Upcoming Workshops
Winter 2012
| Date | Workshop Piece | Craft Element |
| Jan 20 | Alex Blumberg, "Small Thoughts in Big Brains" (13m) | Framing: What’s a Good Question |
| Jan 27 | Xandra Clark, "Interview Selections" | Interviewing: How to Get to the Story |
| Feb 3 | Molly Antopol, "Methinks Thou Dost Protest Too Much" (8m) | Scripting: How to Create a Story Arc |
| Feb 10 | Geoff Nunberg, "“'Occupy': Geoff Nunberg's 2011 Word Of The Year" (6m) | Scripting: Writing for the Ear |
| Feb 17 | Rachel Hamburg, "Script and Audio Selections" (8m) | Editing: from Interview, to Script, to Audio Drafts, to the Air |
| Feb 24 | Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich, "A Whale Rescue" (11m) | Editing: Getting the Pacing Right |
| Mar 2 | Charlie Mintz, "Trial and Error" (12m) | Digital Editing: Music and Emotions |
| Mar 9 | Scott Carrier, "The Test" (15m) | Digital Editing: Music and Emotions |
| Mar 16 | Works in Progress From the Studio | TBD |
Fall 2011
| Date | Workshop Piece | Craft Element |
| Oct 21 | Malcolm Gladwell, "Tough News Room" (12m) | Story Arc |
| Oct 28 | John Hodgman, "Invisible Man vs. Hawkman" (13m) | Interviewing |
| Nov. 4 | Alix Spiegel, "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder" (12m) | Incorporating Interviews |
| Nov. 11 | David Sedaris, "Jesus Shaves" (10m) | Scripting: Writing for the Ear |
| Nov. 18 | Sarah Vowell, "Have Your Cave and Eat it Too" (14m) | Scripting: Writing Sonic Scenes |
| Dec. 2 | Jack Hitt, "God Shed His Grace on Thee" (13m) | Digital Editing: Incorporating Music |
| Dec. 9 | Jad Abumrad & Robert Krulwich, "Finding Emilie" (19m) | Digital Editing: Creating Soundscapes and Effects |
Friday Storytelling Studio
The Stanford Storytelling Project hosts a weekly studio for students and anyone in the Stanford community who wants to learn more about the craft of storytelling. Every Friday of the academic year, our experienced staff of writers, documentary filmmakers, radio producers and performers dedicates four hours to helping you investigate elements of storytelling. Our mission is to help you tell the stories you want to share, be they fiction, memoir, interview or research based.
Each week for the first hour we listen to a great short piece of audio storytelling (from This American Life, The Moth, Radio Lab, etc.) and discuss its craft, focusing on one element in particular. For the next two hours a staff of skilled storytellers is on hand to work with you one-on-one on everything from story development and scripting to interviewing others, digital editing and live performance. The studio staff can help you with any kind of story that is performed in some way, live or in recording—fiction, memoir, documentary, oral history, stand-up, or even ballad. And we have snacks. So come relax and let us help you knock your story out of the park.
At left is a schedule of the particular piece and craft element that we'll discuss in the first hour. You can click on each piece to listen to it beforehand, if you like, but we'll listen to it at the start of the Friday Open Studio. Also listed is the particular craft element that we'll focus on each week (though we are happy in one-on-one time to help you with anything you like).
Our appointments system is coming soon, so for now, if you want to make an appointment, you can email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
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.