Steep Yourself In Stories
Stories, good and bad, are great teachers for your own storytelling
Hello, fellow writer! You’ve stumbled across my old Substack on your writing journey. However, never fear, I am still talking about crafting a joyful writing practice, writing collaboratively with my partner, and just musing on writing in general over at my other Substack, Petra Glyphs. I’d love to see you over there. (And you can find all these past articles over there as well.)
I’ve skimmed the requisite books on writing, I’ve taken numerous writing classes, gone to several writing workshops, and I’m not saying they don’t have value, but I think the greatest writing and storytelling lessons come to us creatives when we’re saturated with the stories we love.
Here’s an anecdote I was told when I was a teen: A young person travels to the greatest jade authenticator in the land. They want to apprentice under them. The jade authenticator agrees. On the first day the mentor gives the apprentice a piece of jade and tells them to look at it all day long. The apprentice does so. The next day they are given the same piece of jade and the same instructions. This goes on for months. The same piece of jade, the same day of looking at it. And the apprentice is getting bored. Finally, one day the mentor brings a different piece of jade to the apprentice and tells them to study it instead. But the apprentice is fed up and looks at the mentor saying “I travelled all this way to learn how to become a jade authenticator. But you just make me stare at the same piece of jade every day. And now you want me to study this fake jade? I came to learn. Why aren’t you teaching me?” The authenticator looks at the apprentice and calmly says, “You have learned. And I am teaching you. You now recognize artificial jade.”
It’s a simple tale, but I think it applies to so many things. Stories included.
When you watch, read, or listen to stories, you learn them. You learn what makes them emotional, what makes them thrilling, what makes them sad, what makes them complete, what makes them happy, what makes them mysterious, what makes them something you want to be part of. And you most certainly know when you see a story that doesn’t do any of those things for you.
It’s not about going to school and having someone tell you what books to read, what movies to watch, and then telling you why you should like them or why they are important. Enjoying your own storytelling comes from recognizing what makes a good story for you. Recognizing what you want to mimic, what you want to avoid, and what you want to invent that doesn’t yet exist.
And, despite the cringe factor, it’s sometimes a good idea to sit with bad stories too. Because we need to recognize them just as easily. Know why we don’t like a certain storytelling tactic or tool or twist. Become good at identifying what exactly is missing. Recognize where the story went wrong. I’ll often watch most of the way through a bad movie (the kind that feels like it almost could have been good) just so I can identify why it’s bad.
Yes, approaching stories we love with more awareness may seem mildly scholastic. And approaching stories we dislike this way may seem boring. But I love it. I have ingested the stories I love so many times they have become part of my DNA. I can reenact most of my favorite movies and television shows from memory. And I don’t feel the time spent on bad stories is wasted either. I feel stronger after being able to confidently identify why a story wasn’t working for me. (Although, I will say, this bad story thing is to be done in small doses. Partaking of too many bad stories is like eating too much junk food, I start to feel pretty blah after a while.)
Now, unlike real and fake jade, good and bad stories are subjective. The book or movie you hold in your hand isn’t where the value lies. The true value lies in the way the story invites you to feel.
Part of the reason I enjoy telling stories so much is that I’ve absorbed so many stories. I know how they’ve made me feel. I want to recreate that feeling of awe or comfort or adventure for someone else. I know what I want each of my stories to do. And when I’m telling them that helps me recognize when I’m on the right path, when I’ve veered off into the woods, and to notice when the woods have a surprisingly better trail than where I thought I was supposed to go.
But I only trust myself to know these things because I have honed my storytelling senses through years and years of devouring other stories and steeping in them. You cannot imitate that which you don’t know and you cannot intentionally differ from that which is unknown to you.
Creation and innovation often come from knowing your art form so intimately that it’s like a piece of you. So, go read your favorite book again. Go rewatch your favorite tv show or movie. Go listen to your favorite audiobook. And ask yourself, what makes this great? Because one day, your art will do the same for someone else.
Love you, Petra ❤️
Inner Adventures
I know we’re all busy, so these inner adventures are only here as an offering (and may not be in every post). I’m including them as a little assist on the journey. Please feel free to ignore them if they don’t serve you. Or change them if you think there’s a better question for you — basically, ask the question you wish I had asked. And remember, no one is looking at your answers, so let loose.
~ What is your favorite book, movie, or television show? How does it make you feel? Can you answer why it’s your favorite story?
~ What is your favorite scene from your favorite book, movie, or television show? Why is it your favorite scene?
~ What did the storyteller do to build up to your favorite scene to make it feel right? To give you a sense of payoff or inevitability?
~ What is a story you almost liked, but just couldn’t? Can you identify what was missing?
~ Go partake of a great story. Enjoy it. Breathe it in. Let yourself get goosebumps, cry, laugh, feel curious. And know that’s all helping you become a better storyteller.
If you liked this post, I’d love for you to head over to my new home for Good Writing Days and leave a like and a comment. You can find all these past articles and my newest articles there.