve been working as one form of storyteller or another.
So many different forms
While fiction has been my first love, over the years I’ve added nonfiction. I’ve been consistently, regularly blogging from 1 to 6 days a week since the start of 2012. More than 760 weeks without failure.
I had a podcast for 4 or 5 years where I consistently shared my thoughts on utilizing self-awareness for mindfulness and growth. No guests, just me relaying my thoughts and telling stories for 20 minutes or so a week.
If you’ve ever hung out with me in person, you know that I love to tell stories about past happenings. For example, I love sharing the experiences I’ve had over 35 years of practicing medieval fencing and how the game has changed in that time. Apart from this, because I’ve had some pretty weird and wild experiences, I tell those stories, too.
I know that I’ve mentioned more than once the time when I was visiting Santa Fe, New Mexico, and a random man on the street walked up to me, offering a handshake. Then, when I took his hand, he said to me, “I just had to tell you…you’re an odd looking fellow.” And then walked away. For real, this happened; I am not making it up.
Storytelling is not just about sharing experiences for me. It’s about making connections, inspiring, empowering, and opening and expanding imagination. This is why I keep writing novels and creating new characters, situations, and the like. So many forms, so many different ways to utilize storytelling in my life.
And I’m open to exploring more.
A new approach to storytelling
When I write fiction, I tend to take a visual view of the story. I’ve said more than once that I think of myself as the camera over Character X’s shoulder. Sometimes, that camera can even see inside Character X’s head. But because my storytelling is visual, I think many of my stories would make excellent TV and film.
I am not a screenwriter. Maybe I can learn the format and start turning work into scripts for TV and movies. But I think, instead, I’m going to take my current means for storytelling and take a new approach.
This will require research and a step (or leap) out of my comfort zone. But that said, I’m going to explore pitching some of my stories to the people who make TV and movies.
No, I have no idea what this will look like or how to do it. But the information for this is out there. All I need to do is research it, and then I can offer my stories to a different audience.
This might go nowhere. I might get rejected. But if I don’t try, I’ll already have failed.
Another idea I’m exploring is creating a book trailer for my new series. Again, not something I’ve ever done, but if it has the potential to get my new story more attention and more sales, there’s no reason not to. The worst thing that can happen is I try, fail, and learn something new along the way.
Technology is constantly evolving. Odds are, there will always be a new approach to storytelling for me to explore. And chances are that I will.
Is this my purpose in life?
I’m not sure that I believe in destiny, per se. But I’ve thought for most of my life that I’m here, living in this time and place, to be a storyteller. Storytelling lets me help others see the world I see with more potential and possibility. It opens up imagination, can inspire, and even empower.
My passion is less about the written word and more about telling stories and entertaining, sharing, and being a beacon of creativity, light, and color in the world. That’s probably why I don’t write doom-and-gloom post-apocalyptic stories and tend instead to include hope in all I share.
This is probably also why, in my fiction, my villains are seldom clear-cut, evil personified. I love a grey, conflicted antagonist.
Writing nonfiction such as this blog is just as much a part of storytelling for me as my novels. Sure, it’s a very different process and channel, but it’s still storytelling. It’s just more connected to the everyday and less fantastical than the wild worlds of sci-fi and fantasy I tend to work in.
I also recognize that not everyone gets to work with what they’re passionate about. Hence, I recognize my privilege here and want to do what I can to help others pursue their passions. Even a part-time pursuit is better than letting your passion be stifled by forces within or without.
Storytelling connects us better
Finally, my passion for storytelling isn’t a selfish act. Sure, I love to entertain and, not to put too fine a point on it, make money from selling books and other storytelling means. But even when I don’t get paid, I relate my life stories to help connect to and with others.
One of the biggest problems in the world today is the normalization of disconnect, partisanship, and emphasis on the downsides of our differences. There’s the pervasive notion that certain stories are limited and only for a chosen few. They’re told to expand divides and isolation, usually to disempower a certain few while emboldening others.
Look at all the labels politicians throw around and how unkind, uncompassionate, and frankly ugly they’ve become. Too many strive to divide and conquer, and they tell stories that tend to be utter bullshit to do so.
I consider it my privilege as a storyteller to help bridge gaps and make connections through empowerment, imagination, and inspiration. Rather than abuse storytelling to expand gaps and further divisions, I strive to create connections. No, I’m not claiming to be anyone special or specifically qualified; I see how efforts to disempower people do more harm than good and desire to counter that.
Storytelling is my passion. And if you’ve taken the time to follow along with me as I tell this story today, thanks for reading.
As I share my creative journey, please consider this: How are you inspired and empowered to be your own authentic creator, whatever form that takes?
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