Vote for Me in Story Contest
 

Some of you know that, in addition to traveling and wrangling satellites, I tell stories. One of my stories is in the running for a best story contest here in the Northern Virginia area. The top 10 vote getters will be competing live on stage, with all-new stories.

I'd love it if you would vote for my story of a 13 year old's summer camp raft trip, which includes important tips on what to take to a desert island and how to use macramé to save your life.

Voting is at http://www.bettersaidthandone.com/contest/

You can only vote once, so, what the hell, vote for Miriam Nadel

Vote for Me in Story Contest
 

Voted. Good luck.

I voted, and encouraged friends in common to do the same. Good luck!

Just voted for you, good luck!

I voted and I even voted for you. Good luck.

Voted.

Hi Miriam, I voted for you.
So interesting, I wasn't aware of this cultural performance until I ran into
someone in the Atlanta airport wearing a T-shirt - - - something about a story-telling
festival. It was in the south, somewhere.

So my questions for you are:
#1. Is it your story, you wrote it?
#2. Can you tell another writer's story?
#3. Are there categories - fiction, humor, autobiographical etc?

I find this fascinating as one of my favorite writers, David Sedaris "tells" his story
to an audience before finishing them up for publication. (Or so I've been told).

1) Yes it is my story. It's even true, though there are a few embellishments.

2) It's bad form to tell another person's personal story. There are stories in the public domain, which are generally either folk tales or older literary stories. Even for folk tales, it is best to develop your own version (using multiple sources when possible), rather than simply copying someone else's.

3) While there are categories of stories, they don't really matter for most purposes. The particular group this story was done for is for true personal stories. There are some groups with other restrictions, e.g. Myth-off does competitions with themes of myths. Story slams tend to have shorter pieces and generally have a theme. And there are also things like a liar's contest.

But there are lots of general storytelling festivals and informal story swaps. I recommend that beginners check out their local storytelling groups and go to swaps, which are normally a tolerant and friendly audience. You can find lots of info via the National Storytelling Network (www.storynet.org).

Feel free to ask me for info for your area, as I am reasonably well connected and know tellers throughout the U.S. (as well as a few overseas).

Voted - good luck!

Cheers.

Thanks for your detailed response & link. I'm in Orange County, CA. I'll definitely keep an eye out for contests. Not that I want to tell stories, not at all, but listening to different styles is helpful for what I do (storyboard artist). Pacing is super important.

You just received the Israeli vote.

South Coast Storytellers Guild meets on the 3rd Thursday of the month from 7-8 p.m. in Costa Mesa for a story swap. Listeners welcome. If you look up their website, I expect they have links to other events in that area.

You've got my vote, Miriam. Good luck!

-FlyerBeek

Thanks! :D

Hey mhnadel

Congratulations for being part of a best story contest. When will it be finished? are we still allowed to vote?