Storylab
StoryLab
Find It. Craft It. Tell It.
The Stanford Storytelling Project hosts a weekly StoryLab on Fridays from 1-4 PM for students and Stanford community members who want to learn more about the craft of telling stories. Our mission is to help you tell the stories you want to share, be they fiction,or non fiction.
Every StoryLab begins with a short discussion about a great piece of oral or audio storytelling. Together we’ll discuss its craft and steal what we like. Then, from 2 to 4PM, our staff is available for one-on-one mentoring, to help you discover, develop and perform your story.
No matter your story’s format or medium, our experienced staff of writers, documentary filmmakers, radio producers and performers is game to help you figure out how to plan, develop and script it. We can help you master the skills you need, from plot and character development to interviewing and digital editing, to getting published and performing live.
Drop in or make an appointment by emailing us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Come get your story on!
Upcoming Schedule
| Date | Lab Piece | Craft Element |
| April 5 | Liane Hansen’s interview with Cartoonist Alison Bechtel on NPR | Autobiography: Whose Story is It? |
| April 12 | Andrew Todhunter’s “The Precipitous World of Dan Osman" in The Atlantic | Interviewing: In the Field |
| April 19 | State of the Human's Associate Producers on Script Writing | Scripting: Shaping Interviews |
| April 26 | Charlie Mintz's “Listening" on State of the Human | Scripting: Line Editing |
| May 3 | The Narrator's Persona: how James Baldwin's “Native Son” and Sarah Vowel's “Shooting Dad” can help you think of yourself as a character in the stories you tell. With Jones Lecturer in Fiction Dana Kletter. | Scripting: Your Narrative Persona |
| May 10 | Comedic Storytelling: what Louis C.K., Bill Cosby and Spalding Gray can teach you about timing and voice. With CTL Lecturer Tom Freeland. | Performing: Voice and Timing |
| May 17 | Engaging interviewing: learn how to bring engagement and empathy to interviewing in light of Wim Wender's Wings of Desire and the poetry of Richard Hugo. With fiction writer and PWR lecturer John Lee. | Interviewing: Listening |
| May 24 | No group Workshop! One-on-One sessions start at 1PM and StoryLab will end at 3PM. | NO GROUP WORKSHOP |
| May 31 | Get your stories heard! Find out who to pitch your stories to and how to create the perfect pitch. Rachel Hamburg will share examples from Third Coast’s session on The Art of Editorial Persuasion. | Pitching: Get your stories out! |
| June 7 | How to fix the problem interview in editing. Natacha Ruck shares her editing “cheat sheet.” | Editing: Tricks of the Trade |
Previous Labs
StoryLab Winter 2013
| Date | Lab Piece | Craft Element |
| Jan 11 | Andrew Todhunter’s Bahamas Caves | Researching: Digging Deep |
| Jan 18 | State of the Human’s Save XOX | Framing: Where is the Story |
| Jan 25 | Josie Lehrer’s The Men’s Story Project | Scripting: From Life Events to Story |
| Feb 1 | NPR Fresh Air’s David Rakoff’s half empty worldview is full of wit | Interviewing: How to Get the Story |
| Feb 8 | Lessons from Screenwriting and RadioLab’s Stochasticity | Scripting: Lessons from Screenwriting |
| Feb 15 | A guided tour of The Free Music Archive | Editing: Finding and Using Music |
| Feb 22 | Hindenburg Tutorial | Editing: Tricks of the Trade |
| March 1 | State of the Human's Lie to Me | Performing: Sounding Natural |
StoryLab Fall 2012
| Date | Lab Piece | Craft Element |
| Sep 28 | Meet and Greet | |
| Oct 5 | Charlie Mintz, Work in progress | Framing: What's a Story |
| Oct 12 | Oct 12 Robert Smith, “Harlem Says Its Farewell to James Brown” & Gregory Warner, “The Battle over Billing Codes” | Interviewing: Inside the Interviewer's Mind |
| Oct 19 | State of the Re:Union, “The Bronx, NY: Still Rising from the Ashes” | Interviewing: How to Get Stories |
| Oct 26 | Snap Judgment versus This American Life | Scripting: a Tale of Two Styles |
| Nov 2 | Hilary Spreiter’s selections from the Oral Communication program’s repertoire | Scripting: Writing for the Ear |
| Nov 9 | Hindenburg, the editing software made for storytellers. | Digital Editing: Tutorial |
| Nov 16 | State of the Human, “Where Sam Went” | Digital Editing: Finding, Choosing and Using Music |
| Nov 23 | Happy Thanksgiving! | |
| Nov 30 | Xandra Clark on using your voice | Performing: Voice Control |
| Dec 7 | Charlie Mintz, "Squatting With a Cause” | Publishing: Sending Your Story Out to the World |
StoryLab Spring 2012
| Date | Lab Piece | Craft Element |
| Apr 6 | Ira Glass, Prologue and Selections of "Telephone" | Framing: The Shapes of Stories |
| Apr 13 | Charlie Mintz, Work in progress | Interviewing: How to Pop the Questions? |
| Apr 20 | Natacha Ruck, Work in progress | Scripting: Plot, Scene and Paper |
| Apr 27 | Joan Didion, "The Year of Magical Thinking" | Scripting: The Magic of Sentences |
| May 11 | David Whyte | Poetry and Storytelling |
| May 18 | Xandra Clark, Work in progress | Editing: Sounding Voices |
| May 25 | Rachel Hamburg, Work in progress | Editing: The Sound of Music |
| Jun 1 | Youth Radio | Editing: Creating Soundscapes |
The Storytelling Project is supported by the Stanford Institute for Creativity and the Arts, the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, Stanford Introductory Studies, Stanford Continuing Studies, and the Program in Writing and Rhetoric.