I live in New York City and I love to tell stories. That means I've attended lots and lots of readings. I go to book parties and storytelling events the way some people go to bowling night.
But last night I stumbled upon the secret to building the best reading possible.
Mix it up. When your reading contains an endless stream of people reading text off a page, you will lose friends and readers by the end of the first hour. If you include musicians and short films, an audience can stick with you for two hours.
It worked beautifully last night at the MDP/Sensei Bazaar. The reading blended writers, short film and music, and the crowd stayed for two and a half hours. My story was lodged in between the hilarious animation of Michael Overbeck (who's "Tongues and Taxis" scene decorates this post) and the multimedia noise rock of Miami Ice Machine.
The lesson is so simple, you can miss it: Don't just read your book/poem/short story next time, share the reading with different kinds of artists. Your audience will thank you.
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