START HERE: All About The Story Letter

I'm so glad you're here! Let me tell you what this is all about.

What’s this all about?

This newsletter is always evolving!

It’s always going to be the home for great storytelling, but The Story Letter grows and changes as I do. I really love experiments within constraints (which is like all storytelling, kind of).

(I used to think that made me indecisive, but I’m rebranding.)

These days, The Story Letter is my love letter to stories of all kinds.

Every month or so, I’ll share:

• a quick story of my own

• a favorite storytelling technique or some research I think you’d be into

• something new I’ve learned/am learning (story related or not)

• a great story I’ve watched/read/listened to.

All this is, of course, through the lens of being a huge STORYTELLING NERD, which I am.

If you subscribe, you’ll also be the first to find out about my quick-to-sell-out storytelling workshops and coaching spots, plus live performances and special events.

Is The Story Letter for you?

Probably! If you love stories & storytelling, and/or you want to feel better about your own stories, this is the substack for you. You’ll get great examples of stories, new ideas to try, and a community of people who also think about their lives/work/art through a storytelling lens.

Why am I writing this newsletter?

I’ve been performing and teaching personal (Moth-style) storytelling for 15 years now. I’m the former, founding Director of Education for The Moth, and I have my PhD in Education focused on storytelling and narrative identity. I’ve been on The Moth, This American Life, Risk! and a bunch of other places.

So this stuff has been my life for the last decade and a half, and The Story Letter is where I can share my LOVE for storytelling - the really great stories and my theories on why those stories work.

But beyond my work in personal storytelling, I’ve been immersed in stories forever - and you might relate:

• I wrote stories instead of my spelling sentences in third grade. Then, when I taught third grade, I made my spelling quizzes into serial dramas.

• I was one of those very earnest post-structuralist-literary-criticism-devotee undergraduates in the 1990s. (If you were there you know exactly what I’m talking about. I quoted Roland Barthes a lot. Insufferable or charming? You decide.)

• I’m a huge genre fiction reader - mostly romance, some mystery, never horror please (but if you want to tell me the whole plot of a horror movie I would love that). Story structure within predictable constraints is one of my favorite puzzles in the world, and it has a ton to teach us about putting together great stories.

• My audio memoir came out on Audible in 2025 and my full length memoir is coming in 2027 from HarperOne. (more on that soon!)

Basically, I’ve been taking apart stories and putting them back together since I can remember. Maybe you have too! I think we should do it together. :)

Here’s what people have said about my writing/storytelling/teaching.

About my workshops & teaching:

Micaela Blei is an exceptionally skilled teacher, organized, substantive, caring, including, warm and fuzzy. The instruction and my experience were absolutely tops. Can’t praise Micaela enough.

My experience with Micaela was transformational in 2 ways. First, it gave me the skills and confidence to get on the Moth stage for the first time. Second, and more importantly, her deep insights really helped me understand myself just a little better.

Our storytellers came into the workshop nervous and insecure and left empowered, confident, and—most of all—excited to tell their stories. This was from ONE HOUR with Micaela. She’s magic!

About You Will Not Recognize Your Life, my audio memoir:

I was riveted from the get go. What a wonderful story teller. Raw honesty and pee inducing laughter! Love it! I could listen to Micaela for days.

The storytelling is top notch and I couldn’t stop listening. There was humor tied in with heartfelt emotions that I’m so grateful were shared. Thank you for sharing your story in such an entertaining and relatable way.

Micaela has a wonderful voice. The picture she painted in this book was quite vivid, and I was so enthralled that I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish listening.

Some posts to get you started

Here are a few of my favorite posts if you want to take a tour of the place, or if you want to get started while you wait for my next email.

First episode of The Story Letter Podcast

This is also the home for The Story Letter Podcast, and our first 10-episode season is all about telling personal stories. You can find all the episodes, plus behind the scenes extra stories, right here on Substack. Start with this one!

How to Tell a Story Without Bragging

This is one of the Story Letter posts that I recommend most often. In a LinkedIn world, how do you tell people your news without sounding like a jerk? We figured it out here.

Being Interesting is a Trap

This is one of those hot takes in the click-baity world of “what’s the HOOK?”: that being interesting is not actually the point of telling stories. See if you agree.

I hope you’ll join me!

Micaela, circa 1989. She’s very excited that you might join The Story Letter.

XO,

Micaela