Finding a Great Story

If you’re reading this article, and especially if you keep reading to the very end, I’m fairly certain I can predict two things about you:

1. You’re a storyteller.
2. You want to be better at it.

The first guess was easy. Because we are ALL storytellers. Whether you see yourself that way or not, from the time you were wearing diapers, as soon as you could string enough words together to talk about something that happened to you, you became a storyteller.

The second prediction grows out of the fact that my entire career is about helping people tell better stories that will have a deeper impact on audiences and readers.

If you’re an entrepreneur, filmmaker, author, marketer, consultant or speaker, you must tell emotionally captivating stories in order to grow your business and help people live better.

So if I’m right about those two things, then I have a third prediction I’m pretty sure is also true:

Even if you’re a blockbuster screenwriter, a bestselling author or a 6-figure business leader, before long you’ll again be asking yourself, “What is my NEXT story going to be about?”

And your inevitable frustration, panic or despair will take one of two forms:

• If you’re a film or fiction writer, it’ll be the terror of the blank page.
• If you’re an entrepreneur, because your stories are about yourself, your successful customers, or your role models, you’ll tell yourself, “A million things have happened to me and my clients. So how am I supposed to find the one that will make a good story?”

But never fear. I’m going to tell you the VERY FIRST STEP you should take on your quest to find your next great story.

Storytelling Step #1: LOOK FOR DESIRE.

Because we’re now in the thick of the holiday season, let’s take a look at the movie ELF. Chances are that the origin of the story was the idea of making a Christmas movie about one of Santa’s elves.

I don’t know whether that was screenwriter David Berenbaum’s original concept, or if someone else pitched it to him, but somebody probably figured, “There are about a hundred movies about Santa Claus, why don’t we make one about one of his helpers?”  

Great idea!

But to put that story in motion, the first question Berenbaum had to answer was, “What does this elf want? What will drive the action of the story and take it toward an emotional ending? What will audiences be rooting for?”

His answer became this simple concept:

Buddy, an orphan raised by Santa’s elves, is told by Papa Elf that he is actually a human. So buddy goes on a quest to find his biological father in New York City.

In the course of the film, Buddy will eventually want to overcome his father’s rejection, find true love, help save his father’s business, and ultimately rescue Santa himself. But that initial desire is the source of all of the others, and turned an idea into an actual story with real potential.

If you’re a storyteller who lives in the world of make believe, just imagine something the hero of a story might want. Your subconscious might present that idea to you in response to something you saw or heard – even another book or movie. Or maybe you have no idea where the idea came from. It doesn’t matter.

The starting point of your own screenplay or novel might just  be  a real or imagined character who intrigues you, whom you want to explore and develop, and with whom your audience will empathize. But until you identify what that character desires, all you’ll have is a situation, or a series of events with no emotional payoff.

If you’re telling stories for business, where your goal is to persuade people to take action, you don’t have to wait for an idea to bubble up from your subconscious. Just ask yourself, “What is something that I desperately wanted in the past?”

Whether it was winning someone’s love, making a million bucks, overcoming a physical challenge, or just finding a perfect hot fudge sundae, if it drove you to action, you’re ready to begin your story.

If you ask the same question about the desires of former clients and customers, and you or your product helped them pursue those goals or solve those problems  in some way, then dozens more stories will appear.

All that matters is this: if you think other people might enjoy a story about someone pursuing one of those desires, you’re ready to go to work.

No more blank page; and no more overwhelm.

My final prediction is that you’re thinking, “But what do I do next? How do I know if people will be interested? What if it’s not a story worth telling?” 

Don’t worry. In upcoming newsletters, I’m going to dive deeper into the qualities of desire, along with the three other essential elements that form the foundation of every great story.

But this article is about finding a possible story. A minute ago you had nothing at all to work with. And now you do.

So I have an assignment for you:

In the midst of your shopping, wrapping and celebrating, I want you to come up with three possible story ideas for your next speech, screenplay, webinar, book or blog, based on a DESIRE the hero of your story might pursue.

Then just fill in the blank of this sentence:

My hero wants to _______________________ .

If you start coming up with more ideas about any of the concepts, great! Jot them down and keep playing with them. But to prepare for the next step, all you need is three of those sentences.

And I’ll guide you to your next steps.

Until then…

Happy Holidays