1 Writing Exercise That Changed Everything
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 พ.ค. 2024
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After being stuck for months (years?) with my scene writing, we had one breakthrough that changed everything for me. In this video I show you what the breakthrough was and how you can do it for yourself.
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My name is Tim Grahl, I'm the CEO of Story Grid and I'm the author _The Threshing_, _Running Down a Dream_, and _Your First 1000 Copies_. My partner Shawn Coyne is the creator and founder of Story Grid and he's a writer and editor with over 30 years of experience.
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this approach absolutely opens up the range of storytelling!
Now THIS I can work with.
Breakrhrough is really the way to put it
Tim, why did you choose to title the third part 'problem'? I think 'goal' better suits your objectives. I think it should be 1-Author, 2- SAM, and 3-Goal.
For the first example the father's goal is to caution his son about being too frivilous. Second example, the goal is to reconnect with his friends over shared memories. Third example, the goal is to get absolution. I think it's about the author's goal in telling SAM this story.
Goals are inert though. problem connotes a goal state with built-in resistance.
That's more than gold! My sincere thanks to you.
When I plan my scenes, I tend to first write what I want to happen but in a distant way, just telling it. Then I will think of who the POV character is - this will affect the language I use to describe it. A lot of effort goes into checking if there might be a better POV character but also I don't want to use too many throughout the story.
Nearing the end of 2nd draft and I forgot all about SAM. However, at the top of each chapter i have been noting a reminder for POV and who has the most to lose. On 3rd draft after the developmental edit i will pass through with SAM in mind and other key focus elements. Thank you for helping me write my book. You have great clarity and you present it well 😊
This was so helpful. So glad I watched it.
Thank you. I love your videos and advice.
Great idea for practice.
I submitted a story for the great Australian yarn using the two way codes we used in traffic control like a G-string is a Hyundai for high undies
A squirter is a car that ran a gate ect
I used a different set of colloquialisms and superimposed then on the formal definitions after watching another of your tutorials 🖖
I'm working on doing this exercise. I'm loving it...but instead of doing a whole scene--I'm working on just the opening paragraph (until I can get that working at least).
Hi Tim, Greetings of the day!
You are an inspiration and guru for many of new born writers like me. I would like to thank you for your regular updates.
I am a complete beginner. I have never written anything and have trouble to collect and organise my thoughts on paper. Could you please guide me where and what should I start with. Please suggest me a good book or methods so that I can be good at writing.
Hoping to get guidance. Thanks
This TH-cam channel is a good resource. I would also suggest buying the book StoryGrid by Shawn Coyne, who Tim mentions in the video. The book gives a good overview of StoryGrid. They also have some Masterwork Guides available, which show how what they teach can be applied to a Masterwork, such as Pride and Prejudice. Those would be good starting points.
Author.
Single Audience Member.
Problem/Purpose.
This is fantastic! Readily focuses the mind to the task. The details to the 5Ws and 1H should effortlessly go where they are needed. With this in place, let the inspiration flow! 🌱
If you are not having difficulty writing a scene, I think the best thing to do is just write it. But if you are having difficulty figuring out how to write a scene, I can see how this exercise could be very helpful.
The exercise itself aside, two important elements that I identify when writing a scene are 1) 'Who is the target of what I am saying' (or in first person, who is the recipient of what I and the narrator/protagonist are saying), and 2) 'Why am I telling them what I'm telling them?'
So it all centers on SAM. I imagine who SAM might be, in the same way I create a fictional character in my mind. I imagine them as someone I care about, and who might benefit from hearing what I have to say. That defines the target.
Then I can write targeted to the reader, and I know precisely why. To me, just voicing something into the void, not having any idea of who the audience might be, whether anyone is listening, or even why I'm saying what I'm saying, can be a significant obstacle to figuring out what to write, and how to write it. When you know who and why, even if SAM is imaginary, then you can assume the role of storyteller, nearly automatically. And the story starts to flow.
If you do this, which includes welcoming the reader as a valued listener rather than an anonymous eavesdropper, then the reader feels welcome. They feel they are part of the storytelling, bc they are. And that feels good to them. If the storyteller knows you, the reader, exist and are listening, the reader bonds, not only with the protagonist, but with the storyteller. The author and the reader are then sharing the same campfire together.
The thing is, if you can answer those two questions (and the exercise can help you do that), then you are miles ahead on writing that, or any, scene.
Hi Tim,
This was a great drill, thanks for that.
This is what I learned.
I found that the main thing that changes when you change your S.A.M. is that the theme changes.
When I tell my kid about the dumpster, the theme is don't reduce your cognitive control with alcohol.
When I tell the buddies about the dumpster, the theme is I love you guys so much I will do dumb stuff to prove it
When I tell my girlfriend about the dumpster, the theme is her love keeps me occupied from doing dump stuff with dumb friends
SAM = theme.
Great drill thanks,
Gary
Although I'm an absolute beginner writer, I concocted a similar methodology to what's presented in this video. I swap the main character in the story scenery and run with it. This fleshes out the character's traits, attributes, thoughts, emotions and actions through the story's devices. I discovered the following about my own story:
1. The protagonist remains steadfast and determined, perhaps foolish to proceed, but he's determined to proceed.
2. Character A cautiously hugs the walls while wondering who's lurking in the shadows. After whispering her name, it remains quiet-too quiet.
3. Character B runs away screaming, flailing arms like an octopus as a distinct smell of piss permeates the air.
4. With a sign of the cross, Character C prepares methodically, counts his blessings and enters guns blazing with maniacal laughter.
5. The antagonist - He, himself enters the scene, while he is already in the room. A question mark above both as they simultaneously, shaking a fist at the fourth wall, "Damn you author for creating a time loop"
I had a GIGANTIC revelation: Don't use HUGE words to sound SMART in your novel.
So true, it looks weird
Brian McDonald addressees this at length as well. He calls it “armature”
These aren't even remotely the same thing. Brian's armature is just another word for theme. Here, the OP is talking about an objective to a single scene, not the story theme.
I really like this approach but my question is-
Why change the prospective audience if it was already getting closer when it came to writing to the 8 year old perspective? I mean why not just start from the top, “try writing this like you’re addressing it to a priest”, rather than have you go through a number of drafts to the audience Shaun wasn’t going to think was the best way to go about it? Did he himself realize, only in retrospect, that the audience needed to be changed?
Can you PLEASE !!! Make a script BREAKDOWN of the season 1 of Attack on Titan which doesn't use the traditional 3 acts structure, SETUP / DEV / CONCLUSION but rather 4 acts structure called KI-SHO-TEN-KETSU. SETUP / DEV / TWIST / CONCLUSION.
Why don't you do that?
The story grid is a very specific methodology developed out of the classic western 3-act structure, but is broadly applicable to most stories. Using Ki-Sho-Ten-Ketsu is a valid way of breaking down a plot, but is a different method than the one taught by the story grid.
If you want to learn how to break down a story, story grid offers loads of completely free instruction on how to do just that.
If you want to be a better writer, I'd encourage you to learn how to break down Season 1 of Attack on Titan yourself, borrowing from story grid or using another method, like Ki-Sho-Ten-Ketsu. You might learn a lot.
1 = Narrator, rather than author. Most modern stories are told from the main character's POV. Not always, of course. Watson gave us the stories for Sherlock Holmes. Nick Carraway told us about Gatsby. But most modern stories I read are told from the main character(s) point of view. That's the one you'll most often go with.
2 = Audience. Yes, you can write for one specific person, but that one person might not always represent who your target audience is. Young Adult. Mid-Grade. Children. Erotica. Romance. Each has a separate audience, so you need to know what expectations each of those different audiences wants.
3 = Message. What message are you trying to get across with this story? What feelings do you want your audience to experience. Why is it important for you to tell this story?
Yeah, the word author is so strange. That's what happens when you try so hard to make simple things your "own" creation that you have to change the word "narrator" to "author" just so it can sound like something super original you came up with when everything stated in this is beyond common sense.
This exercise only feels useful if you're writing scenes out of context for some kind of exercise. Because, naturally, if you're writing a scene in a novel and are fully immersed in it, you know that a scene where a character is trying to sell a ticket so they can have money to buy a candy bar is different to a scene where a person is trying to sell a ticket to get money pay a kidnapper to release their child. Like this is so obvious. Do you really a need an exercise to tell you that the situation affects how you write a scene? I'm sorry but sometimes the exercises in this site seem so rudimentary like they are devised for children.
Good advice, but this is really just third person limited POV. The narrative itself (what they see, how they see it, etc) is told a certain way to reflect who the person is.
That’s not exclusive to third person limited though. Even omniscient can focus on other things. It’s all about the emphasis given the narrative
What if Tolkien told the LOTR as an advocate for industry instead of a naturalist?
@@maff_ that would be an authorial voice through omniscient POV.
What I'm getting at is it seems pretty obvious and not anything new.
@@JasonFuhrman ah okay, yeah I can see how this could be obvious or at least implicit. I thought you were more claiming it was exclusively useful in third person limited
AI VID is terrible!!!
Weird how Sean has to get a shoutout in every one of these videos. Yeah, we get it, Sean has a massive ego. Move on.
Shawn is his mentor and founder of Story grid. And yes, they're marketing their courses. You'd do well to learn from them if they're putting it out for free for us. Thank you, guys is the comment needed here
@andrewpearson5504 Stop and consider for a moment that maybe you don’t have all the information or know as much as we do about running a TH-cam channel.
Every video we put out brings in new people that have never heard of Story Grid so I need to establish that I’m not some random nobody spouting off but I have an expert behind me that knows what he’s talking about.
So it has nothing to do with Shawn’s ego, though it’s interesting that’s where your mind went.
- Tim
Never heard of sean or story grid till now, and I watch writing vids all the time. Basically, what I’m trying to say is I appreciate the shout out (and just purchased the book because of it); glad I bumped in to this channel.
As someone who has listened closely to about 200 podcasts of Shawn and Tim together, Shawn does not strike me as having a 'massive ego', or even a sizable one. Not at all. He strikes me as someone who has a lot to offer (which is why I was willing to listen to them). Having a lot to offer does not imply ego, and conflating the two is to shoot one's self directly in the foot. Having a lot to offer can exist completely apart from ego. It's a difference with a distinction.
Occasionally Tim would make a point which would either usurp one of Shawn's points, or add to it (and sometimes vice versa). It was all very Socratic. How would Shawn react? He would accept what Tim was saying, might even change his own perspective, and say 'I just learned something important here'. That is how collaboration works. People who are all ego are incapable of that and never do that.
The shoutout is not a love poem to Shawn. It's an offer to you, to share what they know, with you. Shawn knowing he has a lot to offer has nothing to do with his ego, and him sharing what he knows is not an expression of his ego. It's simply him offering to help you. Adjust the attitude, and maybe you can learn from them.
@exili this! The gratitude is real. These guys really break it down for us. I used to watch so many of these author guides but now it's all Storygrid. Shawn is a God at work