Listening to Detroit 2
The quest of one boy becomming a writer
Prologue
It was just a few weeks ago when it happened. If I'm not mistaken, it was on a Thursday, one no different than any of the ones I've had before. Outside, children were playing, cars were coming by and the sun had swapped her place for the clouds. Any time now it could start to rain. Not surprising since I live in the Netherlands. Not that it would hurt. It had already been quite a while since the last rain shower. Also, I was inside, not to be bothered by the rain anyway. My laptop open in front of me, a cup of green tea on the right, and my favorite headphones were playing some new music on Spotify. It had been just a few days since Big Sean released his new album 'Detroit 2', which I had been listening to for the last hour and a half. But it was the first time I came across this interlude. Where his friend, Dave Chappelle was telling a joke to his audience in Detroit. These things happen more often, and normally I don't spend that much time listening to those little stories. This time was different, however. This man's voice, the way he spoke, and the calmness with which he communicated. It made me stop whatever I was doing and start to pay attention to his words; “One of the reasons that Detroit is my favorite market is because the audiences in Detroit, for a comedian I find to be particularly challenging” he said. Slowly, I took my hands off my keyboard, placed one on my leg while putting the other on my chin, just like the thinker statue. While Dave continues; “so when I go there, in this particular story. It seemed like a pretty bеnign night, and I'm sittin' in the dressing room at the Fillmorе. And there's an older gentleman in there. And I don't really talk to the guy much, but he was a nice guy”.
It felt like he remembered the story like he had told it hundreds of times before, but spoke with such a passion like this was his first one. It honestly was inspiring. For me, two things were clear. This man is confident in himself. He knows what he's worth and doesn't care when people tell him otherwise. Something that really can be of great value. Also, he knows what he's good at, telling stories, and how to bring this passion to his audience.
This honestly was one of the first times a small interlude started a fire within me. Sure, I've been interested in writing and telling stories for quite a while. But it has never been something I have actually tried to improve. At least, not consciously.
Harry Potter
For their 7th birthday, Storytel was giving away access to their entire library of books and audiobooks for free. Everyone who signed-up before the 7th of September would have free access for the coming seven weeks. It wasn't a coincidence that not much later, I found myself enjoying the entire collection of Harry Potter, which, by some miracle, I hadn't read before. During the first book, I started to understand why everyone who had read the books was so enthusiastic about them. I also began to question myself for not having read them before. Even though I am not much of a fantasy type a guy, or at least I thought so, I honestly enjoyed the series. A story about a boy, who lived the first eleven years of his life at the home of his horrible aunt and uncle. Because his parents died in a car accident. How this same kid got a thousand letters from Hogwarts, the largest school for magic and witchery, revealing him what he really is. World's most known young wizard. The boy who survived an attack from the lord of darkness while he was barely able to walk.
I pause the audiobook to check the time and notice it's already 23:14. “Oh boy, and I still have to brush my teeth.” Rushed I took off my earphones and put down my phone. Alright, tomorrow I have my first lecture at 11:25, but I want to finish some work before that. Let's set an alarm at 9 and get my toothbrush. I walk to the bathroom and squeeze the last of what's left inside the tube of mint toothpaste. As I start brushing, I look in the mirror and begin to wonder: how would I respond if I were in Harry's shoes? If I stood there in front of the person who killed both my parents. I don't even want to think about that, to be honest. But that's not for me to decide. After reading great stories like these, especially late at night, my brain can't keep but wonder, creating what-if scenarios and whatnot. This time was no different. I spit out the toothpaste, rinse my mouth, and go to my bedroom. “Just let me double-check if I've set an alarm and turn off the lights.” Trying to fall asleep, knowing that I will probably be at Hogwarts for the first half of my dream.
A storytelling assessment
Ugh, what a night. I was actually in Hogwarts, flying on my broomstick. Well, let's see what time is .... 11 am already?! I completely missed my alarm! That never happens. Let's quickly grab some coffee and head over to my laptop to be present at my online lecture. It can start any minute. If only the coffee machine would start working. Those things are just like printers. They never work when you need them to. This time, it's asking to refill the water, empty the container, restart the machine, and whatnot. At 11:24h, I was ready, my coffee was, and I was waiting to attend the online lecture.
“For our next assignment, I want you to become an expert. You are going to research one of these six creative fields” our teacher says and brings forward the next slide of the PowerPoint. “This sounds interesting! I've always loved to learn new things. Maybe there is something I already am interested in that's available”, I thought to myself.
Pixar in a box
Well, there were some interesting topics to choose from. Two of which had specifically drawn my attention. Them being creative leadership and storytelling. Since at that time, I didn't prefer one over the other, I waited before claiming my spot.
Not much later, Malu, one of my team members, decided to research creative leadership, leaving me with storytelling as my available favorite. I told the others what I wanted. And before I even knew, my brain was already thinking of ways to work on this project.
Like most of us, I found myself browsing the internet soon after. 'How to tell great stories' was the first thing I tried to use in search of some valuable information. Thousands and thousands of search results appeared. “Let's go through a few of them,” I thought. A website called 'theartofcharm.com' was one of the first things to show up. After the third pop-up in under a minute appeared, my mouse quickly found its way to the top right of the screen. Just there where the close button was eagerly waiting to be pressed.
“Do you remember that book you recently bought? It was made by Pixar. What a better way to learn about storytelling than to hear from the masters themselves”, I thought to myself. Well, finishing a complete book wouldn't fit my time frame and therefore wasn't a viable option. Let me see if there are some other options available. It was not much later when I found myself watching their entire course about storytelling they created for Khan Academy.
One of the first lessons was all about asking questions. Questions that will inspire me to write a story. Even though they were all different, there was one thing they all had in common. They all started with 'what if'. 'What if a rat was a top chef?' 'What if toys could talk?'. “What if... I wanted to learn how to write a story within a week? Yes, that would be a good one! I'm going to make a story, in which my journey towards becoming a storyteller would take place. What else do I need?
According to Pixar, I've got to think about the environment. A place where the story will happen. Which, in my case, would be, the world we live in right now. Just to keep it realistic. And, and then... the character would be me! A 20-year-old student who will be introduced somewhere at the beginning of the story.
But how will I introduce myself? The reader should get to know me through my behavior, my actions, and the goals I pursue. Well, my goal would be clear; becoming an expert in the art of storytelling within a week'. What is quite a great name actually, 'the art of storytelling'. I remember that it's also the name of a song from the Outkast. Man, I love music. The type of music I listen to really dictates the vibe I'll find myself in for the next few hours. Besides that, it can also be absolutely inspiring.”
And then, it hit me. Music is inspiring! Sometimes it's even so inspirational that, you can start an entire story from it. I opened my notebook, grabbed my pen, and began to write; 'It was just a few weeks ago when it happened. If I'm not mistaken, it was on a Thursday...'
The above story is written as part of my journey to becoming a storytelling expert. The used Resources and their learnings are:
Khan Academy — Pixar in a box, the art of storytelling.
I've made a complete summary of all the lectures of the first two modules: those can be found in the link: https://www.notion.so/juulmous/The-art-of-storytelling-Pixar-in-a-Box-Computing-Khan-Academy-5d2ce5bfc5404c6ba4ac144da64cdeae. By pressing on the arrows left to the text the toggles will expand.
Some ideas drawn from the article will be shortly summarized below:
What if question -- All great stories start with a what if question. Mine was 'what if I wanted to learn how to write a story within a week?'
World and character -- A story always includes a character, that experiences a journey in a specific world. In my case I wanted to keep things close to home by making myself the main character and the world the one we live in.
Character development, internal and external features -- Every character has some internal and external aspects, that make him unique. In my case I described myself externally by the stuff I'm using, the laptop, coffee cup, phone etc. The internal things were my habits, listening to music, Harry Potter, drinking coffee etc.
Stakes -- Each choice a character makes has potential risks, impacts and rewards involved with it. Some of my stakes were the fact that I listened to the album of Big Sean. Without this I probably would not have written this particular story.
Save the Cat Writes a Novel - by Jessica Brody
How to Outline Your Novel with the Save the Cat! Beat Sheet. (2020). Retrieved 15 October 2020, from https://www.savannahgilbo.com/blog/plotting-save-the-cat
According to this book, every great story uses multiple the 15 beats the author came up with. Those beats are created after countless great books and movies have been researched, until one common pattern emerged.
Beat 1: Opening image
“A single scene beat that shows a “before” snapshot of the protagonist and the flawed world that he or she lives in.”
In my story: I show my world by telling about the bad weather, my room and the music I listen to.
Beat 2: Theme stated
“A single scene beat in which a statement is made by someone (other than the protagonist) that hints at what the protagonist will learn before the end of the story.”
In my story: “I've been interested in writing and telling stories. But it has never been something I've been working on. At least not consciously.” By including this last sentence I will build some tension and introduce that I (probably) will learn something about storytelling.
Beat 3: Setup
“A multi-scene beat in which the reader gets to see what the protagonist’s life and the world are like–flaws and all. It’s also where important supporting characters and the protagonist’s initial goal (or the thing the protagonist thinks will fix his or her life) is introduced.”
In my story: I tell about what my world looks like. How I'm not feeling well, the coffee machine that is not working and how I'm listening to Harry Potter late night, who also is newly introduced.
Beat 4: Catalyst
“A single scene beat in which a life-changing event happens to the protagonist and catapults him or her into a new world or a new way of thinking. In other words, after this moment, there’s no going back to the “normal world” introduced in the setup.”
In my story: the 'life-changing event' is the fact that Malu chose to develop her creative leadership, which left me with storytelling (my other choice).
Beat 6: Break into two
“A single scene beat in which the protagonist decides to accept the call to adventure, leave their comfort zone, try something new, or to venture into a new world or way of thinking. It’s the bridge between the beginning (Act 1) and middle (Act 2) of the story.”
In my story: by starting the Pixar course I accepted the adventure of learning how to become an expert storyteller.
Beat 8: Fun and games
“A single scene beat that introduces a new character or characters who will ultimately serve to help the hero learn the theme (or lesson) of the story. This character could be a love interest, a nemesis, a mentor, a family member, a friend, etc.”
In my story: you can see me thrive by literally following my thought process as I'm going along through the course and start to write this exact story.
Feedback from an old friend
To further improve my story I asked an old high school friend for feedback. I knew he really understood the English language and had an interest in theater, so he knew quite a bit about storytelling as well. Thanks to his feedback I was able to fix some extra grammar and punctuations mistakes. He also provided me with some feedback about what he liked and disliked.
The Two Minutes It Takes To Read This Will Improve Your Writing Forever — Josh Spector on Medium
This short, but incredibly useful article provided me with some insights about how to make your writings look more professional. The advice I aimed to use the most was to shorten my sentences. Even though some might still be a bit long, it's something I really saw improving during my work. Besides, I tried to not use the word 'that' too often since it can weaken your sentences.
Storytelling — Become An AMAZING Storyteller!!! On YouTube
This short video explains every story consists of three parts, a setup, the story and an ending. Even though for most this is no new information, the way it was presented in the video was quite interesting.
Setup: because you can't just start with telling what you want to say, you have to introduce your story first. I did this by providing the audience with some information about my current situation. In the setup you also hint to what you will tell about. By saying that I've had an interest in telling stories, but never tried to work on it, at least not consciously. I build tension and introduce the topic of my story.
Story: in the story part you tell about what happens, this basically is me listening to Harry Potter and following the classes.
Ending: here all the information from the last two parts come together and formulate into one. I did this by starting to write the exact story you just read. This was my 'punchline'.