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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