Visual Storytelling for Business
Melon-Collie
A few years back, I was prepping a column for the New Farm Village News (now Village Voice Brisbane) and sought feedback from an architect who worked for me at that time. Our working relationship was highly collaborative. She said, ‘Paul, your stories are fabulous, but the writing is shite. ( Susan Ellison is Irish). It was sad but true, so I accepted her offer to be my editor, and my pieces improved significantly. The editing she did for me reflected the way we worked together doing architecture and it has been one of my most successful collaborations to date. (the subject for a future essay).
About ten years earlier, my good friend and another collaborator, the product designer Jason Bird, founder of Luxxbox, was commissioning a book about Queensland Design called Hightide. While I had dabbled in product and furniture, I didn't have a folio that warranted inclusion in the book. However, Jason did reach out and asked me to write an essay on my take on Queensland Design.
I politely declined, explaining that I couldn't write. Since repeating grade two because I couldn't read, I have struggled with English writing in school, at University, and in my work. I truly believed I could not write.
Jason explained that he had a great editor and asked me to at least speak with her first.
I called his editor, and she listened with great empathy. She suggested that I just sit and write—not worry about spelling, grammar, or punctuation, for that matter. I should get my thoughts down and send them to her, and then we can see where to go after that.
As soon as I got off the call, I sat and wrote for about 45 minutes and emailed what I had written. Like pulling off the bandaid, it was now or never.
A few days later, I got a call from Jason.
Mate, read your article.
There was silence from my end. I felt ill, a combination of embarrassment and anger. WTF, he wasn't meant to see that. Oh, he was calling to tell me that I was right and that he was withdrawing the offer.
Love it, perfect, he says.
The story was duly edited and published, and I am forever grateful to Jason for including me and for creating an easy path and just a little push.
Over the last ten years, I have learnt a lot about writing, not just about crafting a story but also about when, where, and what tools and collaborators work best for me.
Before I accidentally discovered that I could write, I still loved words but limited myself to using words as titles for paintings, such as a watercolour copy of a painting I did of a friend's dog, Max, about 20 years ago called MelonCollie.
These days, I combine my visual and written skills in a more balanced way to create what I call visual storytelling for business.
In the masterclasses I teach, I meet so many people who tell me that they believe they can't draw, paint, or write. I get it, and I have also learnt from bitter experience how limiting our beliefs can be and how sometimes we need just a little push to discover whole new worlds.
I am considering running a couple of short webinars: one on Visual Storytelling for Business and the other on Getting Past Limiting Beliefs. Please let me know if you're interested and need a little push, HERE: https://olderbraverbetter.com/home-7073
(if you are interested, you can see the original oil version of Melon-Collie here https://paulfairweather5.wixsite.com/website-3/fruit-veg-lollies )
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