Author: Andrew Zahn

I'm a son, husband, dad, business owner, actor and good sleeper/eater. On this blog, I pave a highway for creative growth by providing food, water, and shelter for those wishing to live, work, and play with creative zest.

The Seven Decrees to Better Storytelling: Storyshowing

The Seven Decrees to Better Storytelling

1. Engage and connect.

If a storyteller is thinking about themselves, they’re most likely not connecting to their audience.

2. Show, don’t tell.

This phrase goes back a buh-gillion years. Good storytellers don’t tell us what someone did, they act it out and live it for their audience. 

Storytelling? Storyshowing.

3. Know Your Audience.

When a storyteller knows the audience as if they were characters in the story (it could be argued they are), he will tell a better story. 

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Passion is Key

[box options]From Andrew: Today we’ve got a stellar guest post by Scott Kerzner. Scott and his family embarked on Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover plan over four years ago. Early this spring, they plan on becoming debt-free.  Talk about creativity–they’re living it.  His blog, www.indueseason.net serves as a source of inspiration and motivation for all of those out there that battle debt, try to live on less than they make, or just plain want to save money.  Subscribe to his RSS feed and receive great anecdotes, advice, and humor.[/box]

As creatives, we sometimes hit a wall.

Javier Volcan (Creative Commons)

Every so often, hopefully more not than often, ideas don’t come to us easily.  Some days we just can’t think of anything.  We stare at an empty screen.  We rest our fingers on the keyboard waiting for something to come to us, like when you turn the key of a stalled car again and again, hoping each time that it will magically start.

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The Secret to Connecting with Your Creative Community

[box options]Side note… Today I’m guest posting on Michael Perkins’ amazingly creative blog The Handwritten. You’ll want to check out Michael’s take on simple, honest blogging. It’s like eating decadent desert without the calories. [/box]

There’s a secret to joining a creative community.

“I don’t like the word ‘community.’ Sounds needy and I’ve had enough of co-dependency,” you may say.

“I’m an artist, Andrew. I lock myself away in a room and think about my feelings for hours on end. I’m just fine without a creative community.”

“I’m not comfortable calling myself ‘creative,’ so how would I fit in with people who really are creative?”

Who is that talking?

What is keeping you from connecting?

Why do you feel the opposition to connecting with other creatives?

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Creative Community: 2 Questions, 2 Minutes, 1 Comment

It’s exciting to see the creative community on this site continue to grow.

Source: daniel.d.slee (Creative Commons)

The citizenry includes vibrant designers, inspiring pastors, financial coaches, imaginative writers, creative moms, blogging gurus, prolific producers, gifted graphic artists, and many more that we don’t know anything about.

But that’s about to change.

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Curate, Create, Klout and the Evils of Pinterest

Create or curate?

***

Curate

When I think of a ‘curator’ I think of an intelligent (but bland) guy wearing his one and only Brooks Brothers suit to a museum to look at old things and make sure those old things are in tip top shape.

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Creativity and the Costa Concordia: Get on the Ship

Time:

January 13, 2012

Setting:

Costa Concordia, Island of Giglio, Italy

(the setting could also be ‘your mind’)

Cast:

Coast Guard: Captain Gregorio De Falco

(think of De Falco as ‘your coach’)

Ship Captain: Captain Francesco Schettino

(think of Schettino as ‘reasoning’)

***

Know Who You Are

De Falco: “This is De Falco from Livorno. Am I speaking with the captain?”

Schettino: “Yes. Good evening, Cmdr. De Falco.”

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The Artist’s Double Life: The Day Job

Feeling bifurcated? Jekyll and sometimes Hyde?

Creatives often live a life that mirrors our cell phone plans: we spend our ‘peak minutes’ at a day job while our ‘off peak minutes’ (nights and weekends) afford us little time to get our creativity fix.

"Schizofreakia" Creative Commons: -RobW-

As a creative do you ever feel like this pic to the right?

With my 9-5 as a corporate sales trainer, writing this growing blog, doing a video shoot in a few days and a play reading at the end of the month I make Sally Field’s Sybil look normal.

It’s Not the Day Job

A few months ago I had a breakthrough.

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Value of Art

[box options]Today’s guest post is by producer Jason Mundok at The Wood Stove House. I enjoyed working with him on a recent project, The 24 Hour Plays and will be participating in his podcast series “Conversations” later this month. Enjoy![/box]

The Value of Art

At the Wood Stove House, we have immersed ourselves in the performing arts over the past few years. We’ve hosted house concerts, helped promote and book public concerts, produced theater events, provided promotional and logistical support for other theater events, and produced several recordings for wonderful regional musicians.

One of the big questions that we grapple with when engaging in any of these projects is the idea of value. What is the value of what we do and how much should we be charging for it?

A Tightrope Walk

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