True Stories
He loves his afternoon coffee. 他把故事比作在铁路城镇里游荡、嗅探宝藏的狗. 他经常提到名人的名字，但都是作为一个更大的轶事结构的一部分. He asks questions—maybe too many. 他处理生活的细节，这意味着他的日子是忙碌的. He hovers somewhere between ringmaster and therapist, 编造故事，梳理令人不安的真相.
作为2016年贝洛伊特大学创意写作路易斯和威拉德麦基教授, 乔治·道斯·格林(George Dawes Green)在他享誉全球的讲故事项目“飞蛾”(Moth)中也使用了同样的规则来管理他的班级. It was an esoteric, often poignant, sometimes hilarious time, 而且与麦基椅作者讲授的常规课程相去甚远, or English department professors, for that matter.
Green is himself a bit of an anomaly. A high-school dropout from Georgia, 他最初在20世纪90年代中期因两部广受好评的小说而成名: The Caveman’s Valentine (1994) and The Juror (1995)，这两部影片后来都被改编成好莱坞电影. 由于现金充裕，他决定把钱重新投入一个新项目. In 1997, the Moth was born. Initially, it was an informal event based out of his New York loft; today, 这是一种真实和第一人称叙事的国际现象.
Green celebrates the “messedupness” of humanity, 尤其是在超现实主义的艺术表演中. 当我们在课堂上讨论其中一个听力例子时——一个关于一个女人在与海洛因成瘾作斗争的同时陷入一段感情的破碎的爱情故事——他说, “You can feel, when you’re listening to a story like this, that this is a brand-new, exciting art form.”
在许多方面，格林的课遵循了伯洛伊特大学其他写作课程的共同元素. 规模小，强调讨论、研讨会和演讲. But then the curriculum deviated. 尽管格林在多类型作品中都取得了成功，但他首先是一位叙事作家. 他总是在上课前反复思考他读到或听到的东西, usually a kind of esoteric thought. 他播放了许多蛾的各种表演的声音和视频剪辑, often adding in his own reflections on the narrators. But at its heart, this was a course about the students, 这种勇敢而诚实的人际关系又被带回了工作室.
大多数伯洛伊特英语课程都遵循一些非常具体的工作坊趋势. 学生应至少提前24小时提交书面作品以供审查, 同学们通读两遍，一次对故事有感觉, once to add in nuanced critiques. 然后全班重新集合并作为一个整体讨论作品. 教授贯穿始终地插话来探讨某些观点. There is occasional brutality and frequent questioning. 作者热切地记笔记或专心地听, 我提醒过你，你的初稿被糟蹋了也没关系. Above all, the goal is to be honest.
Green’s class differed. The honesty and collaborative nature remained, but the work itself was so visceral, so painful, so immediate, 它彻底震撼了情感和创意领域. There was no forewarning with these stories. 他们是第一次在课堂上听到，而且在很多情况下, it was the first time they’d ever been told. 人们讨论亲人的死亡、袭击、与抑郁症的斗争. 一个故事让全班震惊得鸦雀无声，这并不罕见. 有时，制作这些作品几乎是不可能的. How do you critique someone’s most vulnerable moment?
课堂上的人际关系使情况更加复杂. Most of us had known each other for years. 我们一起完成了许多传统的英语课程，熟悉了彼此的作品, voice, and style. We had also lived and worked and played together. We sometimes already knew about the dark, intimate secrets that were fodder for the stories, and that made it hurt all the more.
The environment was a significant change for Green. When cultivating Moth pieces, he meets one-on-one with each of the storytellers, 通过多次会议剖析各种创意元素. 在贝洛伊特，他每天和比他多15倍的人一起工作. What’s more, 日常的语气是一种完全不同的情感领域:“我从未见过在这门课上如此激烈,” he explains. Yet it was also a hugely collaborative process. 他说:“我真正喜欢的是每个人都有贡献。.
But that vulnerability is still there, 无论是在纽约的Moth主舞台上，还是在伯洛伊特的周二下午. “要让人们真正做好准备和自信，可能需要很多次训练,” Green explains. “And they’re still terrified. Everyone’s terrified.正如学生们所发现的那样，正是出于这种恐惧，才写出了最好的故事.
Kiernyn Orne-Adams今年16岁，是去年春天和George Dawes Green一起参加麦基创意写作工作坊的15名学生之一. She graduated summa cum laude in May, 创意写作系优秀生人类学和新闻学辅修. 她正在明尼苏达州明尼阿波利斯市追求作家的职业生涯.
Tips on the Art and Craft of Storytelling
- Be mindful of physical presence. 现场讲故事——无论是在舞台上还是在聚会上——都能展现讲故事人的新一面. 格林解释说:“他们的每一个手势都体现了一切。. The way you stand, use your hands, or look around can be a useful tool, but it can also present challenges.
- Be honest. “当艺术变得个人化时，它似乎变得非常强大和令人兴奋，”格林说. “You can’t put any wall between you and your audience.”
- Find the crux of the story. In almost every instance, 这篇文章真正有影响力的部分在第一次讲述时没有机会闪耀. It is laid out too blatantly at the beginning, or used as a closing line and never developed, or buried somewhere in the middle, an afterthought in favor of the other exposition. We, the narrators, never really see it; perhaps because of our mental contexts and priorities, 也许是因为我们根本不知道如何表达它的联系.
