Storytelling: An Interview with Jessica Piscitelli Robinson

A story well-told is mesmerizing. I’ve listened to and watched Jessica Piscitelli Robinson tell funny, sad, angry, you-name-it stories for many years in person and online.

In 2020, I took a short workshop offered by Better Said Than Done, the storytelling company she began a few years ago. I don’t plan to stand in front of people and share a story (although who knows?), but I realized the lessons strengthened my writing.

Recently I asked Jessica to talk about her process and share examples. Here, lightly edited for space, is what she told me:

 Q:  For people who only know of storytelling as something for kids at bedtime, could you explain storytelling for adults—and its benefits to the tellers and the listeners?

 A: Storytelling for adults is not much different than storytelling for children. It is entertaining, fun, often has a moral, and is a performance by a person sharing a story. The main difference between storytelling for kids and for adults is the content, like a G-rated versus an R-rated movie.

Storytelling is an intimate performance art. It is, perhaps, closest in style to an actor delivering a monologue. However, unlike with a monologue, the storyteller can change their story, adjust towards the audience, as they perform. If the audience is finding a story particularly funny, for example, the storyteller can shift and play up the humor. Or if the audience is responding in a more serious manner, the storyteller may adjust by directly addressing the audience and saying “everything turns out okay. It’s all right to laugh.” The words are not written in stone. In many cases, the words aren’t written out at all.

Q: Although there is probably not just one way, what generally is your process when you decide to create a story?

The process does change dependent on how long or complex the story is, and how much time I have to write it.

My typical process for crafting a story is to start by doodling it. This can be writing out bullets, or writing out a few lines, or sometimes not writing anything at all but simply doodling while letting my mind run through the events as I picture them. Then I try to commit to a structure – figure out the plot of the story. Once I feel comfortable with that, I speak it out loud, stumbling and messy for the first few times. But I play with language as I go and try to find the most effective words or phrases. Those replace the messy language with each repetition until I feel like I’ve got a good flow.

Q: Many of the shows you organize or participate in have a theme or prompt. How does that affect creating a story?

A: Most storytelling shows do have a theme because it is incredibly helpful for focusing creative energy. Themes are like writing prompts. Next month I am performing in a “Beyond Barbarella” sci-fi storytelling show. I can tell any story I want, so long as it somehow ties to that theme. But that theme has sent my mind in several productive directions and, ultimately, led me to writing a post-apocalyptic story. I was recently in a festival where one of the shows I was in was “Ghost Stories.” I ended up telling a scary fairy story, but the first story I came up with was about my mom’s ghost visiting me after she passed. And I ended up using that story for another show.

Q: How do you get ready to say the story aloud? For example: Do you memorize it? Do you record yourself? Do you revise once you hear/see the words you have written? OR—maybe you start by telling then go back to writing things down?

A: When I first started, coming from having been a writer for 20-plus years, I always wrote my stories out and memorized them word for word. The written word was my security blanket and it took me years to let go. Since I’ve started writing my stories by speaking them aloud, they’ve become a lot easier to memorize. I am no longer memorizing words. I’m memorizing a story. And I think the stories sound better, as they are written in the form they will be received – orally.

Q: What are pitfalls to avoid in creating a story?

A: I teach storytelling – with a focus on personal stories – and one thing I see is people trying to keep everything in. With life stories, there is an urge to be accurate. This is how it actually happened. But the audience doesn’t need to know all the details all the time. In many cases, a story is better if it has been trimmed of the fat. Oral stories are different from written stories. A memoir, for example, might benefit from following all the various branches. But when an audience is listening to a story, too many details can confuse them.

So the pitfall to avoid would be holding on to the need to include everything as it happened, and every person who was there.

 Q: Do you have a favorite story and/or venue and/or anything else?

 A: I have been incredibly blessed to perform in the Women’s Storytelling Festival for the past 3 years. It is truly a special festival. All of the storytellers have been fantastic and sharing my stories at that venue has been incredible. [Editor’s note: Jessica is being too modest. She is the guiding force behind the Festival, which she perpetuated throughout the pandemic.]

I began as a personal storyteller. I have told more personal stories – over 100 at this point – than any other style. That is, perhaps, why I am enjoying venturing into other styles these days. Lately, I’ve told some “lies,” which are stories that are truth adjacent, some folktales, and some pure, original fantasy. Here’s a link to the “scary fairy” story I told at the Stone Soup Storytelling Festival.

Q: Other thoughts this all brings up?

A: Storytelling – the art of storytelling – is a diverse performance art. Most people who have heard of storytelling as performance are probably familiar with The Moth, or at least with that style of storytelling – what I call true, personal storytelling. Up until 2018, I only told personal stories, and Better Said Than Done hosted only personal storytelling shows. But in 2018, I was invited to perform at the National Storytelling Festival. The festival opened my eyes to a wide range of styles and since then, I’ve seen – and Better Said Than Done has welcomed – folktale tellers, historical stories, stories performed with props, in tandem, with music, lies, tall tales, and more.

There are so many ways to experience the art of storytelling and, as a storyteller, I have just begun to spread my wings and explore these myriad ways of crafting oral stories.

Q: Suggested Better Said Than Done resources, links, etc.?

All our shows these days, even the ones we perform in-person, are available online. Check out our upcoming shows here:
https://www.bettersaidthandone.com/storytelling-shows/

You can find out more about what I have coming up – including workshops and – ooh! – a Liar’s Festival, here: https://www.bettersaidthandone.com/storyteller/

Follow us on https://www.facebook.com/BetterSaidThanDone or https://www.instagram.com/bettersaidthandone/

Jessica is a frequent performer and offers workshops on personal and corporate storytelling. She is also a talented filmmaker and fiction writer. We’ve been part of an online accountability group for more than 5 years, and I have to say that she runs circles around the rest of us in what she accomplishes in a given week!