Episode 15 features Agent Palmer and a short story titled “The Passing of a Storyteller” and the journey that that story took to become a story and then a narration and then a video.
Agent Palmer also mentions some of his favorite content creators like Loading Ready Run and Day[9].
Mentioned and Helpful Links from This Episode
The Passing of a Storyteller (The Video)
The Passing of a Storyteller (The Text)
The Story of the Story of The Passing of a Storyteller (Basis for the Episode)
You can also hear more Palmer in the meantime on Our Liner Notes, a musical conversation podcast with host Chris Maier and as mentioned on this show as co-host of The Podcast Digest with Dan Lizette.
Music created and provided by Henno Heitur of Monkey Tongue Productions.
–End Show Notes Transmission–
–Begin Transcript–
00:00:00:01 – 00:00:28:57
Agent Palmer
Previously on Agent Palmer dot com, 33. Various artists with 33 vastly different covers of Toto’s Africa. A spoiler free review of book two from The Voyage of the Shannara Trilogy by Terry Brooks, titled And tracks, and both Henno and I hope you’ve started working on what really makes you happy. This is The Palmer Files episode 15 with me. Yes, this is a solo episode, but it’s about storytelling and process, which have become two recurring motifs I happen to enjoy.
00:00:28:57 – 00:00:56:55
Agent Palmer
So let’s do the show.
00:00:57:00 – 00:01:17:05
Agent Palmer
Hello, and welcome to The Palmer Files. I’m your host, Jason Stershic, also known as Agent Palmer. And on this 15th episode is me. Yeah, this is a solo episode. Not because of a lack of guests, but because I always wanted this show to be flexible. And it was just a matter of time before I put out my first solo episode.
00:01:17:10 – 00:01:39:19
Agent Palmer
So what are you in for? It’s really simple. First you will hear Dan Lisette, host of the Podcast Digest and my third guest on this podcast, narrate a story I wrote, and then you will hear me explain the process and the story of that narrative and the video that came from it. It’s a fun little story that was a prompt that helped me complete a challenge.
00:01:39:24 – 00:02:03:12
Agent Palmer
I’m a writer of more than just blogs. I just don’t stretch my words all that often. So here’s your opportunity to hear what else I can write. Also, and I’ll talk about this more on the other side of the episode. I want to let you all know that if you want to support Agent Palmer or Agent palmer.com, or this podcast, The Palmer Files that you are listening to right now, then I do have a Patreon.
00:02:03:12 – 00:02:26:04
Agent Palmer
You can subscribe to for as little as $1 a month or as much as you like. There are no levels at this point, just a $1 monthly minimum at Patreon.com slash Agent Palmer. But enough shilling, enough delay. Let’s get to Dan and the rest of me already. So if you want to discuss the episode as you listen or afterwards, you can tweet me at Agent Palmer.
00:02:26:06 – 00:02:52:36
Agent Palmer
You can tweet the show at the Palmer Files. And don’t forget, you can see all of my writings and rantings on Agent palmer.com. And remember all of these links and those mentioned in the show will be available in the show notes. So without further ado, take it away. Dan and me.
00:02:52:41 – 00:03:22:45
Narrator (Dan Lizette)
The passing of a storyteller. Written by Agent Palmer, narrated by Dan Lizette. It was bittersweet work, but unlike other procrastination, this had an accompanying emptiness. Death was something that was a part of life. Just like up was a part of down and light of dark. But the cleaning of granddad’s estate was not nearly the same as it was two months ago, when it was just reorganizing the old man’s stuff under his direct supervision.
00:03:22:50 – 00:03:46:46
Narrator (Dan Lizette)
The silence this time was deafening. But of course, when granddad was around, silence rarely followed. Trying to fill the room with music had failed because nothing seemed to fit in the space where stories once flowed. So working in silence, the old man’s voice seemed to fill the room with every creak and groan from the old wood, the house channeling its former occupants, saying there’s a story to it all.
00:03:46:57 – 00:04:12:46
Narrator (Dan Lizette)
Don’t you want to hear it? From bottle caps to records, family photo albums to jewelry boxes and old time magazines to random newspapers kept from days with seemingly no historical value, the question begged to be answered when the old man was alive. All of these things were just launchpads for explorations into his history, though all or most of it was undoubtedly true or partially true.
00:04:12:51 – 00:04:33:11
Narrator (Dan Lizette)
Everyone was confused between what the old man had actually seen in the flesh and what he was merely retelling. He always told his stories with the passion of a teacher attempting to enlighten students, or those street prophets and old Rome before the fall. Once they had your attention. They feared not just the end of the story, but the loss of their audience.
00:04:33:16 – 00:05:13:10
Narrator (Dan Lizette)
For great profits, though, the end of one story was merely the beginning of another. There were yarns of the great wars, all of them lost family, pets and mythical creatures, though, which perplexed all who hear the tales stories of boozing, crooning and travel. Oh, those were the hardest to decipher the fact from the fiction. The stuff in this attic was proof that granddad was an extremely well-traveled man, but he had truly been around the world 18 times, had one soul, traveled to 74 different countries, 103 if you were counting by the name of the location and not just the location, as time changes, all things sacred.
00:05:13:14 – 00:05:39:01
Narrator (Dan Lizette)
Nearly every shred of evidence was a concrete artifact verifying some tale. A ticket stub from some opera in Italy, the receipt for a seemingly ostentatious lunch in Peru, a menu stolen from somewhere in the Orient. But for each singular truthful relic found up here, there were 20 or 30 dozen more stories that could never be proven. The proof, however, was never the most important part.
00:05:39:06 – 00:06:07:21
Narrator (Dan Lizette)
The stories themselves are what matters most. They are the treasures. Those are the bits that the great storytellers hold more precious than anything else. But like grandad, the great storytellers were disappearing. And what would the world be like if there were no more storytellers? Sure, there are movie makers, musicians and authors, but the kinds of storytellers that could captivate an audience live and in person with just their words were one of a kind.
00:06:07:25 – 00:06:40:09
Narrator (Dan Lizette)
No matter how many times they practice their deliveries. What did granddad say? The movies were good, the books were nice, and the music was moving. But none of the best of anything could compare to a tale in the talents of an experienced storyteller. He’d gone on to say that he was only mediocre at best, though he still enjoyed the compliments from any audience he had, whether it was captive, like when his kids left his grandkids with him, or with an impromptu audience comprised of random strangers at the diner where he frequented for bacon and eggs.
00:06:40:09 – 00:07:06:43
Narrator (Dan Lizette)
Despite his doctors telling him that both were not good for him. But why now? Amid the physical clutter of an old, unfinished attic with its bare wood and rough edges, did the thoughts come? Why now, alone and thinking aloud to oneself through the decadent silence, did the true treasure emerge only to be gone? Why now? Why? Because the things that matter most aren’t always what you think they are.
00:07:06:48 – 00:07:32:19
Narrator (Dan Lizette)
Just like one of the old man’s stories where even if you thought you knew where it was going, bam! He would whisk you off in a completely different direction. Yet they were all still highly believable. It was a natural gift. It had to be. Or perhaps it was genetic and something to be looking forward to. Maybe it was a learned thing, something that only could be mastered through practice, like woodworking or blacksmithing.
00:07:32:23 – 00:07:54:09
Narrator (Dan Lizette)
It seemed more of a skill than anything else, really, in the way a master could wield it. Bending a story with its own truths, the way heated steel could be worked into a sword just the same. A properly wielded story could pierce your skin or your convictions. The attic was still full of boxes, some repacked recently and others undisturbed for decades.
00:07:54:14 – 00:08:19:52
Narrator (Dan Lizette)
Granddad had been in this house for 65 years. After all, if these walls could talk. They would have just as many stories as the great author who had lived here all that time while they couldn’t actually talk. The walls could surely hint in these. One just needed to look at the framed photos that protected the wallpaper, the plaster from a hole put there by two roughhousing grandchildren, and the many marks of a lived in house.
00:08:19:57 – 00:08:41:47
Narrator (Dan Lizette)
No, this wasn’t a museum. It was a house that had truly been lived in. Every room had been used as something more. The bedrooms had been offices, studies or libraries at one point or another. The living room in the den had been flip flop so often that none in the family could remember, which was originally where even the dining room had once or twice been made into a bedroom.
00:08:41:52 – 00:09:04:24
Narrator (Dan Lizette)
Though that’s a story only a few members of the family had heard, and the rest had been promised. But those promises were now gone, and so were the attached stories. It seemed such a waste that they would never be unwound again, returned to the places from where they came. Or would they once passed on? Could a well-worn tale truly be on woven?
00:09:04:29 – 00:09:25:52
Narrator (Dan Lizette)
Do words and memories ever come apart? Or do they remain whole, hoping to be remembered through another bout of silence? In the end, it matters not because there are very few who weep for the stories left untold. The songs not sung are rarely missed, and the masters who wound them in the first place, or gone so long that no one remembers their names.
00:09:25:57 – 00:09:47:46
Narrator (Dan Lizette)
So it is here in this attic, surrounded by trinkets and dust that protect the true treasures under heavy layers of remorse or regret, only to be forever missed. Memories, like so many attics, are filled with dust. Do not lament the passing of the storyteller any less than the passing of the story. Tell their tales with a rhythm of your own.
00:09:47:46 – 00:10:19:15
Narrator (Dan Lizette)
To engage and entice. Above all, listen. Listen to the monologues from the masters that remain. Listen. Catch all of the stories that you can. Carry them and spread them like a Johnny Appleseed of anecdotes. Stories are the stuff of inspiration and lessons of love and loss. And of all that makes us who we are.
00:10:19:19 – 00:10:41:58
Agent Palmer
So this is the story of the story you just heard. The journey from challenge to blank page to false starts to the written word. From audio to back burner to more false starts to video. This is the process by which I wrote my first complete piece of fiction in ages, and what I did with it after I finished the final draft.
00:10:42:02 – 00:11:04:23
Agent Palmer
This is the story behind the passing of a storyteller. Back when I was producing the now defunct Chronicles Unwritten podcast, a show in which host Diamond Dave was writing and audience participation. Choose your own adventure story. He issued what he called the one, two, three, four challenge to a few of us. So I gladly took up the task.
00:11:04:27 – 00:11:28:39
Agent Palmer
For those who don’t know, the one two, three, four challenge is a simple writing exercise to create a short story with exactly 1234 words. Fast forward to an unassuming workday, where I took a notepad with me to lunch at a diner near where I worked and sat about coming up with the short story. After a few false starts, I called my sometimes editor and always best friend, Chris Hughes for assistance.
00:11:28:44 – 00:11:48:13
Agent Palmer
As always, he gave me a number of writing prompts to choose from, but it wasn’t until he said something about cleaning out an attic. That one idea finally struck a chord with me. Lunch came in the form of my usual order at that particular diner a Western omelet, French fries, and coffee, and it was consumed in between paragraphs of the story that just came out of me.
00:11:48:18 – 00:12:09:59
Agent Palmer
Now, I’ve been lucky before in getting an entire short story out onto the page in one sitting, but this time I wasn’t done just because the story had ended. This time, I had to wait until it was typed up to determine what my word count was. So back to work I went, and when the day was done, I went home and typed the handwritten story into a Google doc.
00:12:10:04 – 00:12:39:54
Agent Palmer
Editing along the way, as I transformed the story from my handwritten scribble onto the digital page. When I was finished, I was very close to the mark. I’m not sure how close, but I do remember that I didn’t have to add or subtract much to get to the finish line of exactly 1234 words. With that accomplished, I sent it back to Chris for editing, while at the same time reminding him that if he removed or added a word in the edit, it would have to be balanced somewhere else.
00:12:39:58 – 00:13:21:51
Agent Palmer
His edits were minimal, masterful, and when it was all said and done, I was proud of the accomplishment. But that’s not the end of the story of this story. It is just the beginning. Since the idea from Diamond Day was that these stories would be recorded and used in a special episode of the Chronicles Unwritten podcast, I sent the completed story off to the podcast digests, Dan Lewis set for him to narrate the story and bring it to life, and thus, with the completed challenge of the story and the recording finished, I waited.
00:13:21:56 – 00:13:49:56
Agent Palmer
No one else completed the challenge. Which isn’t to say that those who were challenged couldn’t still do it, but I was the cheese standing alone. And then Diamond Dave went on hiatus, and Chronicles Unwritten, along with his other shows, disappeared and were no more. So now I had this story in written and audio form, sitting on the digital shelves of my Google Drive, just waiting for release.
00:13:50:01 – 00:14:14:03
Agent Palmer
Then I had an idea. I approached Paula Allen, a good friend and host of the Tell Me Stories podcast, about perhaps airing the narration on her show. Since my story was about a storyteller. I sent her the copy and the accompanying audio, and she not only gave me some of the best written praise I’ve had in a while, but she also agreed to do the episode so the old story had new life.
00:14:14:08 – 00:14:35:06
Agent Palmer
A recording was scheduled, and at the appointed time, I connected with Paula via Skype. But there were technical difficulties, so we just hung out on Skype, catching up but not recording. And after a few more failed attempts in which we still enjoyed our conversations, the idea of getting it out on her show melted away like ice in a spring thaw.
00:14:35:11 – 00:15:01:48
Agent Palmer
At this point, the story was still unpublished, unposted, and only the purview of a select few. It was then some months later, that, while talking to Bill Sweeney of the Wicked Theory podcast, the idea of creating a video to Dan’s narration started to matriculate, and as such, it went onto my future projects list. That is where it sat for a while, until I finally started to get ready to work on it in earnest.
00:15:01:53 – 00:15:26:53
Agent Palmer
First up was the image selection. Why? Because I wasn’t going to shoot a video with actors. I was going to make a video with images. I didn’t write the story to be a video, but I diligently looked at free stock image sites for photos that would fit. I found a few here and there until I landed upon unsplash.com and made the decision to exclusively use images from that site alone.
00:15:26:58 – 00:15:51:24
Agent Palmer
And with that decision made. I began to storyboard the video with the images I had started to select with 20 or so images selected and storyboarded. I decided the next step was to start putting the video together. Now, I am not by trade a creator of videos, so there was a learning curve. But once I got the hang of it, I put together the images I had and then sat back to watch what I had created.
00:15:51:29 – 00:16:17:43
Agent Palmer
And it was not good. The images were on the screen for too long and there wasn’t always a connection, so I went through it a minute at a time, day by day, adding images to make the video more compelling, all the while cursing myself for the imagery I had chose to describe in the text. Knowing full well that I had not intended it to become a video in the slightest as I wrote it that day many months ago in the diner.
00:16:17:48 – 00:16:45:01
Agent Palmer
But as the days turned to weeks, I eventually ended up with a fairly solid rough draft reenter. Chris, who during a visit helped me with the final placement of the images and then before he left, added some motion and transitions to a few of them. Well, you can’t just do that for a few of them. So I set about adding some fluidity to the video and added in motion to many, but not all of the selected images.
00:16:45:06 – 00:17:09:19
Agent Palmer
With that completed, I turned to my friend Dan Evans of the Deconstructing Dad podcast, who professionally edits video for his thoughts on the rough draft. I had just created. Still, with questions about my recurring image and the fact that many of my transitions were just jump cuts and not transitions at all. Dan complimented me because he’s a really nice guy, but said that I needed to make it more alive.
00:17:09:24 – 00:17:32:56
Agent Palmer
I said that there was movement on every image. He said it wasn’t enough movement. Then we discussed some transition options and back to work. I went. Once I had given even more life to the still images, the almost final draft was sent back to Bill. Because why not? Bill had valid notes. And so back to tinkering. I went because it wasn’t all bad.
00:17:33:01 – 00:17:53:37
Agent Palmer
It just needed some tweaks here and there. I continued tinkering, learning a few new tricks along the way. Then I exported what I thought would be the final draft and watched it. The back half of the video was great. A few more tweaks, but really good. But it appears I didn’t go back to apply all that I had learned to the beginning.
00:17:53:42 – 00:18:21:02
Agent Palmer
So the beginning was far less polished than the end. Back to work again. But now I had balanced the quality and added credits. This time I exported it and found that I only had a few tweaks left. And while you can accuse me of being a perfectionist, I like to think of it as quality control. So there were two more drafts before I shared the final product with my fellow producers, Bill and Chris.
00:18:21:07 – 00:18:50:12
Agent Palmer
Both approved the video, but now all that was left was a title screen of some kind because as great as Dan is as a narrator, just setting it up and getting into it, I felt it required a visual. After a little more tinkering, it was time the title graphic was added and I looked it over. Then, in full resolution, I had the others look it over and finally uploaded the full resolution version of it to YouTube unlisted, so that only those who helped me produce it could take a look for final approval.
00:18:50:17 – 00:19:08:38
Agent Palmer
With the blessing of all the producers and those involved. I sat down and wrote a blog post which became the basis for the script of the episode you are listening to right now. Because sometimes people like to know about the process. You can now watch the completed video and if you wish, you can also read the text itself separately.
00:19:08:43 – 00:19:34:39
Agent Palmer
I really hope you enjoy the final version in either its text or video form, as it’s something that I’m very proud of. Inspiration can happen with the smallest of suggestions. Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise. And be sure to listen to the storytellers in your life, young or old. There’s always a story to be told or heard.
00:19:34:44 – 00:19:40:19
Agent Palmer
You.
00:19:40:23 – 00:19:59:25
Agent Palmer
Well, there you have it. The first episode of The Palmer Files without a guest is in the books. Let this one go down in history as well. The first solo episode. It’s really not that big of a deal. Or at least it shouldn’t be. I always kept the concept for the show as loose as possible, because I wanted it to mimic Agent Palmer.
00:19:59:36 – 00:20:22:52
Agent Palmer
Com as a blog, in that there was no limit to what I can write and post on my blog. And while you may be thinking it is your blog, you can do what you want. I like to think that my audience is smart enough to know when something is off. Sure, it’s mine and I can post anything I like, but I’ve tried to make it so that anything I do post seems normal.
00:20:22:57 – 00:20:44:18
Agent Palmer
As such, keeping this podcast as open as possible meant that I would have to do a solo episode at some point. As Tristan said of my doing a podcast in the first place, it was inevitable. And as it turns out, I did one of the things that people suggested I do as a podcast in the first place. I made an audio version of a blog post.
00:20:44:23 – 00:21:07:27
Agent Palmer
I wrote this piece of fiction because it was in me, and I wrote the process of how it came about, because I thought it made for an interesting story. Process is not in itself enough of a hook, but a good story as the fiction I wrote ends. Now that is worth sharing. I’m happy with where this episode ended up, and I’m curious what the takeaway will be for you listeners out there.
00:21:07:27 – 00:21:37:37
Agent Palmer
But as I have said before, and I’ll say it again here, if I’m happy with it, then that’s the bare minimum of happiness that is required. So with that in mind, I did drop an announcement during the short introduction to this episode about having launched a Patreon at Patreon.com slash. Agent Palmer. In truth, it was launched a while ago, and right now I have a few supporters, but I haven’t been very open in promoting it because I wasn’t sure what to do with it.
00:21:37:42 – 00:21:59:04
Agent Palmer
It’s not meant to be a secret, and now I’m looking at it as just a way for you, the listener, to give back in a financial way if you wish to. But the reason I bring this up is because it’s bigger than me, and support is more than money. Many of you who are listening support my blog on a weekly basis by reading it and sharing it.
00:21:59:09 – 00:22:23:29
Agent Palmer
You also take the time to listen to this show every two weeks, and you share that as well. The consumption of media and your willingness to share it shows your support as much as any dollar amount does. And it goes well beyond just me. I don’t always have the money to support a Patreon for my favorite content creators, or subscribe to every streamer who I find enjoyable on Twitch.
00:22:23:29 – 00:22:53:06
Agent Palmer
So beyond what is financially possible, I find ways to share and consume their content. I also provide feedback where I can. And for those of you who have listened to the podcast that I have also listened to, especially on an independent level, you know, I’ve provided plenty of feedback over the years as well because it all counts. If you have the money to give, content creators are thrilled with the idea that you want to financially help support the content that makes you happy.
00:22:53:06 – 00:23:22:58
Agent Palmer
But money alone isn’t the only way to support the content creators you love. Get the word out. Share share share. You know where and you know how. It’s what you’ve done for friends. It’s what you can do for your favorite content creators to. One of the other things that you can do is provide feedback. For years, content creators have been told by marketers to end blog posts, podcast episodes, and even tweets and Facebook posts with questions to get the conversation going.
00:23:23:02 – 00:23:45:12
Agent Palmer
Well, even if that isn’t the way you see your favorite content creators come across, reply to that tweet, send them an email, whatever the way to converse, and let them know what you think of their content. Having been a creator and a fan, I’ve been on both sides of this from all aspects, whether it’s financial, consuming, sharing, and or even the feedback.
00:23:45:17 – 00:24:08:16
Agent Palmer
And let me tell you, from the content creators perspective, there is nothing better than feedback. I know it may sound corny, and we all very much appreciate your dollars, but feedback is the most precious of all things that readers, listeners, and viewers can give to content creators. And if you don’t want to take my word for it, reach out to your favorite creators to make their day, and you will have made their day.
00:24:08:18 – 00:24:30:43
Agent Palmer
It’s how this works. So in the interest of sharing a little more with you, I’d like to share with you some of my favorite creators. The crew from Victoria, British Columbia in Canada of Loading. Ready run is a favorite of mine on YouTube, but you could see their empire of content on loading ready run.com. I would especially recommend Road Quest and the panelists.
00:24:30:48 – 00:24:53:27
Agent Palmer
There’s D9 aka Sean Plott himself@d9.tv, not only for his streams on Twitch, but because as a host, he’s made some of the larger Magic The Gathering events fund, and his hosting of a Geek and Sundry show is directly more related to my partner playing magic than anything I could have ever done. Thirdly, all of the podcast you see me tweet about on a weekly basis.
00:24:53:42 – 00:25:16:33
Agent Palmer
There are too many to name, and I’d feel bad if I forgot one or even if anybody looked into the order I listed them in. So if you’re listening to this show, you know who and what they are. Probably. So who are your favorite content creators and what are you doing to support them? Additionally, if you are doing anything at all, may I ask why not?
00:25:16:38 – 00:25:40:11
Agent Palmer
They’re giving you something. They’re giving you peace of mind. They’re giving you escape. They’re giving you happiness. They’re giving you something. What are you doing for them? Think about it. And thanks for listening to The Palmer Files episode 15. As a reminder, all links are available in the show notes. And now for the official business. The Palmer Files releases every two weeks on Tuesdays.
00:25:40:23 – 00:25:58:39
Agent Palmer
If you’re still listening, I encourage you to join the discussion. You can tweet the podcast at The Palmer Files and myself at Agent Palmer. Don’t forget, you can see all of my writings on Agent palmer.com. The show email is the Palmer files at gmail.com. If you want to share with me what you’re consuming, who your favorite creators are.
00:25:58:44 – 00:26:18:30
Agent Palmer
If you have any feedback on a previous episode, or if there’s a topic or guest you’d like me to consider. You can also hear more of me in the meantime on our liner notes, a musical conversation podcast with host Chris Maier and my other gig as co-host of the podcast digest with Dan Lizette.
00:26:18:34 – 00:26:32:04
Unknown
You?
00:26:32:09 – 00:26:44:52
Unknown
Need.
00:26:44:57 – 00:26:56:49
Unknown
Me.
00:26:56:54 – 00:27:10:16
Agent Palmer
So how do you think that went? I think it went pretty well. Your first solo episode. Really? You have a problem with it? Yeah. Dan did all the heavy lifting. That’s fair.
–End Transcript–
This transcription was processed by PalmerTech 3.1 and may contain errors for HUMINT (human intelligence).