How to Tell Your Story
Everyone has a story to tell but most people don’t often take the time to figure out how to tell it. I hear people will often say, “Oh I used to write when I was a kid” or “I was good at writing in high school.” Of course, most people are put off of writing and go on to do other things, find other interests and live other lives. But at some point that desire to tell a story or even their own story pops back up and maybe they open up a word processor start a journal and start writing some things down. However, they often get stuck or, worse yet, they don’t even know how to start but they have a clear desire to write.
Here are some helpful ways to tell your story and why you should tell it.
Getting Started
In my new writing courses: The Power of Story I have a whole module dedicated to helping people get started writing. That is how hard it is for some to get started. I’ve been writing and publishing since high school, ran 2 magazines before I was 25 and I’ve written millions of words in my life, still, when I switched to writing fiction I struggled to get started too.
You can start almost any writing project with writing down what you have in your brain. This can be a scrap of dialogue, a location, an interaction, a character. In the beginning stages it can be all vibes and ideas. Write all those down. Does the main character travel to a weird city dominated by words (Phantom Toll Booth) or is she a Southern Belle with a crush on a man (Gone with the Wind)? Start on that basis, write down those ideas and vibes and then save all that material because it will be important later. Not everyone has a clear story in their head, sometimes it is just vibes and that is ok, you can use that to get a plot, an inciting incident and other such things going.
Even in something like memoir which has a different rhythm, you can begin by writing down your stories, great moments, moments of struggle, funny moments and don’t worry about how they go together yet, just write down the ideas. Once you have those you can then begin to organize them in a meaningful way.
This idea soup is even more important for non-fiction. Experts have lots to say and plenty of advice, so write that stuff down first, you can expand on it and use supplemental stores once you start drafting.
Get Organized
Now that you have ideas you can organize them into a narrative arc. You’ll need the beginning where you establish your characters and place and then the inciting incident, how the characters (do or don’t) overcome it and their journey to some kind of finale. Even if you are writing in a genre like murder mystery which as a very established arc (normalcy, murder, investigation, arrest) you can use that as a way to organize your ideas and start to create an outline. In my course I also teach my storyboard method which, on top of a quality outline can really set down what to write and when which can really guide you on your journey to tell your story.
Organizing your ideas in non-fiction is a great way to figure out how to tell a story or form your ideas, supporting points, research, evidence and much more. In the olden days, we would do this with 3x5 cards but there are more modern methods like Notion and other apps to help get you organized. The storyboards are also helpful here too.
Read!
Anyone who is actively writing also needs to be actively reading. When I started my MFA program, I was a little intimidated by having to read 40 books in two years. Like most adults with lives, I hadn’t done much reading. If I read a few books a year it was an accomplishment. Between editing work, The Cameron Journal and other such things, there just wasn’t much brain power left for reading books and social media is excellent at sucking up that time, however, the program required it and there were assignments tied to it so it really caused me to sit down and focus on reading.
One of the aspects of my MFA program I was not prepared for was how much my writing changed and how much cleaner my prose was afterwards. I entered the program already having three books out and a successful online publication. I had no idea how much my writing would change while reading that much and writing another book as part of my Thesis project. I credit the reading to changing my prose and helping me clean up my writing. This is why I tell participants in my course to pick out a book to read as they take the course: it really helps (even for non-fiction!).
Final Thoughts
Telling your story is not always easy but it can be done with a little ideation, a little organization and some quality reading. Using this you’ll be on the path to tell your story. Remember: there is no one way to do anything. Figuring out what works for you is best. I knew a girl in my MFA program who wrote her entire thesis project through emails to herself. It was a real pain when it came to putting it altogether for the final product but it was the most creative space for her journey. The most important part is to start. Use those seeds of ideas to help your story grow!
If you are interested in writing a book and telling your unique story! My new writing courses: The Power of Story (fiction and non-fiction) are now available! You get year long access to the complete course as well as access to our bi-weekly writing group and 2 coaching sessions with me! To sign up today visit: The Cameron Journal Academy.
