Crafting Personal Vision in Telling Folktalesby Heather Forest My interest in folktales began with an enthusiasm for the folksongs I sang in my early teens . As a budding guitarist of fourteen , I learned to sing along with folksong records and taught myself the words to old tunes from folksong books . I never learned to read music formally , but there was enough music in the air due to the folksong revival of the sixties , that I was able to learn the songs by ear . I especially enjoyed ballads because they had a plot . My favorite moment in singing any song was the very last moment of the song , the " edge " between the song ' s last vibration on the guitar and silence . It was a magical stepping off place back into my everyday life . The sense of completion at the last breath of song was totally satisfying and I recall singing my way through the many verses of a ballad just to arrive at the end moment . Singing could transform my mood . once I ' d traveled through the song , I arrived at a new place in time . I ' d spent the time well . Those moments would never return . I was that many minutes older , but somehow , compared to my daily chores in the house where I grew up , the minutes spent were renewing . The songs were my company , my friends , and my solace . They were things I was too young to understand . The child in me still celebrates that last moment and the journey . Now the songs have widened into tales . In my early twenties , when I began to create my own folksongs based on the ballad form , I found the public library to be an endless source of inspiration in the 398 . 2 folktale section . As a child , I had always enjoyed reading mythology and folktales . As a budding composer I discovered I could wander the world reading plots from cultures around the globe and create songs out of them . When a plot touched me deeply , I would set it on my creative back burners and just think about it for a long time . Some stories sat silent for months , others years . Eventually I would face the tale and try to understand my attraction to it . As in a dream , I thought , I ' m probably everybody in the story . Maybe there was a sense of familiarity about the tale , as though it was really about something that happened to me . Or , maybe there was something I needed to learn from the tale . Maybe it healed me . Maybe it made me face myself , by telling it again and again . There is a freeing anonymity and at the same time , a revealing vulnerability in telling a folktale . Crafting a folktale into a personal artistic statement requires a personal relationship to the tale . " Reporting " the plot is only the first step to comprehending it , or making some sense out of the sequence of events . " What happened in this tale ? " is the first question I ask . Then I want to know what happened first . I don ' t need to retell the story in the sequence of events that teaches me what happened . I could start anywhere . I could set the scene first . I could reveal the thoughts of a central character . I could begin at the end and tell you how it all came to pass . These are " choices . " That is what an artist does . An artist makes choices , clear decisions about how the parts and whole of a work will be shared . There is no " right " or " wrong " about art . I prefer to use the words " effective " or " ineffective . " In this case , the intention of the artist is paramount . one simple goal of telling a tale to an audience is to engage their attention so that they will follow the guide , or the teller , into the imaginary world of the story . Some stories are ones that I only tell myself . Others are for concert . Choosing which stories to tell is a major element in my personal artistic process . I cannot craft personal vision into a tale that does not personally touch me or contain some element I think is important to share with others . Sometimes a story will " choose " me . I might come upon it in my reading and find that it wafts back into my consciousness as I go about my daily activities . I ' ll mull it over . I ' ll fall in love with it and summarize it to friends . I ' ll try to remember it . There are holes . I ' ll go back to the book I found it in , to fill in the missing pieces . I put the pieces in order . Then I tuck it away inside of my memory . I ' ll trace the story to other versions or more ancient sources . I ' ll investigate the culture from which it comes . I ' ll find myself on a reading adventure filling in my understanding about the time and place of the story in the larger world picture . Perhaps someday I ' ll choose to shape it further and tell it publicly . I might set the language , add music , or poetry . Or , perhaps the plot will remain a skeleton whose flesh changes every time I bring it forth . Perhaps I ' ll just think about the tale or share it with my children at one of those teachable moments when the tale says more about the situation than I can say . It is something of a mystery to me how I go about shaping a tale . It is more akin to taking a walk in new woods , seeing a flower , following it to another path , getting lost , and then finding a way out . one thought that gives me the confidence to explore is that there is no danger . I improvise the tale . Improvisation is an act of faith that something will come next . When I get to the " edge " of something I know , like the last set words of a poem , a melody , or a moment in the plot , I leap over into the unknown and assume that my imagination will rise to the occasion and rescue me with a new thought . I don ' t judge the new thought , I just watch it happen . I decide if I want to keep the new part or not . That choosing process is what keeps me in charge of the exploration . In the end I have to take responsibility for my choices . I sign my name . I tell the tale in public . I reveal my choices . It could be emotionally dangerous to reveal choices before I am confident about them . I am protective of the early stages of sharing a performance work . I need feedback and yet need to remain in charge of the choosing . I need to know what I like about the work I ' ve created . I need to know what my intentions are . A listener ' s sigh , grimace , or lack of attention can sometimes be an excellent clue that changes are needed . If I ' m not clear about what it is I am making , negative feedback can just stop me midstream from completing the project . I trust my own " wince factor . " It ' s the listener part of me that feels embarrassed by a choice and sends a mild shudder through my consciousness . " Yuck , " I say to myself as I play back a rehearsal tape or listen to myself mouth language , " That ' s definitely out . " I am my own director so there are multiple levels working at the same time , both in performance and in the creative process . I ' m kind to myself and let myself try new approaches . I trust my taste because I practice making choices about my " taste " all the time . Personal " style " is based upon personal choices . Art is about making decisions . It ' s important to know what I like , even down to the basics such as , " What ' s my favorite sweetness in tea , the most comfortable temperature of bath water , my favorite shade of blue , which word to use , which tale to tell ? " Failure is a fine teacher . But , I ' m also very practical . If a choice is not working , I quickly rescue myself by making new choices . Creating is one of the treasured activities in my life , and I do everything I can to protect my spark of enthusiasm for it . I share with my family and close friends first . By the time I bring a tale to public performance , it has a history of being told . Each telling gives the work more power , as though it accumulated energy with every incantation . Mechanically , I find that talking the story into a tape recorder is a way to capture the tale in a fresh form . I then play it back and listen . Sometimes if a phrasing is worth preserving I remember it . I might jot some notes down . The next time I tell the tale , it is always informed by the memory of having heard it out loud . The final shaping of a story is very dependant upon who I imagine I will be telling it to . Over the years , I have discovered that certain compositional elements work well for different age audiences . If I were shaping a folktale to tell to young listeners , I would devise the composition of the story differently than if it were a story for adults . For young listeners I might look through the plot for an element that could become a sung refrain for audience participation . Perhaps there is a sound effect that could include the audience . If I am targeting the shaping for a younger audience , I want to be sure that the story is conceptually suitable for their age . Since I have worked as a storyteller - in - the - schools for many years , I have been given the opportunity to address age - consistent groups . When I walk into a first grade classroom , I am now familiar with the kind of energy that will greet me . It is different than what I find in a second or third grade class . I am aware of subtle changes in listening energy in the primary , upper primary and upper grade audiences . This awareness tailors my rendering of a story . With certain stories , it is possible to reshape the feel of the story in performance so that the same story can be appropriate for different age audiences . Improvisation plays a huge part in performance as well as composition . I enter the story I am telling like a journey . Everyone who is willing comes along . We end together . I have to present , in the moment : awake , aware , and alert . I must be a responsible guide . It can be an exhilarating experience . It can be a disaster . I could be leading a jolly parade and I ' m the only one marching . A storyteller must keep pace with the audience . Storytelling is a community event . It is always a growth experience . With each telling , I find out more about how the story I ' ve chosen to tell affects people . Stories have an organic nature . They change in different settings , for different ages , with different introductions , at different times of the year . They are never the same . The silence between even set language can change . A slight change of facial ｅxpression can alter the meaning of the words . Storytelling is a living artform . With time , both stories and skills can grow and change . Telling a story is like planting a seed -- there is hope involved . By retelling stories in my own words , my personal political bias somehow always shows through . Perhaps this , too , is part of the " personal " aspect of telling a traditional tale . I tend to amplify the elements I think are important . I enjoy strong and resourceful heroines , I prefer non - violent solutions to conflict , and I am stimulated by spiritual insights . When elements such as these can be brought forth in my telling , I do so , quite naturally and sometimes without even consciously thinking about it . There is always a personal vision in my retelling of a traditional tale because , as in life , I see it through my own eyes . QuickLinks • Sign up for the free newsletter now ! • Storytelling Store • Story Arts HOME