Not Everyone is a Storyteller

Let me tell you a story,

I have recently been working on our first video for a series call Story Ink. I am blessed to have so many people around us that have been willing to give feedback and review the video… and let me tell you, the distance from where I started to now is vast. These reviewers muscled through some garbage audio to help make things much, much better. You want to know what is the most exciting? I got to film a story of one person and one tattoo artist go from idea to sketch to tattoo. I got to sit with them through 8 hours of tattooing. I got to stick cameras in their faces and take endless pictures. I then got to sit with all of their stories and build the video. It was awesome… but that wasn't the most exciting part. The most exciting part is hearing what everyone is taking away from it.

There is definitely consistency in the feedback that is going to help build so many more great videos. Yet, each person has something unique they really responded to. For some it was the idea of your body as a canvass. To some it was the obsession with Instagram. For others it was the victorian style of art. To me, it was the pearls in character that neither the artist nor the client really saw.

One of the consistent pieces of feedback was that I needed to improve the introduction. Specifically I needed to open with a line that says, “everyone has a story, but not everyone is a storyteller.” I’ve made the change and now I totally agree.

I have written about this before - the idea that people don’t see their story. At first, I saw it as a potential threat to the success of my storytelling business. After all, if nobody has a story, then how in the heck am I going to get a story? Now, after having this first video close to completion, I see that in a 10 minute piece I can illustrate the beauty of somebody's story even though they don’t think they have one. And my reviewers seem to agree. Ah ha, now I have the opportunity.

I realize it is super frustrating to talk about these videos and not share them with you, but we will have them released soon. Still some kinks and logistics to work out and being that this is our first, it takes a little longer than it probably should.  

But after all, it’s the imperfections that make a great story. Right?!?!

Here is to great stories,
Chris