One-Eyed Monster

Igor inadvertently helped Perkins understand a principle, which is that when sharing stories, you must be mindful of others’ feelings, and not just get caught up in your own excitement.

Perkins realized that he had suffered a loss in this area. He didn’t expect himself to be so simple-minded and make such foolish mistakes.

If a storyteller focuses only on themselves, then few people would want to listen to their story, because it’s too self-centered and doesn’t resonate.

Imagine if you’re just talking about your own story and performing your own play, moved to tears by yourself, then what kind of situation is that?

Others won’t buy into it at all because you haven’t resonated with them!

These things may seem simple, even kids can understand when you explain it to them, but when you actually try to implement them, you’ll find it’s quite troublesome.

Because while telling a story, you may find yourself involuntarily trapped in your own world, unable to extricate yourself. This phenomenon is really annoying because this feeling can’t be detected when you’re having fun, and at that time, you naively think your audience is also enjoying it with you.

In fact, at that time, others may already think you’re like a fool talking nonsense.

This is like the saying, ’bystanders are clear-headed, while those involved are confused’. Listeners might think the storyteller is crazy, while the storyteller thinks the listeners have limited understanding.

Perkins now finally understands where his issue lies, and he is making an effort to explore, wanting to see what exactly is causing his narrative to deviate from what he intended.

He discovered it was indeed as Igor said: he often talks about this and that, fragmented, without a unified structure, making his story seem abrupt and uninteresting.

Solving this problem is actually quite simple; he slowly organizes his experiences, from start to finish, all details, from primary to secondary, step by step...

This approach not only makes his story more complete, but also makes it coherent, at least enough to attract people!

”Igor, list out all the abrupt points, and I’ll explain them to you one by one.”

”Don’t worry, I will list them out, but you don’t need to explain them one by one. After all, there are many things I don’t understand. You should follow your thought process and tell a complete story; I think this is the most important thing.”

”A complete story, huh.” Perkins mused, and he noted this down in his notebook. He was organizing, wanting to properly arrange his experiences so that when he returns, he can better share what he’s learned with others.

”I think your ability to express is quite charming, it’s just that your stories often miss the mark, which is frustrating. If you could tell a complete story, I think it would be great. Then I would support you in having the Wandering Bards convey your story, singing it on your behalf.” Igor was being honest.

”I’m organizing it, but I still think I have the potential to be a Wandering Bard myself. When I reach the Imperial Capital, I’ll buy a guitar and sing it to you then.”

”Haha, we’ll see, but for now, you should organize your stories completely. We can talk about other things later.” Igor said.

”Hehe, let me tell you, when I get serious, I’m quite impressive. Sometimes, I even find my serious self a bit intimidating.” Perkins said, without a hint of humility on his face.

Igor shrugged, neither hopeful nor sarcastic. He truly wanted to wait and see because he was genuinely interested in Perkins’ adventurous experiences.

Perkins was recalling the things he previously told Igor and them, realizing he talked a lot of fragmented things, making it quite messy. Now, even he can barely remember it all.

Sometimes, he had to rely on Igor’s memory to verify if his own memory was correct.

So, they had quite a few discussions during this period.

Their discussions made Hustace and others uncomfortable. Originally, they thought these two were quirky enough, and now, they could only describe them as more peculiar, running out of words to describe them.

However, the two of them weren’t bothered by this; each communicated in their own way. It seemed that soon, these two would present a stunning picture to everyone.

This picture is undoubtedly Perkins’ experiences, which are enough to form an incredibly beautiful painting.

Although his storytelling process included many disjointed and unstructured pieces, it was undeniable that these fragments were intriguing and could expand one’s knowledge base—provided you break your conventional understanding and immerse yourself in the world he experienced.

This seemed simple, but when you actually encounter it, it’s still quite impactful because breaking one’s preconceived notions is difficult.

For example, Hustace is a great example. At first, he didn’t believe a word of what Perkins said, constantly thinking Perkins was lost in his imaginary world. However, because of an incredible experience at Guru Mountain, he found it easier to accept seemingly impossible events. Otherwise, with his past experiences, he would never have agreed with what Perkins said.

Perkins had been exploring the continent for over a decade, and he wasn’t alone. His candid communication earned him many friends. Just like now, he’s already considered Igor a good friend.

With the help of friends, he wants to organize his experiences of exploring the world.

Seemingly trivial things appear insignificant, but when you truly start organizing, you realize there are so many scattered details.

Perkins wrote down those issues extensively in another sheepskin notebook, all done with Igor’s assistance. Though it still looked a bit messy, in Perkins’ memory, these things are valuable because he knows the sequence of these fragmented pieces.

”See, I think organizing them this way makes them much clearer, and then you can really think about how to tell these stories.” Igor said, looking at the content written on the sheepskin roll.

”Mm-hmm, you’re right. We often overcomplicate things, but actually, tackling them one by one can be quite interesting.”