Sings: Video Monday, Video Monday, it’s a Monday, so here’s… not so much with the video.
This text-only Video Monday is brought to you by me lending out my Flip and completely forgetting about it.
I think it was John August who’d once written that ‘movie dialogue is what people would say if they had a few minutes to think about it.’ Or something like that.
I had a conversation this weekend about storytelling, about how I love to hear the stories other people tell, as if they’re just talking about their day. I don’t own a car, and my city’s public transit system leaves a bit to be desired, so I take cabs a lot. And I like to ask the cab drivers where they’re from, how their day has been, how long they’ve been working their shift today. Because I’m interested, sure, but mostly just to hear the story they’ve been thinking about.
Because that’s what I think a lot of people do. They (unconsciously, usually) prepare dialogue in their heads in the event someone asks them about their day, or how things are going. So they’re ready.
I do it, I know. Often not even unconsciously. I’ll actively prepare things to say, I organize my thoughts and my stories, in the event a conversation should start with someone — or even just the opportunity for one.
No matter the situation, I’ve always got a story. Most of them are mostly true. And I think lots of people are like this.
I think that’s what makes me love doing my video posts and my new podcast project. Because it’s an outlet for all the stories I’m always formulating, all the thoughts I’ve been organizing in case someone asks me a question.
So how does this help you at all? Well, this is what blogging is. It’s actively organizing your typically scattered thoughts into a story. Into something people can enjoy. It’s noticing something about your day, about your industry, about the people you know, and instead of just letting it pass, you note it. You organize it, and you form a post about it. You make it a story.
And don’t worry about it being too mundane, or uninteresting, because it’s not. If you’ve got a story, and can tell it well, you’ve got something interesting.
Stories are in the telling, not the topic.
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I can’t help but feel partially responsible for this.
Not at all, sir. I completely forgot that I might need it for Video Monday until 10pm last night when I went to film it.