Story-Weaver

This might be the perfect time to introduce myself and my craft. I am Katharine E. Wibell and I am a natural story-weaver. Yes. A story-weaver not a storyteller. I believe there is a difference.

A natural storyteller is a person who has the special ability to invent a new tale right on the spot. He or she is the person seated around a bonfire who comes up with the most terrifying ghost story for the spellbound listeners or the parent perched by their child’s bed creating a novel bedtime story. They are craftsmen of oral diction.

I am not a storyteller. I have never been able to create a well-thought-out, verbally intriguing tale just from thin air. Instead, I am a story-weaver. I contemplate my computer screen, my electronic loom, and begin to spin a tale, letter by letter. My fingers, like a fleet shuttle, create worlds and characters line after line using beautiful, colorful words. Each page connects to another and forms the tapestry that is my book.

As I know what images my tapestry will portray before I begin that project, I am able to swiftly thread in section after section. However, the minor details, the specific words will change. A true weaver might make a mistake and need to pull back several of the threads. So do I when I edit and change words, correct spelling, and add in new scenes. Weaving takes time, practice, and skill. The end result cannot be completed in one sitting. But the final outcome is so worthwhile.

The other big difference between the storyteller and the story-weaver is that the former creates in public to an awaiting audience, and the latter creates privately as I do in my own home. Do not get me wrong. The weaver intends for his/her own masterpiece to be viewed and enjoyed by many but only when the story is complete and only when the writer is ready to share it with the world.

I am a story-weaver and I am ready to present my first typed tapestry. Please enjoy!