Zesty Story Telling

"You don't have to go," I kept telling myself.  You can shop, cook, finish office work... Summer picked up the phone. 

"I'm calling to tell you I can't attend but looking at my To Do list, I'm realizing I can push everything to tomorrow."

"I'm glad you'll be there, Mama.  Jenni is great.  You'll learn a lot. 

I inflated the tires of my red, white, and blue Fuji aloha and figured the pine needles and dirt would soon be blown off.  Wearing my warm  Uggs boots,  I biked up my cul de sac which sparkled with frost. I headed west, happy the sun was still in the south, and quickly reached the 520 bridge over Lake Washington.  As I neared the University of Washington, I saw hordes of black ducks all swimming north.  At the University, I joined bikers and pedestrians, some toting suitcases,  enjoying safe passage above the traffic on wide boulevards connecting the Burke Gilman Trail with Husky stadium and a light rail station.  The Burke Gilman trail carried me securely along the north end of Lake Washington showcasing Seattle's skyline and boats moored on top of more  boats.   Shortly after Gasworks Park, I recognized The Riveter, the cowork space where Summer wishes she still worked. 

A business like woman in a hurry joined me in the staircase:  Summer!  (Her Dad, also in a hurry, almost walked right past me last night when I headed to meet his bus stop- they have similarities! ).

Summer and I were both early to a workshop led by Jenni Gritters, a reporter who's worked for the NY Times and  publications I've never heard of like Upworthy and Experience.  Jenni works at the Riveter enjoying floor to ceiling windows overlooking Lake Washington and the Skyline and an unlimited supply of free chocolate morsels.  She aimed to help us with Click Bait type writing as well as long form.  Emotion, surprise, visuals, good headlines, and knowing your audience were discussed.

Jenni warned against writing about TOPICS.  You have to pick a story frame:  like moving a camera view over  your topic to frame a section that will attract attention.  This should be narrow. Like if I blog about my struggle to slow climate change, I could choose a list (7 reasons I won't quit) or one story that inspires my work, or a trends piece- 4 years ago if the words "climate change" spilled from the mouth of  R, they were yanked out of office.  Today 45 Republicans sit on the Bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus. Brainstorm possible ideas .TOPICS are boring.  Must have characters (I'd love to know the story of George, the Alaskan fisherman, who represents Alaska at every Citizens Climate Lobby conference- in person or on the phone). Conflict is needed! CCL's  Fee and Dividend Bill was supposed to be introduced in March 2018.  It was not, then June was anticipated. After that, October.  Finally on Nov 27th it was introduced.  Yes-that sounds super boring. But you can be sure, major conflicts went on  to cause near introductions and then pulling the introduction.  Powerful forces oppose climate action. Moneyed, Manipulative, and Evil forces.  It is against these that the bill sputtered and delayed but finally was born. And history might reveal the sordid stories behind the delays in bill introduction .

Visuals are a must. Original photos or drawings, or maybe an infographic.

Find element of surprise. "It's a street fight for human attention."  You want to illicit a response:
Charge companies for mining coal, drilling for natural gas, or importing oil and then give all the proceeds to American families?  I need to tell my friends about that idea! It's smart!

Or 100,000 CCL volunteers lobby their legislators persistently and respectfully and they've accomplished WHAT? This gives me hope for humanity! 

OMG, I had no idea that 3 R's and 3 D's recently worked together to introduce the most powerful bill against climate change ever introduced in the USA just last week?!   Possibly the strongest anti climate change bill ever.

"Or civilization will be destroyed by business as usual" might make someone say "ugh that sucks...I want to do something about it. "

Another good response is "This is my life"  but I've just never vocalized it . To get this response, you have to be very very specific. Like Adam Smith wrote one or two pages all describing the characteristics of a prudent person.  "That's my husband! " I found myself yelling.  I had never been able to describe his personality with such accurate detail!

Jenni said to notice how you feel when you're writing?  ( I feel rushed because I have a telephone conference in 6 minutes about getting the word out to the media about our bill) .

Make your story SKIMMABLE by having bold sentences at each section that can tell a story in their own right for all the folks that won't read every word. You have about a minute. 

Ask yourself:  would I share this story? 

Brainstorm headlines.  "The United States could lead the world's climate change effort in 2019- no kidding"

Anyway, as you can see I have a long way to go to follow Jenni's advice .
But I bused to a meeting at Overlake where I won a wreath hand made by Debi Jefferson, an old friend,  and I'm safely home.
I'm too tired to see if the dirt and pine needles blew off my bike but my new wreath is hanging on our front door.