The repor(ng is done. The facts are checked. The thesis is solid and important. Telling Great Stories Now: You want folks to actually read this?
May 19, 2015
The repor(ng is done. The facts are checked. The thesis is solid and important.
Telling Great Stories
Now: You want folks to actually read this?
What we’ll cover:
• Using facts appropriately • Repor(ng for great storytelling • Using human nature to hold your reader • Drawing lessons from potboilers and the silver screen
First, let’s do a reality check…
Given X amount of (me to report and write a story, what percentage of (me would you devote to repor(ng? Photo by Flickr user U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service –
Northeast Region
Using facts appropriately
The Goldilocks Rule:
Not too many facts, Not too few facts
Every story has a burden of proof
“Cap(ve Clientele: Part One”
The “CapEve Clientele” thesis
• Several financial services companies or their agents are using ques(onable tac(cs on military bases to sell insurance and investments that may not fit the needs of people in uniform...The Pentagon has been aware of prac(ces like these since the Vietnam War; inves(ga(ons have even cited specific companies and agents. But because of industry lobbying, Congressional pressure, weak enforcement and the Pentagon’s ineffec(ve oversight, almost no ac(on has been taken.
Use all the facts required to meet your burden of proof –
and not one fact more!
Diana’s Rule #1
Which fact is not needed to meet the burden of proof in “Cap(ve Clientele”?
Poll QuesEon #1:
Ouch. The editor says cut the story… What could be eliminated from the “Cap(ve Clientele” thesis to reduce my burden of proof so I could cut the story? Photo by Flickr user Victor1558
“CapEve Clientele” thesis
I could eliminate the reference to the Pentagon’s prior knowledge...
Several financial services companies or their agents are using ques(onable tac(cs on military bases to sell insurance and investments that may not fit the needs of people in uniform… But because of industry lobbying, Congressional pressure, weak enforcement and the Pentagon’s ineffec(ve oversight, almost no ac(on has been taken.
“CapEve Clientele” thesis …Or I could eliminate any reference to "investments" …
Several financial services companies or their agents are using ques(onable tac(cs on military bases to sell insurance… that may not fit the needs of people in uniform… But because of industry lobbying, Congressional pressure, weak enforcement and the Pentagon’s ineffec(ve oversight, almost no ac(on has been taken.
“CapEve Clientele” thesis …Or I could cut the reasons “why almost no ac(on has been taken”…
Several financial services companies or their agents are using ques(onable tac(cs on military bases to sell insurance and investments that may not fit the needs of people in uniform... The Pentagon has been aware of prac(ces like these since the Vietnam War; inves(ga(ons have even cited specific companies and agents. But … almost no ac(on has been taken.
…
Remember, it’s a balancing act
The length of a story is determined by your burden of proof. To cut a story’s length, you must scale back what you try to prove in that story.
Diana’s Rule #2
You cannot cut the story; you can only reduce your burden of proof.
Diana’s Rule #3
If you use every inch of space to meet your burden of proof, you’ll win your
argument. But you'll lose your reader!
Nicholas Stachler was 19 years old when he reported for basic training with the Army at Fort Benning, Ga., before shipping out for 11 months to Iraq.
A gentle, trus(ng man, he had only weeks earlier graduated from high school with a handful of trophies in hockey and soccer, middling grades and hardly a clue about how to handle his money. He had held only casual jobs baby-‐si^ng and mowing lawns and had never opened a checking account. The bus trip to boot camp, from the foothills of the Appalachians in southern Ohio to the kudzu-‐covered fields of western Georgia, took him farther from home than he had ever been.
About six weeks into his training -‐-‐ six weeks of combat drills and drummed-‐in lessons in Army ways -‐-‐ he tasted one of the less-‐honorable tradi(ons of military life: a compulsory classroom briefing on personal finance that was a life insurance sales pitch in disguise...
How “CapEve Clientele” began
How did you feel about Nicholas Stachler?
Let’s compare notes: In a word or two, share your impressions of this young recruit. Nicholas is
on the left.
ReporEng for great storytelling
Photo by Flickr user sskennel
Let’s brainstorm
In one or two words, what facts best help bring a character to life?
Photo by Flickr user lateda
Report with all five senses
How did it make you feel? Why?
To reconstruct the past,...
Photo by Flickr user Laineys Repertoire
…try the Internet!
Was it rainy? Torrid? Balmy?
hcp://www.wunderground.com/history/
Which gives us...
“The day Bernie Madoff was arrested in Manhacan, the weather was perfect in Palm Beach -‐-‐ ground zero for thousands of his vic(ms...”
Photo by Flickr user eoringel
What do they look like? What were they wearing?
hcp://images.google.com/
U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff
How do they sound and behave?
“Yeah, It’s Fun Being a Billionaire” -‐-‐ interview on CNBC found on YouTube.com
And what did it look like where that arrest took place?
www.earth.google.com
Gathering color a^er the fact • Tour the scenes yourself. • Ask for family albums,
yearbooks, home video, conven(on photos, etc.
• Talk to those who were there – using photos and headlines as memory “prompts.”
• Retrace a character’s steps.
Photo by Flickr user Arbron
Using human nature to hold your reader
Photo by Flickr user Saul Adereth
In the “Cap(ve Clientele” story, who is Nicholas Stachler?
Poll QuesEon #2:
The universal truths of human experience are the bedrock of any
great story.
Diana’s Rule #4
What other archetypal stories can you name?
Use archetypal stories
• Icarus • Robin Hood • King Midas • Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde • Dr. Faustus • The Emperor’s New Clothes
• King Lear • The Sorcerer’s Appren(ce
• Snow White
• Aladdin and the Genie • The Frog Prince • The Ugly Duckling • The Boy Who Cried Wolf • The Pied Piper • Beauty and the Beast
Photo by Flickr user puuikibeach
More archetypal stories
Clichés became clichés because…
• Pride goeth before a fall. • He was hoisted on his petard. • The pot calling the kecle black. • His Achilles’ heel.
…they rang true and sEll do! Photo by Flickr user hello-‐julie
Folklore’s cast of stock characters…
The star-‐crossed lovers The fatally flawed hero The femme fatale The man of steel The knight errant The evil wizard
Photo by Flickr user Wonderlane
As you prepare to write, ask:
In our common cultural heritage, what’s the closest archetypal match to the story you want to tell?
Photo by Flickr user Muffet
Once you have your answer… • Keep it as a frame of reference… • Use it to sort out your characters… • Iden(fy the core words it brings to mind… • Use it to give your story a familiar shape… • But proceed with cau(on before you make a direct reference to this archetype!
The Bernie Madoff story most strongly brings to mind…
Poll QuesEon #3:
JP Morgan Chase used a risk-‐reducing strategy that wound up cos(ng the bank billions. Which archetypal reference does
that story bring to mind?
Poll QuesEon #4:
Photo by Silicon Prairie News
Learning from potboilers and the silver screen
Diana’s Rule #5 To learn great storytelling, study
great storytellers.
• By Christopher Vogler: The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers, Third Edi(on
My favorite screenwriEng guides • By Blake Snyder: Save the Cat series
What wri5ng guides do you love?
Six QuesEons to Ask Yourself Before You Type That Anecdotal
Lead
http://www.newsthinking.com/six-questions-to-ask-yourself-before-you-type-that-anecdotal-lead/
More wri(ng resources are in the handout.
My favorite pace cars for storytelling
• Robert Crais, “Elvis Cole” series
• Lee Child, “Jack Reacher” novels
• Anything by Stephen King
Photo by Flickr user msbhaven
Remember Diana’s Rules 1. Use all the facts required to meet your burden of
proof -‐ but not one fact more! 2. You cannot cut the story; you can only reduce your
burden of proof. 3. If you use every inch to meet your burden of proof,
you’ll win your argument. But you'll lose your reader! 4. The universal truths of human experience are the
bedrock of a good story. 5. To learn great storytelling, study great storytellers.