Teithiau Storiau / Story Journeys

Mentoring   *   Workshops   *   Performance   *    Education   *  Devising   *   Theatre   *   Storytelling

Teithiau Storiau / Story Journeys (TSSJ) is a Writing & Drama Company established in 2015.  It was co-founded by Tyler and his partner Naomi Doyle and includes numerous other artistic collaborators.  The ethos of TSSJ is simple and straightforward: we are passionate about story, and believe narratives are central to being human.  They allow us to make sense of the world and our place in it, and we crave them at every stage of our lives.  TSSJ aims to share story, both on the page and on the stage, with readers and audiences of all ages.  It's that simple.

The company is flexible and versatile in the range of projects it develops.   We are always looking for ways to actively involve the reader, audience, and community in the process.  We are particularly interested in artistic endeavours that combine or explore literature and drama, writing and performance, the written and spoken word.  Our activities include writing workshops, one-to-one mentoring schemes, interactive theatre and storytelling, school visits, education outreach, community theatre, and much more.  We are based in Wales and do work in both Welsh and English.  More complex projects have included a workshop series with young carers, helping them to devise a collaborative performance piece, as well as organizing literary events for charity. 

If you have an idea for a project, or would like to work with the TSSJ team, please feel free to get in touch at storyjourneys@outlook.com.  You'll find information on past and future work below.

TSSJ Activities past, present, and future:

Author talk at West Vancouver Secondary School

April 20th, 2017

As part of a research trip to North America, Tyler had the privilege of doing a guest talk at West Vancouver Secondary School, with students from grades 10-12.  This represented something of a homecoming for Tyler, who grew up on the North Shore.  Excitingly, his debut coming-of-age novel, Fireball, is now being taught as part of the English 12 curriculum at West Van.  The novel is set largely on the North Shore, and has had particular resonance and impact there: the students in attendance were perceptive, engaged, and had some astute observations to make about the text.  Full credit is due to the students for that, as well as their teacher and event host, Matthew Muselius. 

Screenwriting Workshops With Young Writers Squad

September 10 & 24th 2016

After running a session with the Young Writers Squad at the Dylan Thomas Centre earlier in 2016, Tyler was delighted to be invited back to continue looking at screenwriting techniques with the talented and dedicated students.  These sessions followed on from the work started previously, and focused in particular on creating character, generating conflict and drama within a scene, and developing storylines through the use of overarching or 'supra objectives'.  The lesson plan featured an eclectic mix of case studies, including Stand By Me, The Hunger Games, and even Mr. Bean.  The students tackled all the writing tasks with energy and enthusiasm, and the resulting scripts were both impressive and entertaining.  The Squad is an ongoing initiative overseen by Jo Furber and her brilliant team.

Two Events At Abergavenny Writing Festival

April 21-23 2016

For the inaugural Abergavenny Writing Festival, started by Lucie Parkin in 2016, the TS/SJ team contributed two lively events.  The first was a writing workshop for adults, led by Tyler, which focused on where writers get their ideas from, and tricks to begin developing a piece of fiction.  The second was Naomi's drama and writing workshop for young people aged 7-11, in which the children were encouraged to 'make their own monsters' through devising and drama games, which they then transferred to the page in the form of prose and poetry.  The festival was a massive success, and Lucie's aim is to make it an annual event on the Abergavenny calendar.

Workshop With Young Writers Squad at DTC

January 30th, 2016

Jo Furber, literature officer at the Dylan Thomas Centre has been organizing and hosting a series of Young Writers Squad workshops at the centre, and Tyler was fortunate enough to be invited down in January to work with a very talented group of young people.  The focus of the session was plotting and structure in stories and films, with a particular emphasis on writing dialogue and developing scenes.  The group - a mix of newcomers and returners, aged 12-16 - worked diligently alone and in teams to create some really impressive work, and their analysis of characterization in Toy Story was something to behold.  The success of the workshop led to a set of follow-up sessions later in the year (see above).

Non-fiction workshop With ysgol Bro Pedr

January 20th, 2016

In this session, Tyler worked with 17 A-level and AS-level students from Ysgol Bro Pedr, in Lampeter.  The classes were studying English Language with Gwawr Ladd, and their semester 2 assessment is based on non-fiction prose.  The workshop helped students develop their creative non-fiction skills in three key areas: beginnings and 'hooks'; using detailed description; and plot and structure.  Discussion ranged from Christopher Nolan's film Memento, to John Krakauer's Into Thin Air (recently adapted into the film, Everest).  The students were engaged, thoughtful, and undertook all the challenging exercises with creativity and enthusiasm.  We're looking forward to further collaborations with the school in the future.

Monmouth Literary Festival talk with Monmouth Comprehensive School

June 22nd, 2015

The Monmouth Literary Festival is a unique event in that it is partially planned and organized by the secondary school students in the area: from Monmouth School, HMSG, and Monmouth Comprehesive.  Tyler took part in an event with poet Anna Lewis for students from Monmouth Comprehensive; the pair read from their work and discussed the influences and inspirations behind their writing, as well as fielded questions from the students.