I changed the name of this blog a while back, hoping to do some real in-depth analysis of storytelling. The reason for this was actually to increase my own storytelling ability. In truth, I've been working on a story of my own, but I have no idea if it is good, bad, mediocre, ambitious, or just a slapped-together version of all the stories I happen to like. Thus uncertainty has led to a horrible obstacle known as writer's block.

Now...there are a couple of silly things about me using that term. Writer's block. First of all, I am far from a writer. Writers love words. They love writing. They love turning phrases. They keep such turned phrases tucked away in the recesses of their mind so that they can whip them out at the opportune moment, and be quoted someday on some college kid's social networking profile. Or t-shirt. I'm sure that's not what they aim for, of course. To me, writers are very intelligent people with grand schemes, literal styles, themes--basically, people with something important to say, and a stealthy little way to say it without sounding too preachy. Again, I am far from a writer. At most, I am a storyteller, but...I'm not so good at that yet either.

The other silly thing is the idea of writer's block itself. My sister sent me a link to a blog...Seth Godin's blog...that said that we never get talker's block because...we never stop talking. We are constantly training ourselves to find ways to say what we need to say. So why shouldn't writing work the same way?

After reading his words, I was...wordless. I had no more excuses. He suggested that I write everyday, but not fiction. Write about my observations, and just try to write better than bad. That's exactly what I intend to do...if I can.

So I'm pretty much back where I started when I changed the name of this blog to "The Art of Storytelling". I'm gonna write about what I'm reading. About what I'm watching. And I've been watching a lot. Lost, Fringe, The Wire, Sons of Anarchy, Breaking Bad, House, Supernatural, Thundercats, Japanese anime...Twilight... I watch movies and TV shows that I like, and even things that hurt my brain (Twilight), all for the sake of learning about storytelling. And now, I'm gonna follow Mr. Godin's advice, and aim for that elusive goal...

Better than bad.

Let's see how long I can keep it up...

Oh, and here's that blog:

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/09/talkers-block.html

J