Make It Watchable

I can sometimes use the same advice for writing that I do for life (this should come as no surprise to any regular readers, or anybody who read my tagline). But today I got to do so in a more direct way.

We live in an audio/visual society. Most stories are told as movies or television shows. As such, the easiest way to approach a story conceptually is to think of yourself as a movie director.

When I talk with an author who tells me her story sucks, I ask her, "If this was a movie, what would happen?" I like this question because most people get it. Popular stories are often contrived. You can guess what's going to happen next pretty accurately. Even if you're wrong, the fact that you could guess an entire ending means you know how to construct a story (and a classic one at that).

From the question comes the challenge: "You're the director of this movie. Make it watchable." Even if the writer doesn't have the answer readily available, she now has a challenge to work on, a focus and structure. She can think about movies she's seen, what ones are similar to hers, what happened in them, how she can borrow from or go in the complete opposite direction of them.

As it turns out, when somebody tells you that their life sucks, the exact same tactic works. Life is often like a movie (in theory because movies try to reflect life, but probably because humans are so attracted to drama). So you can ask what would probably happen if their life was a movie. And from there, you can challenge them to be the director. They can now do all the same pondering, but now, instead of taking control of their characters, they're taking control of themselves.

Sometimes, I think that telling stories is the least impressive aspect of being a writer (though it can still be damn impressive by its own right). Changing people's lives is what it's about for me (ideally for the better). Using all of my skills and techniques to affect the real world, rather than fictional worlds makes me feel worthwhile.