Breaking Down Storytelling, or at least how I Break it Down

I would like to preface this whole discussion with an honest admission: It’s entirely possible that I have zero idea what I am talking about, and that the things that I am about to elucidate on only relate to ME and MY personal preferences in the art of storytelling.

To me storytelling refers to all forms of media. Public Speaking. Books. TV. Film. Music. Political discourse. Theatre and of course, Pro Wrestling. Any time you are presenting an idea or a premise to an audience of any size you engaging in the art of story telling.

The trap I’ve often fallen into with my stories (more specifically early on, thankfully less so now) came from misunderstanding the difference between Plot and Story.

If you watch a lot of movies and start getting into the weeds of how they’re created or learn a little bit about the behind the scenes nature of editing and the like, it’s usually easy to find areas where the action doesn’t line up. Or the characters are disjointed, some things that get set up are disregarded or a scene comes along the way just takes you out of what you’re watching. Inevitably the person in this position considers these moments as being “Plot holes”.

Now, sometimes they are indeed just that. A hole in the plot that defies the premise of what you’re engaging with. If you’re someone who’s not only a consumer of media but someone who wishes to create their own, it is perfectly natural to focus on your plot obsessively. Leaning into a paralysis by analysis whereby you become fixated upon the minutae of your story. Who does what and when? Where is the MacGuffin set up? How does that twist? Does the action beat work in a way that doesn’t break the laws of physics? We’ve started a timer, we’d better make sure that the action on screen lines up with the countdown, right?

All of these are good things to be worried about and I’m not trying to dismiss them. However when you focus on these types of details too much what you’re missing out on is often the reason why most people consume entertainment in the first place.

They want to be told a Story about people they can relate to.

If you’ve done your job properly and created characters in situations that your audience can picture themselves in where there is conflict, drama and believable emotion this easily glosses over most technical issues or “plot holes” for the audience. Because they want that hook, that emotion, that grit.

It shouldn’t matter if you’re having a financial dispute over the price of coaxium hyperfuel that you can only mine in the bowels of the Kessel Spice Mines. If you get there with characters you believe in and enjoy then you should be happily along for the ride.

Obviously, it’s also easy to fall into the trap in the other direction too. If you focus too much on the story of the characters without taking into consideration their world around them it’s easy to come up with a hodge-podge of disconnected ideas that ultimately leave people feeling unsatisfied.

In the end storytelling comes down to having a clear vision of what you’re trying to say in any given moment. And more importantly it means being able to adjust and be flexible when along the as you’re developing / breaking your story down you stumble across new elements or ideas that could enhance the tale you’re trying to tell. Sometimes this happens organically. In the world of pro wrestling or weekly syndicated TV you can often gauge the audience’s reaction to what is happening. If you’re perceptive and willing to roll with their wave of enthusiasm you can find a way to enrich their viewing experience by leaning into characters or scenarios they’re reacting to. Not all at once of course, don’t let your audience tell your story for you. But don’t ignore them either. If people are sitting on their hands and not caring that tells you everything you need to know and you need to re-evaluate if you’re actually creating a story for them or for you.

Now, as a caveat I would like to digress into the world of prose and long form novel writing. While obviously every author in the world would love to have the success of a JK Rowling, Stephen King, Lee Child and many others it is important to realize one thing (from my perspective.) In no other form of media is it more apparent when an author is pandering to an audience and being inauthentic than it is within a novel.

With Film / TV / Live events a bit of pandering is perfectly fine. You’re looking for that immediate engagement and wanting that response. And you need it in order to keep the people coming back on a regular basis. That form of entertainment is very much in the “Churn and Burn” vein.

With a novel it has to come from somewhere else with a bit more soul. This doesn’t mean that everything has to be drab, dreary or even deep. But it should at least be evolved in some way where you can bite into your characters and their world and feel it. In no other medium does your story exist more fully than within your audiences’ own imagination and all you have for them are the words on the page for them to experience. So if you’re not giving those words your best effort it’ll come across flat to your readers. Sure, it doesn’t mean you can’t write on a deadline, and no dear readers this isn’t me making an excuse for why I take so long between novels to get a finished product together. But in more visual mediums you can fake it a bit with the writing, make the words super economical and then relying on the other artists you’re working with to help tell your story. In fact, that’s the only way movies / TV / Theatre succeed. In a group setting.

So with that out of the way I think the most important idea I can impart to any other storytellers is to make sure no matter what kind of tale you care to tell, make absolutely certain that the characters all face Consequences for their Actions.

Good, bad, apocalyptic or whatever. Everything they do must come with a cost. If you’re telling a fantasy tale where wizards can conjure up anything out of thin air with no seeming effort you’re shorting the audiences’ ability to connect to that wizard. If you’re bad ass action heroine is able to ninja kick her way through a plethora of fools without breaking a sweat or even getting out of breath, you are robbing the audience the opportunity to feel her pain or stress in that moment of triumph.

Consequences are the key to any good story. For your protagonists, antagonists, bit players, coffee shop attendants… whatever. The more you add consequences to your characters the more it helps to ground whatever is going on to your audience in a way that they can understand. Because we live in the real world, and nothing is easy when you get right down to it.

With consequences your characters echo with your audience and they engage with your story.

And that’s the whole idea, right?

AK

Check out the consequences my main character Joe goes through in my Urban Fantasy OVERDRIVE Series at the following retailers. Availble in eBook, Paperback and Harcover.

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Also, please consider supporting your favourite Wrestler today by visiting Pro Wrestling Tees and browse to your hearts content. Just, while you’re there, consider looking at my site first willya?

Defining Success Pt 1 – AKA “The Author Origins”

 

First, a shout out to my boys Ed, Ron and Producer Bill for the inspiration to do this post / essay / rambling string of words. On their latest Patreon Only Podcast episode of “The Greatest Pod” (subscribe fools, support good people!) they took some time to express not only their frustrations with succeeding in the entertainment industry, but the pitfalls, challenges, own goals and more that they’ve experienced along the way.

And it got me thinking (a dangerous pastime I know) about my life experiences. How I’ve personally moved the goal posts on how I’ve defined success or failure in my own life and career. What I want out of life going forward. And most importantly, what I want to be spending my time and energy on now that I’m officially into my dreaded “middle age.”

In my office at home there is a file folder tucked away. In this folder are the block letter scribblings of a 20 year old me, frantically jotted down while he was supposed to be working on his actual job trying to convince people to switch long distance providers in a too bright cubicle farm. These scribblings laid out a plan for 9 fantasy novels (3 sets of trilogies!) that I firmly believed would change my life and make my dreams come true. I believed this because I had accomplished a monumental feat, completing an actual manuscript. Yes, my skinny fat and hyper nerdy ass had written almost 150K words and put them in some semblance of order. Initially this had been inspired by a wicked DnD Campaign (though in truth it was an unrequited love letter to a young lady who would ultimately break my heart – twice) and I was firm in my belief that any road to success in my future was going to be paved by my imagination and willingness to put words to word processor.

Then came trying to submit it to Publishers. And let me tell you, if you think that this is difficult in 2021 when there are agents and editors on Twitter ASKING you to pitch to them you have ZERO idea what it was like back in 1996. When Windows 95 was only a thing you had if you had money and email was in its very infancy.

Plus. I live in Winnipeg. Publishing houses here are awesome but by their very nature incredibly small presses.

Regardless, I went to the library. Took out a book on “submitting your manuscript” and put together 5 packages for major publishers. Because, I didn’t want to limit myself to only 1 offer naturally.

I’m sure I don’t need to tell you what happened next.

No, I don’t have any of my rejections letters. Because the 2 I received back came easily 6 months later and the others never bothered to respond.

Frankly I don’t blame them. My manuscript was bloated, huge and pretty much a vanity project. The kind where I tried to write the wrongs (perceived or validated) in my life. Where I wanted to live out a fantasy that made up for the struggles that I was certain only I was dealing with. Financially, personally and otherwise.

Failure is a tough pill to swallow. Especially when you believed in your heart that you are destined for greater things.

There are still 2 computer paper printed copies of that original manuscript in existence. One of them sits in the drawer with that “9 Book Outline” I mentioned earlier. The other is on the bookshelf of the heart breaking girl in question (yes, we got over each other and remain dear friends to this day.)

That original manuscript sat in desk drawers or in storage totes and on an ancient floppy disk drive until 2012.

That was the year I learned about modern self publishing.

Unlike the method peddled prior to the advent of eBooks where the upfront cost was prohibitive and every aspect of the financing, marketing and distribution of your words rested solely upon the writer – eBook self publishing was much easier on the pocketbook. As such, the competition in the field is disgusting, and like most aspects of the internet is overfilled with hacks, smut and hastily thrown together schlock disguised as “art.”

With that said there is also great work out there. Very personal and well written work that clearly means a lot to the artist. The kind of work that would be terrifying to commit to writing and infinitely scarier to put out into the world for scrutiny and derision.

It completely removed the gatekeepers of the publishing world. It made it possible for a guy like me to live his dream.

The first thing I ever published was a gothic Vampire novella I wrote initially as a character examination from my brief foray into LARPing. It’s rough but dark and available to this day if anyone is interested. And while it scared me to put it into the universe it inspired me to do more.

So I wrote “Cowboy Ending.” A more personal tale derived in part from my real life experiences, struggles and fantasies. A book inspired by the artists who inspire me set in an Urban Fantasy version of my home city. And while it took a bit to gain traction, and I still had to invest in things like a proper Cover Artist and a bit of online marketing – the feedback has been incredibly rewarding.

Which was when I did the scariest thing I’ve ever done creatively. I opened that drawer in my office. Dusted off the frayed binder holding my precious manuscript together and found a computer that would still read the disk drives from the late 90s so I wouldn’t have to rewrite it all from scratch.

While “The Book of Korum” is still a beast, clocking in at over 120K words, it’s definitely more streamlined than the hatchet job a 20 year old kid managed to cobble together. I still have the idea of maybe going back to that world and those characters one day, but life is busy and I have other goals and ideas too.

Regardless, that “failed” piece of art I created in my youth has now been downloaded well over 1,000 times by readers. Lots of freebies and giveaways for sure, but it’s probably bought me lunch a few times over the years. However none of that shit matters because the success comes in the doing.

Do the Work. Because that’s the only thing you can control.

When you do the work to the best of your abilities you will know it. The accomplishment of the work is its own reward. It is its own success.

That feeling is what sustains me and what drives me when I want to give it all up. Stop building spec scripts, stop going to the gym and working out for wrestling or building new layouts for future books / stories / projects.

Because while my work isn’t making me rich enough to pay my mortgage, it makes me rich enough to feel great when I see smiles on people’s faces when they take a chance on my words.

And frankly, that’s really the only reason to do anything.

(However, scoring a contract with DelRey Publishing complete with TV / Film options would be outstanding. So if you’re looking for things to option from independent authors please hit up the DMs willya?)

AK

Download your copy of “The Book of Korum” at the following retailers for only $0.99!
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