My Village Story Of The Legends (The Perfect Art Of Storytelling)

By FRIENDY OKEKE

           “Field Marshall jumps up in the air, beats his bare chest and challenges Kamalu, the god of war! He ridicules the mystic voice of Chief Ibn Ukpabi and goes to battle with rookies. Ogbuisi Nke Mbu, possessor of thirteen human skulls, leads a determined Nkana Red Devils against Aro Okigbo in the bloodiest showdown in history.

            Neither  Amadioha nor Kamalu  can rescue this Kingdom. Moon and Sun stand still to witness the mayhem! Shall Aro Okigbo rise again?

 

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Friendy
• Release date: Mar 31, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524285548

FRIENDY OKEKE

 I loved the sight, feel and smell of books more than toys and candy when I was a child. I enjoyed sitting down with other children in groups to hear folk tales. My immediate elder sister’s group turned me away twice on two counts. The girls said that I asked too many questions at the same time. They were correct. They also said that I had no right to question why there were no modern stories beside those tales by moonlight. I disagreed with them on this one.  The night they let me in again, I told them two stories of mine. They loved them and asked for a repeat. I did although I ended each one a little different from the first tell! It was this act of mine that earned me permanent expulsion from their superior group. I departed without remorse at all as I announced to them,                  “These are my own stories, original stories anyway. I reserve the right to end them anyhow I like.”          “We also reserve the right to send you away any time and any how we like. It is not our fault!” They replied. I have spent a greater part of my life in music as a songwriter, singer and guitarist. Nature and football have remained my favourite hobbies. I am in the Blues’ Army: Chelsea FC Fan Club!  And you?

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

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Where do stories come from? Some say,

......they come from the story tellers.

Others say,

We don’t know. It is a mystery.

Let’s get this straight. Stories don’t come from the story teller. They come through him. He is a wonderful vessel, a passage through which stories come. Creation is a big broadcasting station with uncountable channels of expression. The story teller is one of these channels.

The human mind is both a receiver and a transmitter. The understanding of this truth helps the story teller a great deal. When the universe broadcasts a story and we receive it, the great job starts. At this point we cannot tell the story. All we should do is watch, make notes and let the sequence flow. Our senses must be alert. Our sight must see clearly the descriptions as they unfold. We must identify colours, sizes, shapes, heights and movement. The ear must step forward to hear clearly. We will have to hear and understand the sound that is made, what sound that is made and from what sources. It is necessary to consider the duration of the sound and ask ourselves,

What is the impact of this sound to me, to the environment and to the character (s)? Is this audio smoothening or repelling?

It becomes very important to monitor the nose. What smell do we perceive at such moment? What do we see and hear? Can we taste anything? Can we feel anything? We will do well to relate these effects to our characters, too. Truth is we are observers, yes, insiders! The best thing to do now is to be deeply involved in this unfolding script. No distraction! We don’t have to treat these personalities like inanimate objects. We must not only record what they say, how they say them, when they say them and to whom they say them. We have to be intimate with them. Think about inviting our heroine or hero to tea or coffee or lunch to unwind. Once we are together, there should be no reason to rush. This is the opportunity to pop our questions! We may do the same thing with all the other characters.

Creative imagination thrives when we give it room enough to breathe. When it shows up, we must play the role of the court room recorder who records court proceedings. The atmosphere in such engagement suggests we must be very attentive to details. After we have assembled all your characters, we will have to address them as a unit and encourage them to play their roles well. There is no need to struggle to create actions. All we have to do is watch them unfold and record our observation. Our account may be blurred or clear according to the level of development of our own creative imagination. Hear this: Our whole job at this recording stage is to imagine the actions we have been called to witness. It is very difficult to be more faithful in our chronicles beyond the level of development of our power of imagination. I could say this all day long.

There is no need to wonder how or from where this power of imagination will come. We have it already as long as we are not insane. That’s what our mind was given to us for. And like the garden at the  front yard or back yard produces desired crops (when kept) or weeds (when abandoned).The mind produces what we allow it to produce. Creative imagination needs a development program to let it become strong and elastic in form. The best way to train it is to start with the critical observation of the things around. We must ask questions of what we don’t know. It is a very good idea to look at the butter fly, for instance, and to spend time to admire its colours, the way it wings its own flight and the size of the legs, head, proboscis and all. 

It is amazing to know that many people are not conscious of the Sky unless there is Plane crash or any other kind of air disaster. A close look at the sky early in the morning, afternoon, evening and night with careful observation of the cloud formations, is a profitable exercise. We have to consider our environment for all it holds. When you hear a sound, listen to it attentively, hearing and listening are not the same thing. To hear is to perceive with the ear, but to listen is to observe and analyze what you hear. Is that clear? I welcome your response if you think otherwise, please.

When you meet somebody, observe the dress and manner of speech, facial expressions and walk system. As you do these you feed your creative imagination. We cannot describe actions vividly beyond the power of our own creative imagination.

More exercises: you can set aside about 15 minutes a day to look, observe and think. Find a quiet place at your chosen time and do this. Imagine the picture of a big, orange colour sun at the horizon at the beach in the evening! 

Close your eyes. Take a deep breath, count 1 – 10 and excel. Repeat about 3 times. Make sure your mind is cleared of wandering thought. Let the present thought, whatever good picture or memorable event you are imagining at the moment, fill your heart. Be here! Feel the reality. Hmmmmm......I feel the reality right now, honestly.

As we keep growing in these exercises, we will be able to do them even at noisy environments. The benefits are worth the effort. In fact, we will be able to achieve high level of concentration whenever we need it. The ability to focus on our Storytelling will increase. Above all else, we will become good watchers of events. We can only report what we have watched after all!

AZUNNA

As a teenager many years ago, tangled full time in teen partying as those