ATHOL – What goes into making a story?

This and other aspects of creating a tale were discussed during an interactive workshop held last Wednesday, June 28, at the Athol Public Library, led by celebrated poet and artist Lyrical Faith.

A Black American educator, activist, and spoken word poet from the Bronx, Faith is the third-ranked woman poet in the world as determined by the 2022 Women of the World Poetry Slam.

Faith asked participants what came to mind when she said the word “storytelling,” and answers ranged from elders spinning yarns or handing down family history, to foretelling events to come or offering a narrative of what one sees in their mind. Another person said that storytelling creates connections between people and events.

“Storytelling is also defined as the vivid description of ideas, both personal experiences and life lessons, through stories or narratives that invoke powerful emotions and insights,” Faith said. “Some stories are factual, and some are embellishments improvised in order to better explain the core message.”

Faith is also an inaugural Bronx Poet Laureate finalist, two-time recipient of the Bronx Council on the Arts BRIO Award, and the 2015 Syracuse University Poet of the Year. During the workshop, she explained that something she likes to focus on is the idea of life lessons, core messages and personal experiences. Faith added that there is always a lesson to be learned, or something to take away. She went on to explain that spoken word poetry is a form of storytelling, and spoken word is believed to be the oldest form of poetry.

“Just thinking about the idea of passing down verbal messages and ideas…and passing down these stories from generation to generation (is) verbally sharing your work and your art,” she said.

Five elements, Faith continued, are necessary to construct a good story. Those include the need to be entertaining and educational. Good stories must also be universal or relatable to all listeners. Finally, good stories need to be organized and memorable. She also discussed steps to be taken in developing spoken word poetry and gave attendees some writing exercises on their way to completing their own compositions. The final part of the workshop was an “open mic” segment, allowing each writer to perform their poem.

Overall, she said, storytelling has the power to persuade and impact people, to move the masses, and it’s important not to take that lightly.

“Because we have the power when we are standing on stage or on a platform, sharing something in front of a group of people – we have the power to spark someone’s mind, or change a mind, or elect someone,” she said. “So, it’s always very important what you choose to write your stories about because you never know who you’ll be impacting, how many people you’ll be impacting.”

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.

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