Tips on hosting a storytelling workshop for parents.

1. t h e p a r e n t i n g w o r d s h o p
presented by
Ann Douglas
President, Mom Media

2. introduction
Parents have always
shared stories about
the physical and
emotional challenges of
raising children and
being a parent.

3. Petroglyphs,
Petroglyph
Provincial Park,
North of
Peterborough,
Ontario

4. The media and genres have
changed dramatically over
the years:
petroglyphs, oral histories,
letters to family and friends,
diaries, books, articles, radio
plays, TV sitcoms, and so
on.

5. Life in the
Backwoods:
A Sequel to
Roughing it in
the Bush by
Susannah
Moodie
(1887)

6. • Modern parents are
continuing this tradition:
variety of genres, new
media.
• Storytelling never goes
out of style. The
medium may change,
but the message
remains the same.

7. "Storytelling is the
most powerful way to
put ideas into the
world today."
- Robert McKee,
screenwriting guru

8. planning a parenting wordshop

9. purpose
Opportunities for....
• Parent-to-parent support through the
sharing of stories (written, oral, audio,
video, art-based, etc.)
• Individual projects?
• Group projects?
• Projects to take out into the community?
• All of the above?

10. the basics
• Times, dates, places....
• Number and length of
sessions, date/time
• Course location: amenities:
essentials, frills
• Costs: parent-paid, agency-
paid, sponsor-paid?

11. the ground rules
• Ask group participants to help you to come up
with a set of ground rules for the group so
that everyone feels safe and secure
participating in the parenting wordshop.
• The group's rules should reflect the agency's
values: respect, inclusion, confidentiality,
sharing.
• Participants should be prepared in advance
for the fact that writing (like art) taps into the
unconscious, which can cause both joyous
and painful memories/insights to be revealed.

12. • Sharing should be optional. Writing is
personal and participants should be allowed
to share as much or as little of their work as
they choose.
• Be prepared to modify writing projects based
on the participant’s literacy level, language
fluency/first language, cultural norms,
financial needs, and other special needs.

13. • There's an art to providing feedback on
another person's work—just as there's an art
to providing feedback on another person's
parenting style.
• Everyone's writing and life experience are
unique.
• Imperfection isn't just expected; it's
celebrated. This applies to art and life.

14. “Nothing
encourages
creativity like the
chance to fall flat
on one's face.”
- James D. Finley

15. "Where there is
perfection there is no
story to tell.”
- Ben Okri

16. the write stuff
• Materials/writing prompt suggestions could be
supplied by group leader, but participants should
always be free to write about anything they feel
inspired to write about).
• Personal items can be brought in by parents (a photo
or a meaningful object).

18. • Photo/object as
inspiration. What is the
story behind this photo
or object? The story will
be shaped by where
you decide to start and
end the story. The
same photo could
suggest different stories
depending on how you
decide to shape your
story.

19. • Ideas could be
brainstormed by the
group.
• Participants can be
encouraged to think of a
memory/incident they
would like to write about
in a particular class.
(Idea journal)

20. "Think small. Don't rummage around in your past
-- or your family's past -- to find episodes that you
think are "important" enough to be worthy of
including in your memoir. Look for small self-
contained incidents that are still vivid in your
memory.
If you still remember them it's because they
contain a universal truth that your readers will
recognize from their own life."
- William Zinsser

21. poetry and word art
• Discuss poems about parenting.
• Create a parenting word/image collage.
• Write a six-word memoir (the brainchild of
Smith Magazine) to describe a particular
parenting experience.
• Use magnetic poetry kits or create word
art using a white board and erasable
markers.

23. • Use a digital camera or a cellphone camera
to create electronic word art.
• Use any other sources of words and letters
you can think of: word beads, Scrabble tiles,
alphabet blocks, flashcards, printed materials.
Poetry podcast on parenthood (see link
below).

24. personal essays
• Encourage parents to write real-life accounts
of what it means to be a parent in your
community. Photography and audio/video
clips can be valuable add-ons. Can your
agency provide "lender" equipment to parents
who don't have access to this equipment
themselves? Could a sponsor provide it to
your agency?

25. • Post these stories in your blog/'zine; or publish a
small-run print publication or 'zine (free or available
for a nominal charge: bulk distribution to selected
outlets works best).
Citizen journalism, also known as "participatory
journalism," is the act of citizens "playing an
active role in the process of collecting, reporting,
analyzing and disseminating news and
information."
– Wikipedia

26. memoir writing
"Write what you know, what you
think and what makes you
unique.
'Think narrow…. Memoir isn’t
the summary of life; it’s a
window into a life, very much
like a photograph in its
selective composition.'
(Zinsser, 136)

27. • Bring in details whenever possible. 'Summon back the men and
women and children who notably crossed your life. What was it
that made them memorable—what turn of mind, what crazy
habits?' (Zinsser, 145)
• Remember that people are hoping you are the most interesting
character in the book.
www.fireandknowledge.org/archives/2007/01/08/a-guide-to-writing-well/

28. blogging
• 37% of bloggers blog to
share life/experiences
with others (The
Guardian, July 23,
2006).
• Blogging is no longer a
"mom thing." Active
community of "daddy
bloggers."

29. • Blogging communities, both free and fee-based
accounts (e.g. blogger.com, typepad.com,
wordpress.com)
• Social networking communities that feature built-in
blogs (e.g. vox.com)
• Tools that integrate with blogs: Flickr.com (photos),
YouTube.com (video) and other related tools. (See
links below.)

30. journaling
• Encourage participants to start a writers' journal:
ideas, images, inspirations, memories.
• Provide an inexpensive notebook as well as access
to low-budget art materials for parents who want to
take a multi-media approach to their writing projects.

31. "A journal is a place to explore. Remember that little
spark of inspiration you had in the shower, or that
tasty concept that popped into your head while
commuting to work? Write it down, quickly. Then go
back later and flesh it out, explore it, savour it and --if
necessary -- spit it out or swallow it. We all have
problems we face that seem hopeless and without
direction, and we need a place to consider our
actions. We all have a million half-baked ideas that
might lead to opportunity, but we need a place to play
with them. Yes, you know the place: take out your
pen and start scribbling."
– D*I*Y Planner: An Introduction to Journal Writing
(6-5-15) www.diyplanner.com/node/878

34. scrapbooking and collage
• Online scrapbooking communities offer free digital
scrapbooking tools (see Scrapo.com, Scrapblog.com)
• Paper scrapbooking can be done inexpensively using
found materials.
Vintage and thrift stores: game pieces, decks of
cards, classic children's books, classic children's
toys, old photos/slides, old buttons, vintage sheet
music, fabric scraps (particularly those with a retro
feel).

38.  Wallpaper stores: wallpaper seconds and ends of
lines
 Fabric stores: fabric ends of lines
 Recycling depot: cardstock and cardboard remnants,
paper, etc.
 Dollar stores, discount stationery/craft supply stores:
school notebooks, notebooks, binder paper, tissue
paper, glue, paint, etc.

39. • Copies of photographs (scanned, photocopied):
classic childhood images, retro, vintage, modern. (Be
conscious of copyright issues.)
• Flickr.com can be a terrific source of royalty-free
images.
• Unicamultimedia.com/p1/stock.html provides links to
other sources of public domain or low-cost royalty-
free images.

41. Other types of writing to talk about
• Letter-writing (including emails and group emails) as
a form of parent-to-parent communication.
• The parenting memoir ("momoir" is the mom memoir)
• Short stories and novels about parenting
• Radio plays, theatre, etc.
Note: The Association for Research in Mothering is an
excellent source of information about
books/resources related to motherhood.

42. additional tools/resources
100 Benefits of Journaling www.appleseeds.org/100_Journaling.htm
Book www.lookatbook.com
fd's flickr toys http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/
Found Elements www.foundelements.com
Image Chef www.imagechef.com
MamaZine www.mamazine.com
NPR: On Memoir, Truth, and 'Writing Well'
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5340618
Poetry Foundation www.poetryfoundation.org
Poetry Foundation.org Poetry Podcast: She's Awake!?!
www.poetryfoundation.org/audio/PoetryFoundation.orgPodcast4.16.07.mp3
Smith http://smithmag.net