Limits, Time Limits

Story slams impose a pretty strict limit on the length of stories told.

[Theme for this A-Z April Daily Blogging Challenge: “Story Slams & Traditional Storytelling – Bridging the Distance”]

Five minutes seems to be typical (as does an additional grace period of a half-minute or a minute). But the time allowed for the story is definitely limited…(unlike the limitless Colorado sky, which I had to choose for this posting’s image as a counterpoint to the topic!)

That first time I was planning to put my name “in the hat” – that afternoon at home I went over and over the story I wanted to tell, trying to make it come in under 5 minutes (this was before I knew that there actually would be up to a full additional minute of grace available!)…and I always came in about 5:04, 5:10, 5:03…well, I decided it was close enough!

The real trick was that I needed to really shave and sharpen the word-choice and pace in a couple places…to make sure I had the time for the silence and slow pacing I know that a couple spots in the story absolutely need. I was not going to let the short time limit rob me of an effective telling, and the emotion and imagery of a couple spots in the story simply require slow, image-filled pacing!

So I practiced. And made it work! [You can read about my experience at that first slam in the post “I Wuz Robbed! – A Story.”]

Time limits are not limited to story slams.

It’s common, whether at festivals or stand-alone storytelling concerts – for there to be multiple storytellers sharing a stage and a “show,” and the time needs to be divided equitably between the tellers. There are few things more frustrating (irritating…angering…) and rude than going over your time limit when sharing the stage and concert time with others.

But it’s generally very difficult to know exactly how long a given story will be in performance, because stories are elastic things.

Each telling-with-an-audience brings a myriad of variables that can influence (change!) a story’s length…

• interruptions from audience or surroundings (cell phone ringing, child crying, train going by, what-have-you),
• audience response evokes a different pacing in your telling, or added details come to mind,
• you get inspired to extemporize new character dialogue,
• your involvement with the story’s imagery guides you to elongate silences…

All of these things are real and possible and can impact the length of time it takes to tell a given story in a given performance.

And yet…part of the storyteller’s responsibility…

…(and, hopefully, skill) is to be not only aware also of the real-time audience and context (don’t get yourself completely lost in the story’s imagery!), but also the whole array of requirement at a given event….like sticking to a time limit.

I’m tempted to write about “professionalism” – and this is definitely an aspect of that – but this is an important issue also for amateurs/volunteers/hobbyists. Along the whole spectrum of storytelling/storytellers, it’s simply both a courtesy and a responsible requirement that one adheres to one’s time limit.

If there’s any doubt a story will fit into the allotted time, the best course may be to choose a different good story to tell.

As for good stories to tell? – Sky’s the limit!

Thanks for reading – Pam