How I created my own MFA in Storytelling

A “Master of Fine Arts” degree or MFA is a graduate degree designed to deepen a student’s understanding and skills in a specific artistic field, such as creative writing, visual arts, or performing arts. With this degree, most will pursue a career in the creative arts or teaching.

When I decided to become an oral storytelling performance artist, I knew one thing. After 12 years of training to be a doctor, I was not ready to go back to school.

Instead, I essentially created my own program (without the formal degree) equivalent to an MFA in Storytelling (as an oral performance art).

It started in 2014. Something inside of me came alive, and I thought, “I want to be able to do that.”

I’m a Physician-Educator-Storyteller. I started on one path and ended up down another.

As an Internal Medicine Physician in Naples, Florida, I integrate traditional and alternative medicine with a holistic approach. When I left the burnout of hospital work to start my own solo practice in 2007, I started marketing my office with community talks. A friend suggested that I join Toastmasters to improve my public speaking skills, and that is how I discovered the ancient art of oral storytelling that has become a part of everything that I do.

Storytelling is the art of connection—creating empathy and understanding, transmitting wisdom, bringing communities together. As a healing force in the world, storytelling is powerful medicine. I dedicated myself to this art and began the journey to become a master storyteller, simply because it brought me joy.

Rather than return to school, I created my own informal program to learn this performance art that combines public speaking, creative writing, and acting.

You learn art by DOING art.

I found a group of friends to meet monthly to work on crafting stories. With this supportive community, we produced showcase events to perform our stories regularly. This gave us a goal and a deadline. We struggled to find stories that we love, craft them, and practice them. We began to build our repertoire of stories.

As a live performance art, oral stories do not live on the page. Spoken stories must be performed. With each telling, the teller learns more about how others respond to the story. As performance artists, storytellers often perform their stories over and over again with “friendly” audiences before taking them to a main stage. Each time learning about the story, each time improving the story. By crafting stories, playing with different genres, having fun with stories, getting feedback, I began to learn the essential structure of what makes a good story.

You learn art by STUDYING art.

In addition to crafting and performing stories regularly, I began to attend festivals, conferences, coaching sessions, and workshops with Master Storytellers. I listened to stories, absorbed the art of story, unpacked the “magic” of story, and immersed myself in all things to do with story. I joined the Florida Storytelling Association where I am a past President and current Festival Director.

You learn art by TEACHING art.

I brought events to Florida Gulf Coast University which led to teaching “Storytelling as Healing” as a professor of “Spoken Stories Creating Community.” In a world of disconnection, my courses have an experiential workshop format to teach students how to connect by telling stories.

You create art because you LOVE art.

After nearly a decade of practice and study, I still find joy telling folk tales, personal stories, and historical stories on stage, in the classroom, and even with patients. When I share the art that I love, something inside me comes alive.

If you read my blog or listen to my podcast, you will discover the theme:

Follow your passion.
It will take you beyond your dreams…
and into a new story.

Find my storytelling bio at drJoelStoryteller.com