Storytelling Secrets of Aristotle

Aristotle, what a renaissance man. He was the first to create a comprehensive system of philosophy. He was a reknown expert in morality and aesthetics, logic and science, politics and metaphysics. His views on the physical sciences profoundly shaped thoughts during his time around 2,500 years ago. In the biological sciences, some of his observations were only confirmed to be accurate in the nineteenth century. Wow, what a body of work. Aristotle, I'm jealous dude. I wish I was that knowledgeable, But then, he didn't have distractions such as American Idol two nights a week either.

I really do have mad respect for Aristotle for all of his previously mentioned accomplishments. But did you know he was an expert at writing as well? Go figure.

All narrative writers should own a copy of Aristotle's The Poetics. It's a thin book that details THE rules to master the art of writing stories. Even today, this book is held up as the standard in contemporary fiction, drama, and screenwriting. If you're aspiring to write stories, save yourself a lot of time and money by getting this book and studying it.

Here are a few gems from the book.

1. All stories are made up of five elements: setting, character, plot, dialogue, and thought (a character's intention or motivation).

When all five of these elements work together in the proper proportions, you have a great story.

2. Plot is everything.

People these days might disagree here, but Aristotle is adamant about plot. He says, "The first essential, the life and the soul, so to speak, of story, is the plot."

3. Well-rounded and "appropriate" characters

Aristotle wrote about four aspects that every character needs developed. First, they must have some redeeming quality (positive or negative) that wins the respect of the audience. Second, these qualities must make sense based on the characters personality. THird, the character must be "believable" and "realistic." and fourth, a character should always remain consistent in their persona.

4. Keep readers hooked with "reversals"

Changes in the story from one state to the opposite state. Content / Sad / Mad / Content again.

5. Use of discoveries

Aristotle knew way back then that audiences love those moments where their hero learns something about themselves, or about another, that has a major impact on the direction of the story.

Strategies for Fluent Writing

1. Set a DAILY writing routine

Fluent writers prefer morning. The key is to set a habit of writing every day at a certain time. Try not to skip a day. Develop some momentum, and after a week of daily writing, you'll have a substantial amount of work done. Not a day should go by without a line.

2. Stay positive

Purge your mind of words like "procrastination" or writer's block." If you don't feel inspired, write about not feeling inspired. Or better yet, write about something that inspires you. Once again, just keep churning away, get that writing muscle in shape. Accomplishment has a tendency to make you feel good about yourself. 

3. Organize and prioritize

If you're anything like me, you have too many ideas floating around in your head. It's important to "clear the table" so you can focus on one thing at a time. Eliminate every distraction and dive in.

4. Always carry a notebook

A funny conversation overheard, an illuminating insight, a story idea--Life is in the details, so always carry a pen and notebook to record those wonderful moments presented to us.

5. Write the way you talk

This is the same as "write in your own voice." Writing should be invigorating, so just write as if you're talking to your best friend. Heartfelt, open, honest, YOU.

6. Don't wait to be inspired.

The muse is fickle, don't wait around for her to show up. Just turn on the machine and start churning away. The act of writing seems to attract her anyway.

7. Write with music playing

The only way to write with emotion is if you feel the emotion as you're writing. If music helps you tap into a more emotional state, then you should create a playlist for your writing time.

8. Simple is better

Be concise with your writing. People tend to remember and resonate with easily understandable concepts. As George Orwell says, "Never use a long word when a short one will do."

9. Always be honest

You'll find it much easier to write when it's flowing from your heart. Try writing about something you don't care about, and that's when writer's block suddenly appears. Write to make meaning in the universe, to touch and transform another, to create in reality that part of you that's beautiful and true.

10. Get inspired

Listen to music. Watch how kids play. Do something nice for a stranger. Good feelings leads to inspiration which leads to open mindedness which leads to higher creativity which leads to great writing.

Storytelling: Adapt or Die

Charles Darwin once said:

"It's not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, it is the one most adaptable to change."

It gets me thinking about the age of information we're living in. We're really in the midst of an "adapt" or be left behind in a cloud of dust. There's always the option of checking out of the modern world, but then you're looked upon as a new ager, a hippie, or at worst, a bum. I want to hang on for as long as possible. Not only that, but I choose to work hard to be at the forefront of things. Not everything of course. I'm not THAT smart. Just walking through Macworld Exhibit Hall, or the Ad Tech version I'm going to this week, completely zaps my strength. I love all the new techie stuff, but my brain fills up so fast and I become so mentally and physically exhausted that after about 30 minutes, I start looking around for an empty Exhibit Booth I can sneak in for a quick nap.

So I choose one aspect of this gigantic information typhoon we are being swept around in. It's storytelling. Not very technical, I know, but you watch enough You Tube videos and TV shows and advertisements and you realize that there is a great need for people who know how to craft a heartfelt story.

This world is moving way too fast, and we need new fablemakers to make sense of it all. The need for storytellers is, in my opinion, at an all-time high. In years past, we needed storytellers to record history. Prehistoric man painted scenes on cave walls. Mayans and Egyptians told stories through hieroglyphic symbols. Biblical writers scribbled in scrolls. Shakespeare wrote with a quill dipped in ink, and modern day storytellers write on a keyboard. As an aside, I recently purchased MacSpeech Dictate so I am experimenting with the dictation of my stories into a Word Document. I'm not much of a typist, so I love it. Plus, it helps me "write in a conversational style." 

Futurist Rolf Jensen talks about the importance of storytelling in his "The Dream Society: How the Coming Shift from Information to Imagination will Transform Your Business."

He says, "In the Information Society, our work has been driven by information technology; in the Dream Society, our work will be driven by stories and emotions, not just by data...Anyone seeking success in the market of the future will have to be a storyteller. The story is the heart of the matter."

But what's his definition of storytelling? Is it ads, movies, TV shows, novels, short stories, stand up comics? He explains...

(We're talking about) "stories about the universe and mankind's place in it, or they may be little everyday stories about who we are and who others are. These stories may be transmitted orally, in written form, through images, in plays or movies, or through the very products we choose to be surrounded by">

Cool interactive video stuff from Arcade Fire

Always ahead of the game with their videos, check out these interactive gems from the band Arcade Fire.

Make the singer juggle, clap his hands, and move around in this interactive music video for their new song/album Neon Bible.

Watch this dark yet alluring interactive video and play around with various tracks of the song. Don't like the drumbeat, click #2 and get rid of it. Be patient though, this one takes a while to load.

Waste of time? Probably. But it's pretty neato if you dig cool music and goofing around with cool graphics.

The Errant Hair

Now that I'm approaching 40, I've got some hairs growing in weird places. My wife found a nice one growing unsuspectedly out of my ear just this morning. According to this website, these are symptoms of my upcoming second puberty.

I love this quirky campaign by Phillips Norelco (makers of the Nose and Ear Hair Trimmer). The writing is silly, and the story is one every "maturing" man can relate to.

On a personal note:

You know, there's something "strange but beautiful" about that rogue hair that sprouts out from the strangest of places. It's like a magical gift from nature, and part of you wants to let it be, even nurture it, just to see how long it can grow. But of course, the wife doesn't understand. She just stares at it and says, "Are you gonna do something about that?" And you want to respond, "Yes, I've decided to let it grow, to let it be all it can be, then, maybe I'll color it candy apple red, or give it some curl, really spruce it up and showcase it." But you don't do that. You end up plucking it out. If its lucky, it ends up in a scrapbook for remembrance and safe keeping. After it's gone, all you can do is look forward to the next interloper that appears from some random pore. The exciting thing is that we have no idea where it will appear. The magic hair could appear anytime, anywhere. Oh and the day you discover it, oh what a day it is. You're disgusted and overjoyed all at once. Nevertheless, you embrace it, and stare in amazement that you could create such a glorious thing. You ponder its existence and think, "this is life." Soon you have to pluck it, but for a moment you experience pure creation, a remarkable hair that overcame all odds and made itself known to the world.

A creative revolution is at hand!

In the latest issue of Creativity Magazine, Nick Law, CCO of R/GA, writes an interesting article about the future of advertising. Here are some excerpts.

"Storytellers will keep coming up with "big ideas" as they've always done, but instead of putting them on TV, they'll figure out a way to "extend" them on the Web."

"You can't divorce the message from the medium (or, in this age of portable personal screens, the medium from the audience). Each time the medium changes, our relationship to the message changes. And in case you haven't noticed, the medium has been changing a lot lately. This has, in turn, complicated advertising."

"The copywriter and art director should now be a part of a flat, flexible, and modular creative team that understands technology and how the customer relates to it."

And in the same issue, Iain Tait, Founding Member and Creative Planner for Poke, London, says:

"Digital anthropologists, people who really understand what cultural change is happening as a result of people adapting to ubiquitous digitalness-will help agencies stay ahead of the game."

My take:

Brands have been telling stories for decades. But something new is happening. The brand stories these days have to be conceptualized not only to the target audience, but to their medium of choice as well. What does this mean? It means the storyteller/copywriter needs to be locked in a room with a technology whiz where they can work on new and inventive ways to express the brand story. Not only that, but they have to create a story line that the customer can interact with. It's not enough to simply tell a entertaining, clever, or funny story anymore. The creative team of the next generation has to welcome the audience into the story through interactive elements, allowing them to be actual characters in the narrative, and at times even giving the them the storytelling pen so they can write their own story about the brands they love.