Okay, so I've been pretty absent from the blogosphere lately. I was sick as a dog (where does that phrase come from? I mean, really, how many dogs are that sick?) for the last week. The good news is that during my epic battle with the flu I managed to lose 8 pounds. Gotta look at the positive side, right? But I'm back now!
Now to the post...
I've come to the conclusion that I did not go to the same high school or experience the same things as a child that my brothers did. I did, of course, but when I listen to them tell stories from the past I often ask myself "where was I when this was happening?" Despite the fact that I attended the same high school at the same time as my siblings (there were five of us and we each graduated one after the other, boom, boom, boom) they'll share a story that presumably took place during that time frame and while the others are nodding and chuckling knowingly, I'm flabberghasted that such a thing happened and I was totally oblivious.
I've decided, and some of my relatives concur, that I spent all of my time either with my head in the clouds or my nose in a book. So yes, I was
oblivious to all of the exciting things that I could have been keeping track of for future use in the fantabulous novel I will someday write. Seriously, the time my brother and his friends locked their teacher in his office and glued his phone down so he couldn't call out and no one let him out for over 3 hours, even though two more classes showed up? How much fun is that? But I had no idea.
I come from a long line of story tellers. In fact, I could sit for hours and listen to my brother, my father, my aunt, my grandfather, any of them, tell a story. They had a way of making the most mundane things seem fun and exciting. When I try and tell the story to someone else, they just look at me like "why are you telling me this?" They don't see the humor. And it's all in how it is presented. When they tell it, laughter to the point of tears ensues. When I try and tell a story, it falls flat.
However, none of them could actually write their stories out and get even the smallest ratio of the same reaction. I can WRITE a story. They can TELL a story, and it's the
presentation that sells it--the quirky facial expressions, the hand gestures, the empahsis on a particular word.
Now, I've heard it said, many times, but most recently in an interview with literary agent Donald Maass, that the best way to put the fire in fiction (which happens to be the title of his recent how-to book for writers) authors should focus less on writing to sell in the current "hot" trend, and focus on being good story tellers.
But what does that mean, exactly?
I've wondered and worried about this for a while. It wasn't until I started to analyze why it was that my family members had the great stories but I was the one who considered herself to be a writer (and in a very real sense a story teller). What was the difference in our approaches?
In the end it comes down to three things, as far as I can tell.
1. Details--it was the little things that make my relatives' stories so engrossing. The gestures, the quirks, the empahsises, the word choices. The knowing which details to include for the most effect. While I'll never be the story
presenter that they are, I can still incorporate these same things into my writing.
2. Passion--when my brother tells a story he's fully involved in it, the excitement of what he's relating. He's completely engrossed in the story he's telling, which draws the audience right in. If I, as a writer, can't get completely caught up in my story, how could I expect my audience (the readers who will eventually--hopefully--read the fantabulous novel I will write) to get caught up in it?
3. Conviction--When my aunt or dad or whoever, tells a story, they believe 100% in what they're saying. Even if they're pulling the "facts" out of thin air, they are convinced, and convincing, that everything happened the way that they are telling it. They don't second guess anything. They don't hem and haw about the details. So, as a writer, believing, absolutely, in what you are writing, will help your audience believe.
How do you define the difference between writing a story and being a story teller?
