Guest Post & Book GIVEAWAY by David Baboulene
Yes, I’m still on a blog hiatus, but just have a couple of commitments to tie up… 
Today I’ll be hosting David Baboulene, writer and story doctor, whose new book on writing THE STORY BOOK is out now. I will post a review of the book in due time (I’m on the final few pages), but so far it’s been both an enjoyable and useful read!
Oh, and did I mention there’s a giveaway involved? More details in a moment! But first, David will now take the floor to discuss…
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The Top Ten Tips to Make Stories that Grip!
In my work I have been fortunate to have conversations with famous people who have made their money from stories, including:
- Bob Gale (scriptwriter of Back to the Future);
- Lee Child (16 million Jack Reacher Novels sold);
- John Sullivan (TV comedy writer of Only Fools and Horses; Just Good friends; Citizen Smith…);
- Mark Williams (Actor in The Harry Potter films; Shakespeare in Love; 101 Dalmations…);
- Willy Russell (Theatre supremo and writer of Educating Rita; Blood Brothers; Shirley Valentine…)
to name but a few. So, from the insights from these fine gentlemen, from my own experiences getting published and writing The Story Book, my work as a story consultant, from working on films and from undertaking my PhD in Story Theory, here are my top ten tips for writers.
1 ) If you want to be a writer, read a thousand books.
2 ) Write every day. Make it a priority, build it into your schedule and discipline yourself to it. Set yourself a manageable word count and make sure you achieve that. Stephen King reportedly writes 2000 words a day, every day. Sunday, Christmas Day, his birthday – every day. And when he finishes a book, if he’s only done 1500 words of his daily count, he gets a clean sheet of paper, writes ‘Page 1′ at the top, and starts the next one. Self-discipline, folks. Yes, being a writer is glamorous to talk about and a romantic place for dreamers, but the ones who make it work very hard, are professional and productive.
3 ) Don’t try to learn ‘how to write’. No course or method or guru can tell you how to write. There’s only one person who can tell your story your way, and that’s you. Those who make it have self-confidence in writing what THEY think is great. Yes, learn about STORY – where the power comes from in stories, how they work, why they exist, how they resonate, what factors are present in all great stories – then use that understanding to get the most you possibly can out of yourself as a story teller. Then you can use your personality and your knowledge to take responsibility and write your story YOUR way to the best it can possibly be.
4 ) Understand story structure, but structure is NOT a starting point for story development, so don’t let it drive you. Let your creative brilliance run wild and free and write from the heart in creating your story, then later, use your understanding of structure in problem-solving and optimizing your story.
5 ) Most of all, understand SUBTEXT. And understand the creative behaviours that embed subtext. Subtext is the substance of story. If you have no subtext you have no story. The more subtext there is, the higher a story is rated by the audience. Fact.
6 ) Stories are about character behaviours. Don’t think about ‘plot’ and ‘character’ as separate things. What a character does when he takes action will define his true character, and what a character does when he takes action will also provide the action. Character behaviours define both plot and character. Get this right, and your story telling will be tight, cohesive and superb.
7) All the greatest stories show us a character learning and changing and growing through the experiences of the story events (or failing to learn and grow, but the lessons are still evident to us as readers/viewer). Try to ensure that at least one character is offered the opportunity to climb the ladder of life. You will find that this is actually your real story, and this is what resonates with your readers and elevates your story.
8 ) True character comes only from putting your protagonists under pressure to make difficult decisions. For a mountaineer to climb a mountain might be a huge challenge, but he’d be delighted to do it, so the conflict is not meaningful and therefore the story is not meaningful. For a mountaineer to climb a mountain to save a stranded friend… risking his own life whilst his children are begging him not to go and his wife says she’ll leave if he does… that is a story. Sit your characters on the horns of a dilemma wrapped in a choice of evils and sandwiched between rocks and hard places and your readers will be gripped…
9 ) It’s really important to learn to handle rejection (there WILL be rejection…) otherwise you will never send anything off. I know many, many writers who develop their stories… then develop and develop some more… because they are so scared of the Judgment Day that comes the moment they admit it’s finished. There’s no easy way. You have to grasp the nettle and get on with it. Put your ego to one side (the vast majority of rejections are nothing to do with your ability or the literary merit of your story); dig deep, be strong, and put it out there. When I asked John Sullivan for his advice for aspiring writers he gave me this series of steps that should define a writer’s life:
A) Write the best stuff you can.
B) Send it off.
C) Go to A.
It ain’t rocket science! But you do need to be brave, or else you won’t get anywhere. As soon as your material is good enough, you WILL be recognised… and you WILL get a deal! And I promise you – once you’ve had 10 rejections, the 11th doesn’t hurt so bad!
10 ) If you would like more detailed information on any of the above, get in touch with me and I will send you a free chapter from The Story Book on the topic that is puzzling you.
Very best of luck with your work. Oh, before I go, I think there might be just one more tip we could all benefit from…
11) Get off the internet and go do some writing!
Thanks so much to J.C. for the opportunity to contribute to this wonderful website.
David
www.thescienceofstory.blogspot.com
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As part of his blog tour, David is delighted to give away a copy of THE STORY BOOK to one lucky commenter. The rules are simple:
- You must be a follower of both my blog and David’s.
- Leave a comment for this post by 22:00 GMT, Saturday 9th April.
The winner will be selected by Random.org.
Good luck!
Oh, and in other news, DIY MFA 2.0 starts TODAY! Pop over to Iggi & Gabi to register now! I’ll be appearing there occasionally as a teaching assistant, so hope to see you there! Oh, and have you seen these awesome Iggi mood stickers?
I know I’ll definitely be needing some tips as I struggle to finish my WiP in time for the agent. Just found out how terribly slow of a writer I am!
Butt-kicking bookworm. Displaced Malaysian. Writes crime & thrillers. Debut novel ORACLE will be released by J. Taylor Publishing on 30th July 2012.
Awesome tips! I've read both of Mr Baboulene's travel books and he really does tell a cracking tale – the more impressive because it's all true. I think it's important for writers to continue their education, just as pros in other careers must keep their training up to date. It's just that for us, the lessons mostly involve reading books we love and thinking about how they were put together. Tough gig! Must admit though, between that and the writing itself – and the quintessential blogging, Tweeting and assorted social media commitments- it doesn't leave much time for anything else. Like breathing for example…
Love the choice of tips though. Can't hear enough of that stuff, especially examples of how motivated other writers are. I've a ways to go in that department by comparison to Mr. King!
Oh, but please don't send me DB's The Story Book if my comment wins the random comp. I've got it, I've read it, I loved it! Sound advice and well worth a read.
I've been meaning to comment here, but I've been so busy, I forgot. I hope I'm not too late to possibly win the book.
I've been building a habit of writing every day recently, and I must say, even though it is sometimes frustrating, it really builds to something. Very valuable advice.
I found all the tips very useful (except number 10, which isn't really a tip. It's more of an invitation. Or something). Some of the tips are not entirely new concepts, but each does shed a different light on it (Well, not every one, but still). If I don't win the book, I'll probably have to see if I can collect some money to buy it. (Especially after the review J.C. gave it. It being the book, not the money.)
Anyway, thanks for the tips in any case.