Storytelling has become a ‘buzz word’ recently – which is another way of saying, hardly anyone knows what it actually means.
But it’s also evidence that it’s a crucial part of life. All life – including yours.
I’m a storyteller in the traditional sense – I tell stories. I also write them, teach them, and every so often sing them. Over nearly two decades of doing so, I’ve discovered three keyrings of truth (so-called because I believe all other truths of story and storytelling hang from them)…
Every story, fact or fiction, starts with a need to be shared.
Giving your attention to an audience is the best way to receive it.
Stories make us more human.
What’s your need?
If you’re curious about learning how history shapes us, or how we can shape history, you’ll find two monthly newsletters following two lives separated by 364 years – but united by a house…
…Pepys House in Brampton, UK – the former family home of the world’s most famous diarist: Samuel Pepys.
(And now the family home of the slightly lesser-renowned diarist: me.)
If you’re curious about storytelling or writing, you’ll find a monthly newsletter with insights on finding your ‘writer’s voice’, crafting enthralling plots, speaking out with confidence, using storytelling for business, and more.
If you’re curious about storytelling as an educator’s superweapon – especially as it relates to inspiring young people to read and write for recreation – well, that just happens to be an area in which I’m a preferred supplier to the UK’s English Hubs (a branch of the Department for Education), so you’ll find a monthly newsletter with innumerable insights there too.
Why subscribe?
You’ll receive all the above for free – or at least, all the ones you want. Here’s when they should arrive (but see below)…
Every first Tuesday: The Monthly Blog of Samuel Pepys
A monthly summary of the famous diarist’s diary. Not just for those who don’t have time for the original, this monthly version reveals big picture themes that often get missed – and highlights their relevance to today…Every second Tuesday: The Pepys Show (aka, ‘The Monthly Blog of Samuel Pepys’ House)
Be a fly on the wall of a heritage building, seeing how its history influences those who live there – and beyond…Every third Tuesday: On Story-Making
My experienced insights into the world of storytelling, writing, and freelance practitioning, for anyone keen to foray successfully into the creative arts themselves…Every fourth Tuesday: Reading/Writing for Pleasure
My experienced insights into the use of storytelling as a teaching tool, especially as they relate to inspiring young people to read and write recreationally – regardless of their prior skill, interest, or background…
Now when I say “Every”, I’m stating an ambition. Being custodial tenant of this amazing House is a job we have the privilege to do, but it’s still a home we have to rent – and sometimes my need to earn will mean some newsletters are delayed.
I would love to guarantee these newsletters, though – and there are a couple of ways you can help with that…
Comment on each post you enjoy, even if it’s just with one word. Doing this will increase the visibility of this website, meaning you’ll be helping others benefit from it also and supporting me at the same time.
Become a paid subscriber. The annual price is the cost of a typical paperback from a bookshop, and may one day enable me to achieve the dream of putting you first when deciding my writing tasks for the week.
Do the paid thing, and get even more…
Audio versions of all my books – including some that aren’t even published yet…
Sneak peeks at my newest projects
Live video meet-ups where you can excavate my brain
The earliest invites to events I’m attending, such as book launches – and my priority focus if you’re ever interested in having my help with an event you’re running…
And if you go all-in as a founding member, I’ll make time to arrange a video call with you as soon as possible, and you’ll automatically receive a signed copy of every new book I publish.
However you subscribe, you have my mahoosive gratitude – by being here, you’re directly supporting me and my work. $:-)
About me
I wrote my first story at the age of 3, before I’d learned how to write. Honestly. It looked like a bunch of wavy lines, but they were punctuated wavy lines – in paragraphs.
Even so, I would’ve been working as a recruitment company’s highest-grossing salesperson for the third year running had I not been rescued from that overpaid work by a university friend interested in starting up her own storytelling business. Within half a decade, Amy Scott Robinson and I were the first ever online to-camera storytellers (way before covid got everyone doing it), and turning struggling writers into recreational writers with our carefully crafted school workshops.
Over a decade beyond that, and the business I built up is now a preferred supplier of children’s books, educator handbooks, and teacher training to English Hub, an offshoot of the UK’s Department for Education. I’ve told stories in 11 countries across four continents, become a regular at Glastonbury Festival’s Kidz Field, entered the Guiness Book of World Records by participating in the longest ever continuous storytelling performance, represented the Roald Dahl Museum for ITV, and much much more.
Despite my childhood dreams of being a thriller writer akin to Robert Ludlam and James Herbert, my first book was Cambridgeshire Folk Tales for Children, commissioned by The History Press in 2016. During the pandemic, when storytelling for live audiences was no longer an earner, I wrote a few short stories illustrated by a new friend I’d made in the publishing world – a marvellous gent called Korky Paul – and our Fables & Fairy Tales series was born.
By then, I had also been asked to developmentally edit and/or coach a few new and existing writers. This led to me becoming an Associate Artist for the National Centre for Writing, through whom I now provide mentoring to burgeoning children’s and/or memoir writers.
Somewhere in the middle of this, my stratospherically amazing wife and our two gorgeous kittens were invited to be the custodial tenants of the Tudor home formerly owned by the world’s most famous diarist (and arguably grandfather of the British and US Navies), Samuel Pepys. How that home/job has impacted my activities is the subject of this very blog…
What others have said about me
“You’re like a poodle: always excitable, but very loyal.” – Voice actor David Ault.
“Children, parents, and teachers all benefited. I wish more institutions will contact Chip to develop their curricula.” – Diego Zaffaroni, Programme Director for ICS Diaz Schools, Milan
“He even sleeps with intensity!” – Martin Smith, author of Olaf the Viking, catching me asleep on one of the overnight stops during a pantomime tour.
“We’ve noticed a big improvement in our children’s confidence from Chip’s intervention, and parents have really got onboard.” – Louise Lightley, Deputy Head of Amble Links Primary
“I need to work out how you do that.” – Matt Killeen, author of the Costa Award-shortlisted Orphan Monster Spy, after seeing me start telling stories in one corner of a deserted school fete, and suddenly having 100 or so children sitting in front of me and participating within a minute later.
“I can’t believe you kept them sitting still for so long!” – at least one Early Years, Primary, and/or Secondary teacher from pretty much every school I’ve ever visited, after I’ve had their class spellbound for an hour.
“Your feet are weird.” – my wife
What others have said about my work
“At last! A fresh, accessible guide to storytelling encouraging young people to read for the joy of it. Should be part of every teacher’s toolkit.” – Ian Whybrow, author of the award-winning Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs, on All the Better to Read You With
“Staff are fighting over who will get to use it next.” – a review on Waterstones.com about ABRYW
“Even the children who usually don’t listen as carefully as some of the others were totally involved in it.” – Sarah King, Year 6 Teacher, on my Fables & Fairy Tales
“Chip is an excellent writer with an obvious depth of historical knowledge as well as being an incredible storyteller. I personally felt like i could hear the words I was reading and will definitely be sharing some of the tales in this book.” – a review on Amazon about Cambridgeshire Folk Tales for Children
“Have been reading this at bedtime to a 9 year old and a 6 year and they are both loving it, and I am too!” – another review on Amazon about CFTC
