Category Archives: step 1: decide

step one of the DOABLE approach to telling your family’s tales

Shadow from A to Z

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http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/invited/872278/f2c1f2aa8ed1373b16ef4eac2835e781?ce=blurb_ew&utm_source=widget

The sixth anniversary of our pet dog, Shadow’s, passing was just a few days ago so I thought this would be a good time to share this project. I put this book together a couple of years after Shadow died. It was my way of writing his life history but not in a chronological way. I used the letter so f the alphabet and chose words that described Shadow as the structure for telling stories about his life with us. This book was therapeutic for me and in many ways is a legacy for all the puppies we are now raising for Guide Dogs for the Blind. It is the precursor for all the puppyhood books I am doing for them. I used digital scrapbooking papers and elements on the pages.

Do you have a story project that would lend itself to the alphabet approach instead of the more traditional chronological approach?

Questorming for a Story Project

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DOABLE Sidebar DToday I found an article on questorming by Daniel Tenner on swombat.com. Here is what he said about applying questorming:

As the saying goes, asking the right questions is half the battle. This is what questorming focuses on: questions. The objective of the game is to ask as many questions as possible, in a free-flowing, unscripted way, about the topic. Much like with brainstorming, there are no bad questions in the initial phase – anything goes. As the storm of questions grows, it provides a map of your current understanding of the topic, and some clear next steps for deepening that understanding.

Daniel Tenner then gave an example of using questorming on “How can I write a book?” I’ve adapted his example to doing a story project because there are many similarities. Here is what I came up with:

  • How can I do a story project? or What should I do for my story project?

And free-flow from there:

  • How can I not do a story project?
  • Are there activities hat will increase the chances of me completing a story project?
  • Are there things that I absolutely must do to complete a story project?
  • Are there things that, if I do them, will guarantee I don’t complete a story project?
  • What are all those things?
  • Do I need anyone else’s help to complete my story project?
  • Is it possible to complete a story project without any help from anyone?
  • What are all the key things that need to happen before a story project is finished?
  • What does it mean for a story project to be ready?
  • Is a story project ready when I decide it’s finished, or are there other factors?
  • What are clear signs that a story project is not finished?
  • Are there some story project that can never be finished?
  • Can I do something to make sure that my story project will some day be finished?
  • What could I do to ensure that my story project will never be finished?
  • Why do I want my story project to be finished?
  • What do I want out of it?
  • How does that relate to whether it’s complete?
  • Who am I doing this story project for?
  • Do they have any impact on whether it’s complete?
  • Can I find out if it’s finished from the perspective of its audience, before actually publishing it?
  • Do I even need to publish my story project?
  • Are there ways to share my story project so that it can be improved repeatedly?
  • Are those ways better or worse than traditional ways?
  • Why?
  • Are there benefits to sharing my story project in the traditional way, vs a more modern approach?
  • Which is better to match what I want out of this story project?

I hope this give you some thoughts on your next story project? There are lots more questions to be questormed and not all questions that you come up with are actually helpful in moving your project forward but some of the questions you think of will be very useful in coming up with a meaningful story project.

Have you every used questorming? I haven’t yet but will soon. The closest I’ve come to questorming is talking with my dad about a book he read called “Change Your Questions, Change Your Life” by Marilee Adams.

Brainstorming Story Project Ideas

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DOABLE Sidebar DA great way to come up with ideas for your next story project is by using one of the many brainstorming techniques. Traditionally brainstorming is done with a group but the same principles can apply to an individual. Here are a list of different variations of idea generations with links to explanations on Wikipedia:

There are other theories on idea generation and problems solving. I came across another one that I’m curious about called Questorming. I want to try out some of these techniques on my next project. Besides questorming I’ve got to try some of the mind mapping applications on the internet. I’ll let you know how it goes.

What are some of the things that you do help you generate ideas and problem solve?

So Many Stories, So Little Time

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DOABLE Sidebar DAre you one of those people who has tons of ideas for story projects but can’t decide which one to do first? I’d start with making a list of all the projects you are thinking about doing. You might also make a few notes or comments about each of these projects and what you envision. Next be honest with yourself about how much time and energy you have to spend on your story project. Here are some ideas on some question to ask yourself that might help you decide which story project to do first:

  • Which one would be fastest?
  • Which one do you have all the skills needed to complete it?
  • Which one do you have all the resources (images, documents, etc.) you need to complete it?
  • Which one sounds the most interesting?
  • Which one do you find yourself thinking about the most often?
  • Which one would need you to learn something that you have wanted to learn?
  • Do any of these projects involve interviewing a person who may not be around much longer?

If this is your first story project be careful about making it such a big project that you get overwhelmed and don’t get it done. If you have successfully completed a few story projects than maybe it is time to challenge yourself. My advice is to trust yourself and your intuition as to which story project is right for you at this time.

Finally share your decision with someone who will be a supportive friend in holding you accountable to completing your project. If you want you can share it with me. I’d love to hear about your story project.

But I’m Too Busy to Do That!

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DOABLE Sidebar DWith today’s busy lifestyles it can be tough to add one more thing to your plate. Are you worried that doing a story project will just make your life more hectic than it is now? I believe that there are times and season in your life. Depending on the stage of life we are in effects that kinds of stresses and strains we have to deal with. The key is to pick a story project that works for your present schedule. A retired person can choose a much more time-consuming project that a single mom who is working and going back to school. Look at things you spend time in already and with some creative thinking you can come up with a meaningful story project that fits.

So the type of story project is very important. A project could be as simple as an oral story that you tell to your kids as bedtime stories. It may even be something that you could work on just by thinking about it as you commute or have downtime waiting in line or for an appointment.

The scope of your story project is also very important. If you have very little discretionary time make sure you keep each story project very small. Break a potential larger project into smaller pieces. Lets take the oral story telling idea mentioned above. A larger project might be to record a series of stories and add photos or illustrations and even music to make a life story. This larger project can be simplified into each individual story and perfecting the story telling style over the months and years of telling. Then down the road the stories could be recorded. And as schedules permit each audio could be combined with photos or illustration. Eventually when all the stories are done, they could be gathered into one cohesive collection. What a priceless treasure that would be with stories that your children grew up hearing at bedtime. What a legacy a long-term story project like that could be for your grandchildren and great-grandchildren. And all of it started by just decided to develop some oral stories from your personal life or the life of your family.

That is just one example. There are endless possibilities depending on you, your own life circumstances and your talents, interests and abilities. Over the next few days let your subconscious mind work on finding a good solution for you. Share your ideas here and you might just be the inspiration that someone else is looking for.

Why Do a Story Project?

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DOABLE Sidebar DWith all the demands we have on our time and the many options we have on any spare time we might have, why would you want to spend some of that precious time on a story project? Here are a few reasons that I came up with:

  • preserve & share living memory
  • connect with family members
  • strengthen family relationships
  • understand yourself better
  • share family values
  • increase self-esteem
  • improve resilience
  • uncover forgotten stories and people

Emory University did a remarkable study that showed a connection between teens knowing their family’s stories and the sense of well-being.

“Children Benefit if They Know About Their Relatives”

“Do You Know…”

This is powerful stuff. I knew that family stories were important but I had no idea that they have such a vital role in helping us to live happier more productive lives. That is reason enough for me. What about you? What is your reason for doing story projects?

step one: decide with the DOABLE Approach to Telling Your Family’s Tales

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Step One: Decide

If you have made it this far there is a good chance that you have decided that now is the time to commit to doing a story project. If you are still on the fence keep reading and hopefully you will be inspired to take on the challenge.

So how do you go about deciding just what this story project is going to be about? There are many ways to get there but we will help you through the process. You could be lucky enough to already have a person and/or project in mind. If so skip down to decide on a focus. If you already know what you want your story project to be about you can probably skip to Narrow the scope. Be careful about skipping all they way down to Pick a Medium because if your story project is too broad you might get discourage and give up before it is complete.

QUESTIONS:

A good starting spot is to ask yourself why you want to do a story project? From the BYUtv series called The Generations Project they asked these questions to help people find their why:

  • What do you spend a lot of time thinking about?
  • What do you hope will happen to you in the next year or two?
  • Tell us a story about a life changing experience.
  • What is the biggest challenge you’re facing in your life now?

It is good to let these question percolate in your mind for a few days. Make notes and notice where your thoughts go. Listen to your intuition on what story project you want to do now.

Try looking at your family tree or start listing names of people in your family.  Here are some more questions that might help you decided on your story project:

  • Is there someone you are drawn to?
  • Is there a time in history that you are interested in?
  • Do you know an ancestor from that time period?
  • Is there a place in your family’s past you would like to learn more about?
  • Have you considered doing a story about your own life?

Again it might take you sometime to settle on a person or place or time that you want your story project to be about. Being thoughtful during this step will reap big rewards later on.

NARROW IT DOWN:

At this point you have probably come up with several possibilities for story projects. If one has come to the forefront then you are ready to move on. If not ask yourself more questions until you feel good about one. File your notes away for future projects. Just because you don’t decide on that project now doesn’t mean you can’t do it in the future. Chances are the project you have in mind is still rather broad in its scope and too big to tackle in a reasonable amount of time. Now is the time to narrow it down. Let’s say you picked a person. Now is not the time to take on telling their whole life story. Unless you are different from most of us you don’t have time or the experience to succeed in that kind of project. Instead pick a time frame to work on first. If you really do want to do that life history then keep that in mind and design this project to become part of that big future project. It is easy to think we can eat the whole elephant or maybe just one of his legs. A huge key to success in learning and sharing about our family stories is to break them down into palatable pieces.  Don’t try to write “War and Peace” here. A short story is more what we are after. Down the road if you want to you can combine lots of story projects into your “War and Peace”.

FOCUS:

The next step is to bring focus to your story project. Go back to your “why” and how it relates to this project and what you want to do. Can this project be broken down into smaller pieces? You want to have a very tight focus on what this project is and how to accomplish it. I have a tendency to dream up the most elaborate projects but it is important to keep them from getting out of hand and grow into something that is difficult to get done and might not really carry out your purpose any better in the end. Now is the time to be honest about your available time and resources. It is better to break it up into several smaller project. You gain a sense of accomplishment which the completion of each story project.

Make notes and write a good description of what you want your story project to be. Give it some time and some serious thought. Always keep in mind who you plan to share your story project with.

MEDIUM:

Finally you want to pick a medium for your story project. Is it a book, an eBook, a video, a slide show, an audio, a song or something else altogether? There are lots and lots of possibilities. For many story projects once the first project is done it could easily be shared in another format. For example a book can be converted to an eBook. It might also be the basis for a video or slide show. Start with just one medium but keep in mind that other projects could spin-off from the original story project. Browse through our project ideas for some inspiration on the possibilities.

Are you still with me? Then it is time to move on to step two!

Book of the Week – visions of key west

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With my dad’s history and Key West on my mind, I went looking for this weeks book and I found “visions of key west – the folk art of ronny bailey” by Ronny and Stephanie Bailey. Here is what he said about his book:

This book presents a unique style of Folk Art. Ronny recycles salvaged wood and tin from century old Key West houses into miniature replicas of these same old houses. These 3-d houses fool the eye. Thru Ronny’s use of the original patina on his salvaged materials and great detail it is hard to tell what is a real house and what is his miniature reproduction.

I love his work. It is a wonderful way to keep the history of Key West and the lifestyle of the past. His sculptures are amazing. For more on Ronny Bailey click on the links below.

http://artid.com/members/rbailey

http://keywestproperties.blogspot.com/2011/01/ronny-bailey-key-west-artist.html

Do you or your family have folk art like Ronny’s that reflects the history and stories of your family? My grandma learned to paint in her later years. She mostly did landscapes and still lifes. Not sure if that qualifies but it shows me that I have creativity in my roots.

 

Birthday Traditions

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lighting mom's 90th birthday cake

Iris’s 90th Birthday Party video

With my mind being on birthdays recently I started thinking about birthday traditions. A Google search brings up lots of hits on traditions for kids but not so many for grown-ups. As I think back in my life and can see how easy it is to let birthdays slip by without doing much to really celebrate the day. Some people are great at making sure they have fun celebrations in their life. Some families have well-developed birthday traditions. My family isn’t one of them. So this is an area I could use some work on. Maybe it comes from my family culture. My mom is very practical and recently my dad said that he didn’t know how to celebrate. It seems to me that birthday traditions don’t necessarily need to be fancy or expensive but it takes planning and effort to make sure they become traditions. I also think that sometimes birthday traditions need to evolve to meet the families changing needs.

Last year I had lots of fun celebrating by birthday 50 times during the year. I want to do more in the coming years to develop some good adult birthday traditions. With my birthday coming up in May it is time to start thinking about some new traditions. Do you have any suggestions? What birthday traditions do you have or wish to start with your family?

 

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