Your Friday Recommendation #17

Today’s recommendation is a recommendation we made five days short of a year ago that deserves to be repeated, a podcast on storytelling tips by Ira Glass, host of National Public Radio’s This American Life.

The podcast is meant for one entering the radio and/or vidcast world, but the message Glass has speaks to writers and performers, too. For the young writer or improvisers afraid of failing and thus, afraid of putting their work out there, Glass proposes you embrace the simple truth that you will fail over and over as part of the creative process. His main point is that one cannot gain experience if one doesn’t put something terrible out there, and this process all leads to truly wonderful work. How many bad stories must a writer write before they hit upon a solid one? How many bad scenes must an improviser be in before they have a solid set? There’s no definitive answer, but be sure it’s in the “more than a few” range.

Glass, too, is self-disparaging and points out the disappointing nuances of an old program while telling what he’s able to learn from such a foray into bad radio. Young writers and improvisers take note – a seasoned professional in his artistic field not only admits to failing but also to learning something from said failure. It gives one hope, doesn’t it?

Take a look and apply what you’ve learned.

-nm

[tags]podcast recommendation, Ira Glass, storytelling tips[/tags]

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