The form before the story circle

Text A: an original contemporary practice extract.

Until this year, the storytelling circle began with a table of blank cards and the uneasy question of who would speak first. The new digital form asked me to choose a theme and say whether I wanted to tell a story or listen. I selected “a place I remember” and wrote three sentences about a railway footbridge.

As other names appeared under the themes, I could imagine the evening taking shape. That did not make the meeting feel pre-written. Instead, I arrived with something prepared and knew that listening was also a contribution. The form gave me a way into a room where I had previously expected to be tested.

I had worried that choosing an option would make the evening less surprising. It did the opposite for me: a first step made it easier to take a later one. The form has not removed the unexpected parts of the circle. It has given them somewhere to begin.

Text B: an original contemporary practice extract.

I coordinate the storytelling circle, and the form was introduced so that people could tell us what they hoped to do. It has also started sorting the evening before anyone enters the room. Most people select “a place I remember” and “tell”; very few select “listen” or “help someone develop an idea”.

Once an option has a label, it can acquire a reputation. People choose the answer that sounds safest, while an unusual story gets squeezed beneath a neat heading. Listening begins to look like the absence of a contribution, even though the conversation depends on it. The form does not intend to make these judgements, but its boxes invite decisions that the room might have left open.

We are keeping the form, but we have added the question, “What would you like the group to make space for?” We use those replies to shape prompts rather than treating the selections as a programme. A form can open a door for someone new; it becomes restrictive when it decides in advance what participation should look like.

Compare how the writers present their ideas and perspectives about digital sign-up forms for community storytelling circles. Support your comparisons with detailed references to both texts.