Different Lenses: Media

As promised, this chapter is about different (general) ways in which you can tell a story. I am very interested in this and will probably do more of it in the future.

Why? In the chapter about Flashbacks, I told you that playing around with time is a great way to make a (simple) story more engaging. Simply by telling events in a different order, the story as a whole becomes more exciting.

The same is true for the ideas in this chapter. Telling a story through a different medium can make it better.

For example, you can tell a story only through letters. Each chapter is a letter from one character to another. There is no other narration or description. If you do this well, it can turn a simple story into a big mystery that grabs the reader.

It makes the story more interactive: the reader has to play along and think more to connect the dots. (While, in a regular book, those dots would be literally spelled out by writing the action.)

If it’s so great, why haven’t you used such structures more often? It is hard. It only fits certain types of stories. And it’s more risky, which means publishers won’t give your story a chance, which isn’t great if you’re starting out as a writer.

It’s a tough sell for a commercial novel. But those exact properties make it a great exercise to get better at writing.

Possible Media

Written

If it’s a novel, you’re looking at written media.

• Letters
• Emails
• Messages
• Notes
• Transcripts (of phone calls, meetings, whatever)

Visual

Of course, you can also do drawings. But it’s almost impossible to tell a story only through drawings. Even picture books and comic books have loads of text. That’s why, if you pick this route, the drawings should be a part of the book.

I have actually done this several times. The main story was supported by an image at the start of each chapter, or some drawings and icons along the way. These were part of the mystery or the story. But the bulk of the story was simply written in the usual way.

I have also drawn several picture books. But those were for older children, which meant the drawings were mostly supplementary, and each page had quite some text.

Audiovisual

If it’s a script (for film/tv/theatre), you’re looking at audiovisual media.

Other

You might think of any other “weird structure” in which to put your story. Really, you can make up any rule or pattern. As long as you consistently apply it, you can tell a story that way. (If you don’t follow your own rules, everything falls apart. If you tell a story through letters only … but then switch to regular prose for two chapters because it was getting hard … you’ve just ruined the whole idea.)

I try to invent some unique structure for each writing project. Just a small rule or pattern that governs how I’m allowed to write the story.

Yes, sometimes I hate myself for making things harder than they should be. But the result is often a more creative story, told in a way that feels fresh and exciting.

Now write!

Pick one of the structures I mentioned. The written ones are easiest (and have been done several times before). Write a story through letters or messages only.

Otherwise, you can invent some rules yourself. (As I illustrated at the “Other” section.) This can be anything, as long as they are interesting rules that you can keep up for a whole book.

Maybe your characters are not allowed to say certain words, or to get angry. Maybe every chapter has to start with the same sentence. Maybe you do a fight scene exactly once every ten pages. Maybe one of your characters cannot speak, so their chapters are communicated through drawings and gestures alone.

Maybe all your chapters are not allowed to be longer than one page. Maybe all your chapters go in reverse: they start at the end, then go back in time.

There are infinite challenges to construct this way.

I suggest you pick one or two that you like, and write a story that way.