TaleWeaver

A game... a puzzle... a million stories...
a new way to think about creativity.

In 1998, about a year before my son was born, I began work on TaleWeaver. I had not written much poetry since I’d left Cornell in 1988. I wanted to give myself a writing task with measurable, discreet parts, so that I could write on a schedule. It was a project that I had originally intended to be private; an exercise to limber the poetic muscles.

Years before, as the Arts & Crafts Director at a suburban Boston day-camp, I had used storytelling as a way to get young kids to draw from their imaginations, rather than trying to match the professional illustrations in children’s books. The entire genesis of TaleWeaver can be found in the intro/instruction file below. In brief, what I wanted to create was a system that helps people understand the basics of creativity. This is, of course, only one tool. There are many others. But if you like to tell stories, either for yourself, other adults or for children, you may enjoy TaleWeaver. If you like poetry, there’s some of that there, too.

About 11 months after I’d begun, TaleWeaver was finished in the form below. Dan had been born on September 3, 1999, and I presented the finished product to my wife, Chris. I hope to begin TaleWeaving with Dan in the near future. At four-and-a-half, though, he is already an accomplished storyteller. He will one day, I am sure, surpass my own attempts.

• Here is the introduction/instructions for TaleWeaver
• Here is the PDF file of the cards that are used in the game/activity
• Here is “The Middle of Katherine’s Tale,” a related short story.

Let me know what you think.

- Andy Havens