Light a fuse
Storytelling stuff worth sharing
So yeah, this feels great. Getting back to a regular ol’ Friday newsletter. Sharing some time with all of you out there.
And I’ll say again, all of you who checked on me and Rebecca and our pups? Thank you! And any of you out there recovering from the Helene-Milton double whammy? We are with you.
Storytelling Tip o’ the Week
I start every class (memoir, fiction, playwriting) with a 7-minute timed writing.
I slap a prompt or two on the whiteboard and give some quick instruction or context. For example, in a memoir class, the prompt might simply be “Lost.”
So I’ll say something like, “Write about a time in your life when you were lost. Maybe you found your way back. Maybe somebody found you. Maybe a guide appeared. Maybe it’s about how you got lost in the first place. Maybe it’s about a person or object you lost rather than you yourself being lost. Whatever ‘lost’ brings up for you, write about it.”
Or the prompt might be, “Two characters. First line of dialogue is, ‘Did you bring it?’ The ‘it’ can be anything. Setting can be anywhere. But your story opens with, ‘Did you bring it?’”
Then I remind everyone to “Write fast and write messy. Whatever you do, don’t stop writing, even if you’re just writing ‘I hate this, Jason is stupid, I don’t know what to write, seriously Jason is making my life miserable with this dumb prompt, I wish he was lost.’ Just keep writing. The physical act will slam crowbars into your mental padlocks till they pop open.”
I pause a moment. “Questions?” Usually half the class is already head-down writing. The others look at me with a mixture of thoughtful nods and wide-eyed panic.
“Seven minutes. Go.” I start the timer on my phone.
By minute three, every head is down and the only sounds are scratching pens and tick-tick-ticking tablet keys. A sacred focus sharpens. The community descends into exquisitely deep work.
When the alarm goes off, everyone inhales, like waking from a dream. They shake their heads, shake out their hands. Some keep writing, furiously trying to capture the end of whatever sentence the alarm interrupted.
And that prompted content becomes the rough material for their homework: next week’s finished story. They reluctantly put their still-steaming pens aside, and we start class.
There’s nothing magical about 7 minutes. It’s long enough to get that deep work groove going, but not so long we eat up too much of our two hours traffic together.
What’s magical is the focus that a timer creates. The urgency of the deadline. The tension of the ticking time bomb.
Writing hack 101 for creating suspense in your story: light the fuse on a bomb.
Doesn’t have to be a literal bomb. Could be the clock running down in a sporting event. Could be your beloved saying “I do” to the wrong person before you’re able to burst into the ceremony. Could be an enemy’s impending attack that you know is coming with the dawn.
Limit the time available to your characters, and BOOM. Tension. Suspense. Urgency. Stakes.
Likewise for you as a writer, limit your available time. Set a timer. Do a “sprint.” By setting an alarm, you have eliminated distractions and established priorities for the next however many minutes.
Impose the deadline on yourself. Deep work will appear.
Quick Recommendation
Ten-episode series on Apple TV.
SO GOOD.
Smart and stylish adaptation of the wonderful Carl Hiaasen’s 2013 novel.
Caveat: you have to enjoy Vince Vaughn being Vince Vaughn. If you don’t dig Vince Vaughn’s default setting—that wry and dry, rapid-fire patter—then this probably won’t be your thing.
But if you like quirky humor, a treatment of Florida that is both cold-eyed and warm-hearted, laughable yet airtight mystery-thriller plotting, and a dash of “Are curses real??”… then yeah. Check it out.
Quotable
To go along with the idea of lighting a fuse and writing fast/writing messy…
“If I waited for perfection… I would never write a word.”
—Margaret Atwood
The Podcast
The Page&Stage Podcast is back at it!
The next episode drops first thing MONDAY, and you’re gonna love it. I chat (well, “geek out” is probably more accurate) with my good friend, colleague, and fellow storycoach Michael Davis.
Michael is a renowned speaking coach. In our convo, he shares his compelling journey from being a child scared of public speaking to a well-seasoned speaker. A discouraging incident in first grade left him wary of audiences for decades. Then Michael found Toastmasters, which dramatically shifted his perspective and skillset, paving the path for his coaching career. This episode explores the power of storytelling and communication, as well as how personal experiences and even pets can enrich one’s journey in life.
Again, the episode isn’t live yet (first thing Monday!), but in the meantime you can learn more about Michael, his coaching, and his books at these links…
Watch for this fella’s handsome mug in your inbox first thing Monday morning!
Thanks as always for reading, and have a great weekend!
Jason “Seven Minutes” Cannon
As always, great Page & Stage.
Estrella