{"id":16740,"date":"2019-11-13T06:00:58","date_gmt":"2019-11-13T11:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lisatener.local\/?p=16740"},"modified":"2024-09-30T08:56:33","modified_gmt":"2024-09-30T12:56:33","slug":"how-to-tell-a-story-mitch-albom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/2019\/11\/how-to-tell-a-story-mitch-albom\/","title":{"rendered":"Choosing How to Tell a Story: A Conversation with Mitch Albom"},"content":{"rendered":"

[bctt tweet=”Mitch Albom on How to Tell a Story #FindingChika” username=”LisaTener”]<\/h2>\n

\"FindingWhen it comes to telling a story, whether fiction or memoir, Mitch Albom is one of the most effective writers I know of. If you’ve ever read anything by him, you’ll know why it thrilled me to interview Mitch for Jewish Rhode Island. Mitch’s books have such heart and soul.<\/p>\n

Mitch’s new memoir\u00a0Finding Chika<\/em> is one of those rare books that you finish and know that you will be carrying the characters\u2014in this case real people\u2014around in your heart for life.<\/p>\n

I had so many questions for Mitch about his new memoir, Finding Chika: an Earthquake and the Making of a Family<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0 that it wouldn’t all fit in one blog post! So, here on my site you’ll learn about the writing process of the author of the bestselling memoir of all time (Tuesdays with Morrie<\/em><\/a>), an author who\u2019s sold over 40 million books worldwide to date! Mitch shared details about his process for how to tell a story, discovering the starting place, finding the voice for a particular book, and the thinking behind his writing decisions.<\/p>\n

You’ll find the rest of my interview\u2014about Chika\u2019s influence on Mitch’s life, the role of faith in his journey and how to “revel in the funny business” in the midst of life’s biggest challenges\u2014at the Jewish Rhode Island website.<\/p>\n

“Tell Me My Story.”<\/h2>\n
\""Tell
“Tell Me My Story”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lisa Tener:<\/strong>\u00a0 Chika asks you to, \u201cTell me my story.\u201d And then you start talking to her like a child and she interrupts to ask you not to speak to her like a child. What happened in that moment when your voice shifted?<\/p>\n

Mitch Albom<\/strong>: I figured, she\u2019s really in heaven now, as I believe she is. Language isn\u2019t a barrier anymore and I also wanted to be able to tell the reader the story and not the way you might tell a six or seven year old. It made sense to shift: If you really can understand everything I\u2019m saying, I\u2019ll speak like a grownup.<\/p>\n

On Finding the Voice<\/h2>\n

Lisa Tener:<\/strong>\u00a0 And how did it develop to tell a story in three distinct voices, to Chika, to the reader in the reading present, and to the reader but going back in time?<\/p>\n

Mitch Albom<\/strong>: I felt that there are three parts to making a family member \u2013 you, me and us, us being what happens when you and me come together. I thought, as I shift between perspectives, I would call it you, me or us.<\/p>\n

Lisa Tener:<\/strong>\u00a0 It\u2019s hard to pull off three distinct voices or points of view, from the same narrator. Yet it seems seamless in your hands. Did that take a lot of work to place things or figure out which of the three voices it was in?<\/p>\n

\"Have
Have Faith Haiti School<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mitch Albom<\/strong>:\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t difficult. I could shift around to perspective. When I though it worked better addressing her in second person, I would do it that way. When it felt more historical, I\u2019d tell it in the first person.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a rhythm thing\u2014the rhythm of the book, the rhythm of conversation.<\/p>\n

Lisa Tener:<\/strong>\u00a0 So, telling the story this way was intuitive, organic.<\/p>\n

Mitch Albom<\/strong>:\u00a0 Exactly.<\/p>\n

“How Do I Tell This Story?”<\/h2>\n
\"Have
Have Faith Haiti Orphanage<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lisa Tener:<\/strong>\u00a0 Chika helped you slow down and see the miraculous in the ordinary. How did that impact you as a writer?<\/p>\n

Mitch Albom<\/strong>:\u00a0 Well, at this stage in my career, I sort of know how I want to tell a story and the different ways I have at my disposal to tell a story. It\u2019s more about, \u201cWhich method am I going to choose for this particular story?\u201d<\/p>\n

So it was , \u201cHow do I tell this story? What tone I want to take. Do I want to use flashbacks?\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve written about a lot of themes of this book in my other books, like Tuesdays with Morrie<\/em>\u2013 life and even death. But writing about a child, how a child talks, how a child looks, how to describe her, impressions, how to get across to readers how she sounded\u2026it\u2019s easier to play a video.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to write about cuteness. Hard to write about how a child sings without just hearing it. I had to work on my writing skills about how to get a child across to a reader.<\/p>\n

“I Had to Get Personal About My Own Story.”<\/h2>\n

\"FindingLisa Tener:<\/strong>\u00a0 It seems Chika is the heroine of this story; yet she is also a muse. Would you say you have an experience of a muse when you write each book?<\/p>\n

Mitch Albom<\/strong>:\u00a0 No. This was a very distinct book\u2014a conversation between sort of a father and his daughter. Though we were not father and daughter, it\u2019s the closest thing I can relate it to.<\/p>\n

I had to get personal about my own story. The way a father speaks to his daughter is different from how he speaks to a business associate or a friend over dinner.<\/p>\n

This was a unique voice I had to settle into, and then let the world in on our conversation.<\/p>\n

Lisa Tener:<\/strong>\u00a0 Chika directs you to write the book to her\u2014to tell her story to her. Did that make it easier or harder to write? Is that how you started or is that something that developed later?<\/p>\n

Mitch Albom<\/strong>:\u00a0 No I foolishly dove right into it. As I wrote in the book, I made myself physically sick towards the end. I thought I was having a stroke at times but I felt so anxious about getting the story right, it was causing panic attacks.<\/p>\n

[bctt tweet=”Meet Mitch (and Chika’s Indomitable Spirit) #FindingChika” username=”LisaTener”]<\/h2>\n
\"Tuesdays
Tuesdays with Morrie sold over 14 Million Books Making it the bestselling memoir of all time.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lisa Tener:<\/strong>\u00a0 Readers, after reading Finding Chika<\/em>, I think you\u2019ll agree that Mitch got the story JUST RIGHT.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve loved many of Mitch\u2019s books\u2014Tuesdays with Morrie<\/em> and The 5 People You Meet in Heaven<\/em> are two of my favorite books. Finding Chika<\/em> tops the list!<\/p>\n

Read the rest of the interview at Jewish Rhode Island <\/a>for Mitch’s deep sharing about what he learned from Chika and the other children at Have Faith Haiti orphanage, the role of humility in accepting our limitations, coming to terms with the adversity children sometimes face, and the ways his experiences with Chika and the other children have informed his faith and opened his heart.<\/p>\n

Join Mitch Albom on November 21 at Temple Beth-El, Providence, an event hosted by Reading with Robin\u2019s<\/a> Robin Kall Homonoff. General admission tickets are $40 per person and include a book; VIP tickets ($100) include noshes, meeting the author, and a copy of Finding Chika<\/em>.<\/p>\n

All proceeds from the event, as well as all of the author\u2019s proceeds from sales of Finding Chika,<\/em> go to the Have Faith Haiti Orphanage<\/a> in Port-au-Prince. So, buying a few extra copies as gifts makes it the ultimate gift that keeps giving!<\/p>\n

Buy Tickets Here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

About Mitch Albom<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Mitch Albom<\/a> is a bestselling author, screenwriter, playwright and nationally syndicated columnist. The author of five consecutive #1\u00a0New York Times<\/em>\u00a0bestsellers, his books have collectively sold more than forty million copies in forty-two languages worldwide.\u00a0Tuesdays With Morrie<\/a>, which spent four straight years atop the\u00a0New York Times<\/em>\u00a0list, is now the bestselling memoir of all time. Four of Albom\u2019s books, including\u00a0Morrie, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, For One More Day,<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Have a Little Faith<\/em>, have been made into highly acclaimed TV movies for ABC. Oprah Winfrey produced\u00a0Tuesdays With Morrie<\/em>, which claimed four Emmy awards including a best actor nod for Jack Lemmon in the lead role. Albom has founded six charities in and around Detroit, including the first-ever twenty-four-hour medical clinic for homeless children in America, and also operates an orphanage in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. Albom lives with his wife, Janine, in metropolitan Detroit.
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[bctt tweet=”Mitch Albom on How to Tell a Story #FindingChika” username=”LisaTener”] When it comes to telling a story, whether fiction or memoir, Mitch Albom is one of the most effective writers I know of. If you’ve ever read anything by him, you’ll know why it thrilled me to interview Mitch for Jewish Rhode Island. Mitch’s…  Read more<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16744,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[41,1,22,24,42],"tags":[2155,2163,2156,2039,2164,2118],"class_list":{"0":"post-16740","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-inspiration","8":"category-more","9":"category-write-a-memoir","10":"category-writing","11":"category-writing-secrets","12":"tag-finding-chika","13":"tag-how-to-tell-a-story","14":"tag-mitch-albom","15":"tag-tell-a-story","16":"tag-tell-me-a-story","17":"tag-voice","18":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16740"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16740\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":278846,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16740\/revisions\/278846"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}