Collaborative Book Writing: The 3 Levels of Powerful Storytelling

Corey, Annie, and I had a great call today. After chatting for a few minutes on everything from colds to hypnosis, we got down to business. Corey was feeling compelled to talk about a ghostwriting project that had stretched and challenged him from multiple standpoints: business, creative, emotional, and financial. As I listened, I tried to figure out how the story would translate to writing. Though the story was engaging, it was really only skimming the surface, which doesn’t fly with the written word. Then Annie, mindreader that she is, paused the conversation. In her nurturing but firm way, she guided Corey to push beyond surface-level exposition and reveal the emotional depth of the story. I thought, Ah! That’s just what I needed! Sure enough, we got to the bruised softness of the story’s core, and Corey was excited to be making new revelations about the experience.

This call made me think about what I’ll call the three levels of powerful storytelling: exposition, emotion, and scene. See, a mediocre story will be all exposition:

“I went to the mall to buy a sweater for my dad. I had to go to four stores before I found one I liked—and even then, it had a stain right under the armpit! I haggled with the salesperson and got ten percent off. I’ll clean off the stain before giving the sweater to Dad.”

A better one will include emotion, and emotion changes the story:

“I remember how my dad used to buy the softest sweaters for me when I was young. They made me feel safe and loved, like nothing could hurt me. Now that he’s sick, I want to give him the softest sweater I can find. So I went to the mall…”

But a powerful one will also have scene:

“At Macys, the perky holiday music seemed to fade as I sifted through the sweaters on the shelf. The nice charcoal-colored one was too wooly; I rubbed my fingers over the collar and imagined it itching my dad’s neck. The crimson one was soft but thin, too thin; it wouldn’t keep him warm. Then I found it: thick, warm, soft cashmere in deep blue, the color of Dad’s eyes. I held it against my cheek and smiled. He’d love this one.”

Okay, I’m not claiming literary merit for these little pieces, but you can see how the story changes with each level added. This is the challenge for the team as we move forward with Corey’s book. We have the exposition—the experiences themselves—and we have the emotion. But I think that, as we start fitting pieces together, we’ll see the need for more scene. I think (at least I hope!) it’ll be fun for Corey, though. To challenge his memory and pull out the scenic details that will bring his experiences and lessons alive for readers.

Onward!

06.01.2010. 12:16

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