Bernajean Porter's book arrived this week.
I've followed Bernajean's stories and website for years, used her materials in my workshops and she has been one of my digital storytelling gurus but had never bought her book which was published in 2004. Am I ever glad I did. The magic of Bernajean's website translates to the written words in her book. It is not surprising as she began her career as a writer.
In a recent Commun-it.org discussion with my Will Richardson PLN we were discussing teaching differently, even without computers. The discussion occured just as I was reading the introduction to Bernajean's book. Here's the quote:
On page 3 Bernajean writes: "Anyone crafting or leading a storytelling experience will need to focus their thinking on developing a story first rather than technology. No amount of technology will fix a poorly written or flat, impersonal story. When the digital storytelling is finished, you want your story to be remembered for its soul, not the bells and whistles."
All too often we may lean towards the bells and whistles but we know it is the story that drives the piece. Now I'm wondering why I waited 5 years to buy this book.
