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MY NOTES ON STORYTELLING FUNDAMENTALS


Here are the notes I took in Daniel Jose Older's class on SkillShare. He talked about the fundamentals of storytelling: Character, Conflict, Context and Craft. Hope it helps.

Character
·         Have a crush on your character.
·         Mention what details about them matter to their fellow characters.
·         These details will also matter to readers.
·         Your character must have a desire – it’s the engine of your story.
·         We don’t actually have to like a character.

Conflict
·         Backbone of story.
·         Crisis is the element of conflict.
o   What’s at stake?
o   Why does it matter?
o   What’re the consequences?
·         Conflict is the music of story - Robert McKee
·         2 types of conflict: internal and external. Intertwine them for a powerful story. This allows you to play with a more complex ending.
·         Don’t clutter, be strategic. Connect everything.
·         Readers must realize what is at stake.

Context
·         Place + Time + Power = Context
·         World building is important. Otherwise there’ll be a white space behind the scene.
·         Mention a few things about the world and let your reader's subconscious mind fill in the rest. Trust 
         them with their imagination.
·         Mention what do your characters hear, smell or feel.
·         Mention whether they are attached to particualr place etc.
·         A street can tell a whole story just by the different storefronts on it.

Craft
·         The good thing about craft; you don’t have to have an amazing craft but you have to have clarity.
·         Read your story out loud. 90% of craft errors occur because writers don’t read their stories aloud.
·         Have different types of sentences: short, medium, long. Having to read the same type of sentence over and over again hurt our eyes, ears and mind.
·         Things to Avoid (not hard rules)
o   Overwriting: Readers are intelligent. Don’t assume they won’t understand what you’re talking about and make your story wordy by explaining every tiny detail.
o   Passive Voice: Avoid it. Instead of saying, ‘The pen was picked up by me.’ Say, ‘I picked up the pen’. It’s an awkward way to say things in a novel. Another reason to not use it is that it can weaken the clarity of your writing.
Using passive voice is a way to avoid responsibility. Don’t use it unless it is necessary. Is your character going to avoid responsibility?
o   Be careful about the verb ‘to be’. It’s a dead verb. Use it selectively.
o   Think economically. If you can get done a couple of things with one sentence, then you are giving your readers a lot more per word and per sentence. They will be more engaged.
o   Adverbs: He said loudly X
                 He yelled √
Don’t give your readers extra words they don’t need.
o   Avoid using words like stated, replied etc.
o   NEVER say ‘he said sarcastically’. Your readers are supposed to understand it was a sarcasm.
o   Circle all the ‘to be’ used in your story, underline passive voices and put a star near adverbs and figure out why they are there and whether they are necessary or not.
·         Don’t think about your edits while writing. It’ll ruin all the fun and trap you in the golden cage of perfectionism. Be a perfectionist when you are editing.

Conclusion
·         The 4Cs must be balanced. And the balance depends upon the kind of story you are telling. There are stories that are about a character and in such a case, more emphasis should be given on the character while maintaining the other balancing the other 3Cs.
Similarly, there are stories which emphasize the world and characters are like a pawns in that huge world – they still have to be awesome characters.
·         Craft must hold everything together.
·         Conflict must always be there.
·         Use these tools diagnostically. 
___Author’s Note___
Just drop me a line if you want any of the points to be elaborated. You can reach me on twitter, fb or G+. Please share the post with your friends if you enjoyed it and subscribe to join the journey of a writer. And don't forget to share your thoughts in the comment box below. ðŸ˜Š

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