Featured Book: The ABCs of Storytelling: Reflections of a Story Coach, by Dr. Michael Williams
I had the great pleasure of taking a Guided Autobiography certification course with Dr. Michael Williams as a fellow student. He has subsequently published a truly wonderful, slim volume on the craft of being a professional storyteller. I loved this book! As a workshop instructor myself now and an author of fiction, I highly recommend it. However we choose to tell stories, this book will enhance our understanding of the craft, and enlighten us in the ways of communication through words and actions. I’ve added it to my must-read list for longtime, beginner, and aspiring writers, as well as those magical beings we call storytellers.
About The ABCs of Storytelling
The ABCs of Storytelling contains 26 reflections on the art of oral storytelling from Story Coach Michael Williams. Dr. Williams learned the traditional art of oral storytelling during his 30 years of living in Scotland where he was a member of the Scottish Storytelling Directory and a popular performer and workshop facilitator. In 2005, he exchanged his teaching career for a life as an itinerant storyteller and story coach, working with adults and young people. His reflections have been gathered from his experiences as both a performer and coach working with individuals, community groups, and corporate clients. His book offers the beginner and experienced storyteller a range of tips, techniques, and reflections on this traditional art. Dr. Williams’ reflections capture the spirit of telling stories “eye to eye, mind to mind, and heart to heart.”
About Dr. Michael Williams
I’d wanted to be a writer since the age of 13 when my grandmother gave me a journal to record my observations during a car journey to the Rocky Mountains. However, my plans were thwarted by my father, who wanted me to get a job in the local steelworks. Instead, I ventured off to work underground in a mine. Ironically, it was there, 3600 feet below the surface, that my shift boss (a man of my father’s generation) took me aside and told me I had too much imagination to be working in a mine. He urged me to return to the surface and “become a writer or a journalist.” That would be the beginning of a long, meandering journey across land and sea, working as a counsellor, a musician, a teacher, and a storyteller. When COVID arrived in 2019, my travels came to an end, and I began writing stories based on my life’s adventures. One of those projects involved writing about my reflections on my years working as a story coach, helping others find and share their stories. In 2024, I finally published the “ABCs of Storytelling: Reflections of a Story Coach” on Amazon. While I hope it’s not my last book, it marks a major milestone in my writing career, for it reminds me that I have had to have lived a life of stories before I could start writing about them. The book is filled with tips, techniques, and reflections to help the beginner as well as the more experienced storyteller. It’s also my story and the fulfilment of a lifelong dream to become a published writer. At the age of 72, it feels like life is just beginning.