Campfire Stories

[John Fenna]

I used to create stories for the Beavers in our Scoutgroup.
The Stories were about "Copperknife" the Indian" a young lad living in a Plains Indians tribe who had various adventures and was always saving the tribe.
The stories were based on my very basic knowledge of Plains tribal society crossed with Bushcraft (as we now call it - it was "Survival" in those days) techniques, primitive technology, wildlife and existing stories such as "Gelert the loyal hound".
I had them all typed up but when telling the stories to the Beavers I would take on the Persona of an Indian Chief - either in a "Lodge" (big tent) or around a camp fire.
The name I took as the story teller was "Chief Louder Bull" - try saying that name in a Brummie accent...

 

[Wayland]

I'm looking towards a future where I may need to take things a bit easier than I do now, so I am aiming to increase the story telling side of my business.

Debs and I have also decided to get involved with a local storytelling group which is very well spoken of, so I may have more to tell in the future.

I've been doing a lot of research lately into the Nordic mythological sources and gleaning a fair few things that I'd missed in earlier studies. My library is scattered all over the house at the moment as I dip from one reference book into another. I'm starting to see connections with archaeology and palaeontological finds that are intriguing to say the least and even some unexpected crossovers from Old Testament and Babylonian sources occasionally. What I am planning should be an intensive journey from the Creation of the Nine Worlds to Ragnarok via the most important myths which will probably take two or three years to properly research.

Debs is also planning an embroidered cloak using key images from the stories which may well take even longer to complete.

For schools I may extend it into workshops studying the significance and historical context of such myths for older kids.

On a more cautious note, one thing I have noticed about some Bushcraft meets is a rather difficult atmosphere for story telling. It's all very well to ask for a story, but it's not easy to tell formal stories if there is constant interruption or background chatter. I think it's just the nature of the slightly boozy, jovial atmosphere around the camp fire. It's very different from the welcoming space given to storytellers in a more sympathetic setting.

Historically, story telling had a very important role which was reflected in the respect universally given to bards and skalds. Often it was the principle form of entertainment but it also educated and re-enforced traditions that bound such ancient communities together. The only modern places that I have witnessed similar audiences are storytelling clubs, festivals, religious congregations and remarkably in schools.

I use storytelling all the time in my work but I'm always a bit wary of starting up at a meet unless it's with a small well known group. If you have invested a lot of time and effort in preparing a story it is hard and rather painful to see it fall flat because half the audience is more interested in drunken Monty Python impersonations. As Zingmo says, it is a vulnerable position to put yourself into.

 

[nettles150390]

Kids make a great audience for "off the top of your head" stories, they are so much less critical than adults. Mine always insist on a story with their cocoa when we are away. There have been hundreds (Collie-Wally the lifeguard dog, The very lonely lampost, King Edward and his potatoes...), almost all of which I have forgotten but which they often remind me about. I made a few rules for myself as I am often called on to make up a story after the mainbrace has been spliced...

• The main character(s) need not be human or even animal.
• Names need to be memorable and preferably alliterative. (You have to be able to remember them as you go along)
• The story should be about or involve something you saw or that happened today.
• Give yourself time to think; speak slowly and use repeating sequences (... he went down the stairs, across the kitchen floor, through the catflap and out into the garden... etc) to give yourself time to work out what happens next.
• There should be some drama; a crisis or something that gets an emotional response (don't be afraid to make the audience sad or scared, just so long as you know how to get to the happy ending)
• The plot needs a twist or it will just be a series of events. Think of this early on, but keep it hidden like a trump card until the climax of the story.
• Keep it short, bring it to an end when it fits rather than trying to drag it out.
• Tie up all the loose ends, kids want to know what happens to everybody/thing.
• Oh... and when we're in Wales, there has to be a dragon!

It can be an intensely intimate thing which makes you very vulnerable to the audiences ridicule, and (like cryptic crosswords) it is something I cannot do when tired and stressed; my mind has to be drifting with the current and free to go where it pleases. Give it a go, but choose your audience carefully.

Z

Awesome advice there zingmo well said, any time I've made up stories usually for my younger brothers and sisters, I tend to make them part of a world, I have an attraction to old native american stories of how the things in the world came to be, and my stories are based on this style. The stories can then build on one another from how the world was created to how the animals came to look like they do, to the great animal war to the acquisition of fire. I find that when you can mention past characters and events from other stories into new stories it adds a background and realistic depth to the stories. Of course the problem then is not forgetting the rules you have created in past stories lol

 

[Zingmo]

On a more cautious note, one thing I have noticed about some Bushcraft meets is a rather difficult atmosphere for story telling. It's all very well to ask for a story, but it's not easy to tell formal stories if there is constant interruption or background chatter. I think it's just the nature of the slightly boozy, jovial atmosphere around the camp fire. It's very different from the welcoming space given to storytellers in a more sympathetic setting.

I once heard a story teller saying that "Are you sitting comfortably?" requires an answer. It is the audience entering into a contract to listen to the story. Only if there is a unanimous "Yes" is the reply given: "then I'll begin". That is the point where people need to decide if they are going to stay and listen or, if they are not in the mood, either go elsewhere while the story is told or else ask that maybe the story is saved for another time.


Z

 

[Wayland]

The beginning is always the most delicate part.

As you say a good audience almost enters a contract with the the story teller. It's an unspoken set of rules and the formula you use has a precedent from early television that many people do understand.

The first word of Beowulf is "Hwæt" which was an exclamation to make it clear that the poet was beginning. The nearest modern equivalent would be getting to your feet in a noisy gathering and loudly saying "SO... " before waiting for the clamour to die down.

Back then everyone from Kings to servants would have ceased talking and turned to listen. Audiences like that only really exist in special situations these days and I'm fortunate to work with one of those situations almost every day so I guess I'm a little spoilt working in schools.

Having said that, it seems to surprise teachers how well and long I can hold the kids wrapped in an unfolding story.

According to Ofstead, the longest you are supposed to sit kids on the floor is their age plus five in minutes. The common misconception is that children cannot pay attention beyond that.

My sessions last two and a half hours with a fifteen minute break in the middle and they generally have to be shooed out of the room at the end because they want more. Most teachers remark that they have never seen the pupils so well behaved for so long. I think it's a big part of why they bring me back so often.

 

[andybysea]

I remember when i was a child i grew up in a street were there was 9 lads of roughly the same age and most of the time we all got on, one of the lads, the oldest by about a yr or 2 was a excellent story teller we used to go into one of the house outbuildings and he would tell us horror stories that scared the hell out of us, dont know if he got these from his dad(who was the councils top pathologist) but the had the effect one me that i can remember them some 40 yrs later.

 

[S.C.M.]

I've never had the chance to hear a proper storytelling that I remember. Haven't tried to tell any either, but I agree with what has been said here: distractions are the devil, a good beginning is everything (there's a reason looooaads of stories start with "Once upon a time") and the very nature of telling a story means that some measure of improvisation is necessary. The gist of it remains the same and the details change. Maybe the witch is green today, or covered with boils, or has a crooked nose or greasy, grey hair that hangs down to her waist, or sticks up in all directions... you get the idea. The change of details also means the story doesn't get boring when repeated.
Gods, I almost sound like I know what I am talking about! I don't!

 

[backpacker]

Most of the story telling is by all the guys who attend our twice yearly walks/camping trips and most of the stories are from our experiences in the great outdoors, some of the stories that have been told have been hilariously funny others have been heart warming, most of us are ex-military so you can imagine some of the stories told but there is one guy who is brilliant at telling stories mainly about native Indians which is really good sitting around the campfire having a brew or something stronger!