Storyworthy
Matthew Dicks
Estos son mis apuntes del libro Storyworthy de Matthew Dicks. Ya lo he leído varias veces, y creo que es el mejor libro sobre escritura creativa: tiene reglas claras y ejemplos ilustrativos. Presenta historias y luego explica como se construyeron.
Aconsejo leer el libro completo. Estas notas son de uso personal, para recordar los puntos más importantes.
English version: Part I. Finding Your Story No one ever made a decision because of a number. They need a story. — Daniel Kahneman
Chapter 2. What Is a Story? (and What Is the Dinner Test?) Tell your own story, not the story of others.
People would rather hear what happened to you — there’s immediacy, grit, and inherent vulnerability in hearing the story of someone standing before you. It’s real. If you have to tell the story of someone else, make it about yourself. Tell your side of the story. Stories are personal narratives. True stories told by the people who lived them.
A few requirements to ensure that you are telling a personal story:
Change
Your story must reflect change over time. You must start out as one version of yourself and end as something new. It can be infinitesimal. It might not even be an improvement in yourself or your character, but change must happen. Your Story Only
Tell your own story. Not another person’s story. But it’s fine to tell your side of another person’s story — as long as you are the protagonist. The Dinner Test
Any story must pass the Dinner Test: is the story similar to a story you would tell a friend at dinner? No poetry and no gestures. No unattributed dialogue. If you wouldn’t tell it at dinner that way, don’t tell it onstage that way. Be planned and prepared but be off the cuff and extemporaneous- don’t make it a performance, make it something like telling a story over dinner Chapter 3. Homework for Life The audience wants stories they can connect to.
To generate stories, ask yourself at the end of each day what story the day held: “If I had to tell a story from today — a five-minute story onstage about something that took place over the course of this day — what would it be?
Keep track of your answers. Just write down a snippet. A sentence or two that capture the moment from the day. This is the Homework for Life. Do this every day. It takes only 5 minutes. By practicing the act of finding stories, you’ll find more of them. Chapter 4. Dreaming at the End of Your Pen Crash & Burn
It’s an exercise of stream-of-consciousness writing. “dreaming on the end of your pen”
Write down whatever enters your mind — no matter how strange, incongruous, or embarrassing it may be. This allows you to generate old ideas and resurrect old memories.
Apply these three rules:
Don’t get attached to any idea.
The goal of the exercise is to allow unexpected ideas to intersect and overrun current ones. Release the idea you’re holding immediately when another one comes in. No matter how good it is. Don’t judge any idea or thought that appears in your mind
Everything goes on the page. Don’t worry about what it is. The pen cannot stop moving.
This is also a daily exercise. Do it daily.
Chapter 5. First Last Best Worst: Great for Long Car Rides, First Dates, and Finding Stories First Last Best Worst exercise
Label the top row (x-axis) of a page with the words “First”, “Last”, “Best”, and “Worst” along with a column labeled “Prompts” to the leftmost side. The prompts are listed on the y-axis. The prompts are the possible triggers for memories.
Fill in some prompts and fill out the rest of the cells. For example, what was your first kiss? Your best kiss? Worst kiss? And so on.
After completing the chart, analyze it. Ask yourself these 3 questions:
Do any entries appear more than once (the signal of a likely story)? Could I turn any of these entries into useful anecdotes? Could I turn any of these entries into fully realized stories? Mark potential stories with an S. Anecdotes with an A.
Part II. Crafting Your Story The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller. The storyteller sets the vision, values and agenda of an entire generation that is to come. — Steve Jobs
Tell me the facts and I’ll learn. Tell me the truth and I’ll believe. But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever. — Ancient proverb
Chapter 7. Every Story Takes Only Five Seconds to Tell (and Jurassic Park Wasn’t a Movie about Dinosaurs) “All great stories — regardless of length or depth or tone — tell the story of a five-second moment in a person’s life.”
The moments in your life when something fundamentally changes forever. These are the moments that make great stories. The moments we seek when we are doing our Homework for Life. If you don’t have a five-second moment, you don’t have a story.
Chapter 8. Finding Your Beginning (I’m Also About to Forever Ruin Most Movies and Many Books for You) You know the ending of your story now. Your five-second moment is the most important thing you will say, so it should be as close to the end of your story as possible.
The ending informs all the choices we make as we craft the rest of the story. Everything must serve our five-second moment. How, then, do you find the beginning?
Simple: Ask yourself where your story ends. What is the meaning of your five-second moment? Then ask yourself: what is the opposite of my five-second moment? The beginning of your story should be the opposite of the end. Find the opposite of your transformation, revelation, or realization. This is where your story should start.
Remember: Stories must reflect change. The change is what makes stories satisfying. Start as close to the end as possible.
When time and space is limited, it’s also easier to remember your stories. Your stories should be simple. When telling stories, your audience cannot just jump out and back in again. It’s like a river — always flowing. Make it easy to catch up if they fall off.
Practical tips for choosing an opening
Try to start your story with forward movement whenever possible.
You see this very much in movies. We open on the protagonist (or someone else important to the story) moving. Don’t start by setting expectations.
Don’t start with “This is hilarious” and so on. It ruins the story. Chapter 9. Stakes: Five Ways to Keep Your Story Compelling (and Why There Are Dinosaurs in Jurassic Park) Stakes are the reason an audience wants to hear your next sentence. They’re what makes a story compelling.
Five strategies to infuse a story with stakes
The Elephant
Every story must have one. It’s the thing everyone can see. Large and obvious. It’s the clear statement of the need, the want, the problem, the peril, or the mystery. It signifies where the story is headed.
It tells the audience what to expect. It gives them a reason to listen.
It should appear as early as possible. In the first minute or 30 seconds is best.
They can change color — the need, want, problem, peril, or mystery stated in the beginning can change along the way.
Never switch elephants — only color. Backpacks
Increases the stakes of the story by increasing the audience’s anticipation about a coming event.
It’s when a storyteller loads up the audience with all the storyteller’s hopes and fears in that moment before moving the story forward.
It’s an attempt to
Make the audience wonder what will happen next. Make your audience experience the same emotion — or something like it — that the storyteller experienced in the moment. Backpacks are most efficient when a plan does not work.
The audience wants the storyteller (characters) to succeed — but they want to see struggle and strife first. It should never be easy. “Perfect plans executed perfectly never make good stories. They are stories told by narcisists, jackasses, and thin-skinned egotists.” Breadcrumbs
Hinting at a future event but only reveal enough to keep the audience guessing. Particularly effective when the truly unexpected is coming. Hourglasses
Just before the moment the audence has been waiting for. An Hourglass slows things down. Grinding them to a halt. Stop the story cold. Bring everything to a halt. Describe things that don’t require a description. Crystal Balls
A false prediction made by the storyteller to cause the audience to wonder if the prediction will prove to be true. Chapter 10. The Five Permissible Lies of True Storytelling Important Caveat #1 Only lie for the benefit of your audience. Never for personal gain.
Important Caveat #2 Memory is slippery. No story is entirely true. That’s OK.
Important Caveat #3 Never add anything to the story that wasn’t already there. You can manipulate it in many ways, but never add something that wasn’t there.
Lie #1: Omission Lie #2: Compression Compressing your story to a smaller timeline is fine.
Lie #3: Assumption Lie #4: Progression Changing the order of events to make the story better.
Lie #5: Conflation Rather than describing change over a period of time, you can compress it a bit.
Chapter 11. Cinema of the Mind (Also Known as “Where the Hell Are You?”) Always provide a physical location for every moment of your story.
Your goal is always to create a cinematic experience in the minds of your listeners.
Chapter 12. The Principle of But and Therefore Use “but” and “therefore” (or synonyms) to connect elements of your story.
Using “and” provides no momentum.
The negative is almost always better than the positive when it comes to storytelling. It’s better to say what someone is not.
“I am dumb, ugly, and unpopular” as compared to “I’m not smart, I’m not at all good-looking, and no one likes me.” The second sentence is better. It presents possibility. The first is binary. By saying what you are not, you are also saying what you could have been. There’s a hidden “but”. Chapter 14. The Secret to the Big Story: Make It Little The goal of storytelling is to connect with your audience.
Big stories can get in the way of connecting. Not everyone can relate to your insane stories.
Chapter 15. There Is Only One Way to Make Someone Cry We cry because of surprise.
You need to build surprise into your stories.
It’s common to ruin surprise. Here are some common mistakes:
Presenting a thesis statement prior to the surprise
Failing to take advantage of the power of stakes to enhance and accentuate surprise
Failing to hide critical information in a story
Hiding the Bomb in the Clutter
You can hide important information by making it seem unimportant. Hiding it among other details. Camouflage
Camouflage the bomb with laughter. Laughter is the best camouflage. People assume you just wanted to be funny. Chapter 16. Milk Cans and Baseballs, Babies and Blenders: Simple, Effective Ways to Be Funny in Storytelling (Even If You’re Not Funny at All) Stories should never only be funny. The best ones use humor strategically.
Chapter 17. Finding the Frayed Ending of Your Story (or, What the Hell Did That Mean?) Stories can never be about two things.
You already know the ending of your story: your five-second moment. That’s what it’s about.
Chapter 18. The Present Tense Is King (but the Queen Can Play a Role Too) Present tense makes the audience feel that they’re with you in the moment.
Chapter 19. The Two Ways of Telling a Hero Story (or, How to Avoid Sounding Like a Douchebag) When you want to tell a success story, there are two strategies you should employ.
Malign yourself Marginalize your accomplishment Don’t attempt to be grandiose about yourself or your success. You have to undermine both you and it.
Why? People love underdogs. And people prefer stories of small steps over large leaps.
So just talk about a small step of your path to success.
Chapter 20. Storytelling Is Time Travel (If You Don’t Muck It Up) Another goal as a storyteller is to make the audience forget that the present moment exists.
But that bubble is easily burst. Here are a few ways to avoid it:
Don’t ask rhetorical questions. Don’t address the audience or acknowledge their existence whatsoever. No props. Ever. Avoid anachronisms Don’t mention the word story in your story. Downplay your physical presence as much as possible Chapter 21. Words to Say, Words to Avoid The words you choose will play a part in how the audience perceives you.
Profanity Don’t swear much.
Sometimes, it’s fine to swear:
Repeated dialogue When a swear word is simply the best word possible Moments of extreme emotion Humor Vulgarity This is the rule. If you’re speaking about a topic that would be awkward to talk about with your parents or grandparents, tread lightly.
Other People’s Names When you choose a name, make it similar. That way it’s easier to remember. (Sally becomes Sandy)
Celebrity / Pop Culture References Don’t do it. Don’t refer to celebrities.
You’ll alienate those who don’t know who you’re talking about.
It breaks your time-travel bubble. If you say someone looks like x, people will imagine that person there.
And it’s just lazy.
Accents Don’t.
Chapter 22. Time to Perform (Onstage, in the Boardroom, on a Date, or at the Thanksgiving Table) Make eye contact Control your emotions Learn to use the microphone Don’t memorize your story It’s hard to be authentic and vulnerable when you’re reciting lines. Memorize these 3 parts:
The first few sentences. The last few sentences. The scenes of your story.
Spanish version
Parte 1: Encontrando tu historia
Nadie toma decisiones por un número. Necesitan una historia. — Daniel Kahneman
Capítulo 1: Mi promesa
Storytelling es más un arte que una ciencia. Es una forma anciana de comunicación y entretenimiento que ha sido practicado desde que los humanos desarrollaron el lenguage.
Capítulo 2: ¿Qué es una historia? (y ¿Qué es la prueba de la cena?)
Tu historia debe reflejar cambio en el tiempo. Una historia no puede ser una serie de eventos notables.
Debes contar tu propia historia. No la historia de otros. Pero está bien contar tu versión de la historia de otros. No requiere corage contar la historia de otros. La gente valora la honestidad y la vulnerabilidad.
No cuentes la historia de otros. Cuenta tu versión de la historia de otros, si eres el protagonista en esas historias.
Nota personal: Es por esta razón que Maus de Art Spiegelman es una obra maestra. Es la historia de su padre, pero también es su propia historia, auténtica y con multiples perspectivas.
Storytelling no es teatro. No es poesía. Debería ser una versión ligeramente más elaborada de la versión que contarías de esa historia a tus amigos o a tu familia en la cena.
Capítulo 3: Tarea para la vida
La audiencia quiere historias con las que puedan conectar.
Nota personal: X es un campeón olímpico en Y. (frase interesante)
Incluso las grandes historias necesitan ser sobre los pequeños momentos que los grandes momentos. Encuentra las eventos, sensaciones o emociones con los que la audiencia pueda conectar.
Para generar historias, pregúntate al final de cada día qué historia tuvo el día: “Si tuviera que contar una historia de hoy — una historia de cinco minutos en el escenario sobre algo que ocurrió durante el día — ¿cuál sería?
Encuentra tu historia. Colecciónalas. Guardalas para siempre.
Pausa: Desnudo en brasil
¿Porqué compartes tanto de tí mismo? […] Estoy tratando de obtener la aprobación de una madre que nunca me la dio y ahora está muerta, y de un padre que me dejó cuando pequeño y nunca volvió a casa.
Capítulo 4: Soñando al final de tu pluma
Ejercicio de Crash & Burn:
Escribe lo que sea que entre en tu mente — no importa cuán extraño, incongruente o embarazoso pueda ser. Reglas: 1. No te apegues a ninguna idea. 2. No juzgues ninguna idea o pensamiento que aparezca en tu mente. La próxima frase es a menudo tan sorprendente para el escritor como para el lector. 3. La pluma no puede dejar de moverse.
Capítulo 5: Primero Último Mejor Peor: Genial para viajes largos en coche, primeras citas y encontrar historias
Ejercicio de First Last Best Worst:
Etiqueta la fila superior (eje x) de una página con las palabras “Primero”, “Último”, “Mejor” y “Peor” junto con una columna etiquetada “Prompts” en el lado izquierdo. Los prompts están listados en el eje y. Los prompts son los posibles disparadores de memorias.
Parte 2
La persona más poderosa del mundo es el narrador. El narrador establece la visión, los valores y la agenda de toda una generación que está por venir. — Steve Jobs
Dime los hechos y aprenderé. Dime la verdad y creeré. Pero cuéntame una historia y vivirá en mi corazón para siempre. — Proverbio antiguo
Capítulo 6: Ladrón de caridad
Capítulo 7: Cada historia solo toma cinco segundos para contar (y Jurassic Park no era una película sobre dinosaurios)
Capítulo 8: Encontrando tu comienzo (También estoy a punto de arruinar para siempre la mayoría de las películas y muchos libros para ti)
Capítulo 9: Stakes: Cinco formas de mantener tu historia atractiva (y por qué hay dinosaurios en Jurassic Park)
Capítulo 10: Los cinco mentiras permitidas del verdadero storytelling
Capítulo 11: Cine de la mente (también conocido como “¿Dónde demonios estás?”)
Capítulo 12: El principio de Pero y Por lo tanto
Capítulo 13: El secreto de la gran historia: hazla pequeña
Capítulo 14: Solo hay una forma de hacer llorar a alguien
Capítulo 15: Latas de leche y pelotas de béisbol, bebés y licuadoras: formas simples y efectivas de ser gracioso en el storytelling (incluso si no eres gracioso en absoluto)
Capítulo 16: El tiempo presente es el rey
Capítulo 17: Las dos formas de contar una historia de héroe
Parte 3
Capítulo 18: Storytelling es un viaje en el tiempo (si no lo arruinas)
Capítulo 19: Palabras para decir, palabras para evitar
Capítulo 20: Tiempo de actuar (en el escenario, en la sala de juntas, en una cita o en la mesa de Acción de Gracias)
Capítulo 21: ¿Por qué leíste este libro? ¡Para convertirte en un superhéroe!
Capítulo 22: ¿Por qué leíste este libro? ¡Para convertirte en un superhéroe!
Capítulo 23: ¿Por qué leíste este libro? ¡Para convertirte en un superhéroe!
Chapter 7. Every Story Takes Only Five Seconds to Tell (and Jurassic Park Wasn’t a Movie about Dinosaurs)
All great stories— regardless of length or depth or tone— tell the story of a five-second moment in a person’s life.
Understanding that stories are about tiny moments is the bedrock upon which all storytelling is built, and yet this is what people fail to understand most when thinking about a story.
Chapter 8. Finding Your Beginning (I’m Also About to Forever Ruin Most Movies and Many Books for You)
Forward momentum. These stories are going somewhere. We are already on the move. Jump aboard for the ride.
?
Don’t praise your accomplishments in any way. It is not your day.
Be self-deprecating, but only if it is real.
Don’t ask rhetorical questions.
It’s the offer of one final lesson
Don’t cater any part of your speech to the parents of the graduates.
Speak as if you were speaking to friends.
Emotion is good.
Don’t use a quote that you’ve heard someone use in a previous commencement speech. Don’t use a quote at all, if possible. Instead, be quotable.
End your speech in less than the allotted time.
it’s never too late to start something new.
Chapter 9. Stakes: Five Ways to Keep Your Story Compelling (and Why There Are Dinosaurs in Jurassic Park)
Boring stories lack stakes, or their stakes are not high enough. Stories that fail to hold your attention lack stakes. Stories that allow your mind to wander lack stakes.
“The laugh laugh laugh cry formula,”
This is why heist movies like the Ocean’s Eleven franchise explain almost every part of the robbers’ plan before they ever make a move. If you understand their plan to rob the casino, you can experience the same level of frustration, worry, fear, and suspense that the characters feel when their plans go awry.
Backpacks are most effective when a plan does not work. If
Storytellers use Breadcrumbs when we hint at a future event but only reveal enough to keep the audience guessing.
The trick is to choose the Breadcrumbs that create the most wonder in the minds of your audience without giving them enough to guess correctly.
There are certainly other ways to raise the stakes in a story, but these five strategies are easily learned and easily deployed. With a little practice, these will get you far.
then the story operates on a single emotional plane and is ultimately forgettable.
Stakes are essential in a story. Stakes are the gears that make stories work.
Humor
Chapter 10. The Five Permissible Lies of True Storytelling
George is right. Audiences don’t want redemption. Redemption cleanses the palate. It ties up all loose ends.
The strip-club moment should come just before that, because it’s always better to make people laugh before they cry. It hurts more that way.
I transform a moment into the moment.
using these lies strategically works great until someone who is directly involved in the story is standing beside you, listening.
Chapter 11. Cinema of the Mind (Also Known as “Where the Hell Are You?”)
Subrayado (amarillo) - Posición 2819 the goal of every storyteller should be to create a cinematic experience in the minds of every listener.
important: A great storyteller creates a movie in the mind of the audience.
Always provide a physical location for every moment of your story.
It’s almost impossible to imagine my grandmother, because there is no place to imagine her in.
I can use the way she pulled the weeds to foreshadow the way she would eventually pull my teeth.
That’s the trick. A simple one: Make sure that every moment in your story has a location attached. Every moment should be a scene, and every scene needs a setting.
Chapter 12. The Principle of But and Therefore
The ideal connective tissue in any story are the words but and therefore, along with all their glorious synonyms.
It’s a way of making a story feel as if it’s constantly going someplace new, even if the events are linear and predictable.
Saying what something or someone is not is almost always better than saying what something or someone is.
By saying what I am not, I am also saying what I could have been, and that is a hidden but.
Simple, positive statements are also preferred when answering questions. In answer to the question, “Who is Heather?” a statement like “my ex-girlfriend” is more effective than “She was once my girlfriend.” Short answers to simple questions should never feel dramatic or crafted.
Chapter 14. The Secret to the Big Story: Make It Little
The goal of storytelling is to connect with your audience, whether it’s one person at the dinner table or two thousand people in a theater.
creating a space of authenticity, vulnerability, and universal truth.
Chapter 15. There Is Only One Way to Make Someone Cry
I believe that surprise is the only way to elicit an emotional reaction from your audience.
- Avoid thesis statements in storytelling. 2. Heighten the contrast between the surprise and the moment just
before the surprise. 3. Use stakes to increase surprise. 4. Avoid giving away the surprise in your story by hiding important information that will pay off later (planting bombs).
Chapter 16. Milk Cans and Baseballs, Babies and Blenders: Simple, Effective Ways to Be Funny in Storytelling (Even If You’re Not Funny at All)
We like to laugh; we want to laugh. But we listen to stories to be moved.
surprise. “Car about the size of . . .” is my milk can. It establishes an expectation that whatever is about to follow will be approximately car-size.
Oddly specific words are also funny.
Babies and Blenders is the idea that when two things that rarely or never go together are pushed together, humor often results.
Chapter 18. The Present Tense Is King
I want you to be here with me. I’m loading you up with sensory information. The sounds and sights and feel of the train. I want you to feel that you’re occupying my space, experiencing time in the way I am experiencing it now. I want you to feel the weight of my son’s reluctant bladder.
Some things are told better from a distance. Urination, I think, is one of them.
But then I switched to the present tense when I admitted to crying in the restroom, because in that moment, I wanted you as close to me as possible.
Chapter 19. The Two Ways of Telling a Hero Story
- Malign yourself.
- Marginalize your accomplishment.
Chapter 20. Storytelling Is Time Travel (If You Don’t Muck It Up)
Don’t ask rhetorical questions.
Don’t address the audience or acknowledge their existence whatsoever.
No props. Ever.
Avoid anachronisms.
Don’t mention the word story in your story.
Downplay your physical presence as much as possible.
Chapter 21. Words to Say, Words to Avoid
Anne Lamott: “You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.”
Chapter 22. Time to Perform (Onstage, in the Boardroom, on a Date, or at the Thanksgiving Table)
Don’t memorize your story.
Make eye contact.
Control your emotions.
Learn to use the microphone.
Chapter 23. Why Did You Read This Book? To Become a Superhero!
“What’s the hook? What is the reason for my students to listen and pay attention to you?”
Videos recomendados
En el canal de youtube “Storyworthy The Book” hay 9 videos con historias de Matthew Dicks (en inglés).