Hello there,

I’d like to share something core to the work we do—our Campfire Storytelling Principles. These principles (including ideas like “meaning matters,” “speak like you speak,” and “center change or choice”) shape how we teach storytelling, guiding our Fellows, students, and coaching clients to craft meaningful, impactful stories that resonate with their audiences.

You’ll see elements of these principles in Jessica (October 9) and Marissa’s (November 13) Campfire, and they’re the foundation for everything we do. However, we could use your help! There may be too many principles as it stands. Some could be streamlined, combined, or even reconsidered as not quite fitting the definition of a “principle.” Maybe we’re missing something! We are human, after all.

We know you care deeply about storytelling, just like we do, which is why we’d love your perspective. As someone who’s already invested in these ideas, could you take a moment to look through the principles and share where you think we could do better? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Until next time,
Steven

Stand Out Stories

This month’s stories feature the season question
Thanks to your votes, the October and November Campfires will be answering the season question, “What Does the Body Know?” As you ponder what this question means to you, we’re sharing a handful of stories that may offer ways to think about it through other folk’s lenses.

Fiction
Mickey7 by Edward Ashton
Black Swan
Futurama, “I Second That Emotion”
Memento
Minority Report
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Senseless

Nonfiction
Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan
The Midnight Disease: The Drive to Write, Writer’s Block, and the Creative Brain by Alice Weaver Flaherty
My Age of Anxiety: Fear, Hope, Dread, and the Search for Peace of Mind by Scott Stossel
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel Van Der Kolk