Ira Glass on the Art of Story Telling

Ira Glass has a com­fort­able, com­pelling dis­po­si­tion that reminds and instructs in the unique­ness of the spo­ken and writ­ten word. That is to say, WORDS… are like the pieces of a Jig­saw-Puz­zle, a sin­gle piece alone on the board reveals noth­ing. A pile scram­bled on the table has no cohe­sive STORY to tell… But, con­nect a por­tion of the pieces and you begin to see a dis­cernible image. The more pieces you con­nect, the clear­er that image becomes. How­ev­er, it’s only when you’ve con­nect­ed ALL of the pieces, IN ALL THE RIGHT PLACES that you have an IMAGE as it was INTENDED to be. So, when telling your STORY (in con­ver­sa­tion or the print­ed page) keep in mind each WORD you choose ought to con­nect one to the oth­er, with the intent of REVEALING an IMAGE that is com­pelling and wor­thy of your audi­ences time and atten­tion. A Pic­ture on the Wall, the Tongue like a Pen, Frames It In with the Great­est of Details… WORDS PAINT PICTURES… The more WORDS you get on a sub­ject, the clear­er that Image becomes… So remem­ber, every word you say is a stroke of the brush…

A Stroke Of The Brush
Copy­right 1987 Michael Gib­bowr

On the Can­vas Of Life
A pic­ture we see
Though not yet com­plete
It one day will be
Yet a ques­tion I pon­der
Is why all the rush
For Beau­ty depends
On each Stroke Of The Brush

So why all the scur­ry
Why all the haste
It only results
In a Por­trait of Waste
Oh my Appren­tice
If you could just See
A true Work Of Art
Overnight can­not be

For a Mas­ter­piece is more
Than a Mix­ing of Paint
It’s a Labor of Love
Over which you don’t faint
It’s like a free flow­ing riv­er
Like the stars in the night
Alive and Excit­ing
It tells every­thing right

It’s some­thing that has
No words to describe
The Beau­ty and Splen­dor
It holds deep inside
It’s some­thing that has Life
In each Stroke Of The Brush
For the Painter con­tent saw no need to rush
He sim­ply enjoyed each Stroke Of The Brush