Story Gardeners are the people who tend, cultivate and support stories and storytellers in the Smile Eonomy. Where Flower Planters move money and seeds into the soil, Story Gardeners help everything that grows there to take shape. They are the mentors, editors, camera holders, animators, designers and encouragers who make it easier for others to speak and be heard.
In traditional publishing, many of these roles were wrapped inside commercial houses. In peer and community supported publishing, they are opened up and shared. Anyone who helps another person to tell their story more clearly, more safely or more beautifully can step into the role of Story Gardener.
- Tending The Ground and Tending Authors - Cultivating Stories - Story Craft - Gardeners & Publishers - Living Guides
# Become a Story Gardener
The role of Story Gardener is not a fixed title. It is an attitude and a behaviour. If you: - offer to hold the camera so someone else can stay in the scene - sit with a class and help them choose which story to send to an elder - proofread a Living Guide so that others can follow it more easily - encourage a nervous storyteller to keep going when they stumble Then you are already gardening stories.
The Smile Eonomy simply gives this role a name, so it can be noticed, valued and invited. Flower Planters may get the bush started with their gifts of money. Story Gardeners keep it alive with their gifts of time, craft and care, helping Living Stories and Living Guides bloom into the shared landscape.