Lighting Up Stories
I’ve always loved Charlie Brooker, I was an addict of his show Charlie Brooker Screenwipe – originally on the BBC and then moved to Channel 4: it was sharp, funny, satirical and analytical: everything I love. Black Mirror has made its mark in the TV …
“The question is not whether or not we are capable of making AI more intelligent than us. The question is, will we be able to live with it?” – Dr. Robert Ford, Westworld (2016). This line from the thought-provoking TV series Westworld perfectly captures the …
Like cooking, writing needs essential ingredients. And like cooking, the better your ingredients are, the better is the end result.
So what are those ingredients?
The concept is the core idea of your story. It’s the HOOK.
The concept of your project is what sets it apart and grabs people’s attention when you send out your manuscript or screenplay, making them curious and eager to read it.
The concept answers the question: What is the story about? (in a broad sense).
To create a great concept, you need to start with the very famous What if question. If you can’t put your idea into a what if question, you’ve got a problem.
What if AI wants to rule our world? (Westworld) What if you die and end up in heaven instead of hell where you belong? (The Good Place). What if a great number of people disappear randomly on the same day at the same time? (The Leftovers).
If it’s a good concept, it should present a conflict to come, and we want to know more about it. It creates a sense of excitment. I strongly recommend to start with your concept before writing your story.
The theme is the underlying message of your story.
It could be your opinion as an author. Opinion doesn’t mean that you have to teach your readers a lesson. Writers are not there to do a lecture. It’s more about your UNDERSTANDING of the topic you decided to talk about.
The deeper meaning (or theme) is not always obvious, but it’s always there. It answers this question: What is your story saying? Or Why does it matter?
If done well, everything in your story should reflect your theme: the characters, the settings, the plot itself… The theme is like a diamond, it has different reflections.
A theme explores a universal human experience, what it means to be a human being (love, loss, loneliness, fear, poverty etc…).
For instance, the themes of the TV series Dead To Me (excellent TV series by the way) are Loss, Love and Friendship. And the screenwriter Liz Feldman explores many angles of those themes. Watch it and you’ll see what I mean.
The plot, however, answers this question: what happens in the story?
It’s more about the actions and events that occur in the story and move it forward. That includes all the problems, conflicts, obstacles, and resolutions that shape the journey of your characters.
The plot is difficult to craft, because it should be believable but not predictable.
The key is to follow your characters AND to ask yourself: ‘Is this scene a bit cliché?’. If the answer is ‘yes’ then go against it.
The last ingredient is the reason why people care about your story: the characters, because they identify with them.
The concept, the theme and the plot will attract them to your story, and the characters will make them stay until the end. It’s probably the only thing they will remember years after reading your story.
So take care of your characters, get to know them, live with them, hear them speak and make sure they are unforgettable.
There is no good story without those four elements.
The concept grabs attention–It’s the big idea and should be exciting.
The plot answers the concept in actions done by your characters, and the more those actions are unpredictable, the better your story is.
The theme gives the story an emotional and intellectual depth. It makes people think about it way after they saw your script or your book.
And the characters embody everything mentioned above.
Well…I don’t’ know about you, but now that I’ve talked about cooking, I’m feeling quite peckish… for writing!
Happy writing x
In life, there is never a time when you say: I’ve arrived! I’ve always thought that we were all part of a big game. The first time I shared this thought to one of my classes, I had a complete silence and shocked eyes in …
Photo by Jan Vasek @ Pixabay ‘I have an idea for a film, a book, a play’… ‘Great! When do you start writing your first draft?’ Silence… Usually followed by: ‘Ah, it’s a complex story, I need to do more research’ or ‘Yes when I …
Why would you spend time on a business plan? Probably because it’s the first step to take your artistic career seriously.
If you’re driving, unsure of the roads to take, you have great probabilities to get lost. But if you have planned your journey, chances are, you will reach your destination.
Of course, sitting down trying to forecast projects and numbers can be quite daunting. This is why I have prepared a business template for Artists and Writers super easy for you.
If you know you’re going to be working on halfhearted projects, you’ll end up discouraged and will not finish them.
In other words, your projects should excite you. They should be in alignment with your purpose. They should make you FEEL GOOD.
It’s tempting to cram many projects in one year but it can also be a great factor for giving up everything.
Only three to four big projects a year seem more manageable. Do only one project at a time, so you can stay fully focused on it and thus you become more efficient.
Moreover, the other reason for not overloading your business plan is to have enough room for FUN.
It will also fuel your creativity in amazing ways.
While it is crucial to visualize your end goal and feel the good vibrations of the finish product, don’t focus exclusively on the outcome. The outcome is not up to you. Of course, it’s nice to imagine being a bestselling author but you won’t be able to control the buying of your books. Your audience will decide if they’re going to buy or not.
Your job is to make an amazing product. Visualize a happy outcome but focus on your day to day task, to make this project wonderful and irresistible.
You must hear it, read it, and see it all the time: Take action.
Easier said than done, right?
When we’re ready to rock and roll often Procrastination kicks in. Not nice. Suddenly we don’t feel like working on our projects, and we end up doing something else, such as watching TV for instance, feeling bad about ourselves.
Each time I don’t feel like writing, I tell my brain: ‘OK, let’s do this for one minute.’
Next thing I know, I worked on that thing for an hour.
This is as simple as that.
Even if your inner voice is shouting: ‘You’re not good enough’ make a point to do it anyway. Override that nasty voice with some feel good music and get on with whatever you’ve got to do.
Make sure you take care of your whole being too: soul (meditate), mind (read) and body (exercise). It’s all connected and intertwined.
Allow yourself to have some time off too, to recharge your batteries. I’ve seen it many times, I’ve been there myself. Burnout is real. It’s horrible.
Being nice to yourself also means to be ruthless with distractions. Since I turned off all my notifications, I feel much calmer. Okay I admit it, sometimes I’m missing some messages on the spot but my pulse stays stable. I look at my messages or my emails when I’m ready to do so, not while I’m working.
Also don’t beat yourself up when you fail.
Failure is part of success. If you look at the people who succeeded, they all had a big disappointment. They didn’t let failure define them. They cried and carried on.
Life happens. Sometimes a life event might disturb your plan. Take one thing at a time. Take a break from everything. All you need to do is re-adjust your plan for the future, that’s all. Trust in the process of creation and its perfect timing.
Wishing you my best wishes for your creative plans.
