I'm big on story structure. I can't write a novel unless I have an idea of where I'm going. Of course, that structure will change as I write, but without that solid skeleton, I'm hopelessly lost and reaching for the Klonopin. I don't even begin to write until I've shown my detailed synopsis to Jeff Lyons, and I make him come to my online Stanford and UCLA classes (he now teaches at Stanford) every class. Now Jeff's written a book, ANATOMY OF A PREMISE LINE, available on ebook on Amazon July 1, from Focal Press. (Coming up later in 2016 is RAPID STORY DEVELOPMENT: HOW TO USE THE ENNEAGRAM-STORY CONNECTION to BECOME A MASTER STORYTELLER.
So why is Jeff so smart when it comes to story? He's had more than 25 years' experience
in the entertainment and publishing industries. Along with his past film and TV
consulting for major studios, production companies, he also works as a
developmental editor and story consultant and has written for
leading writing industry magazines such as: Script Magazine, The Writer
Magazine, and The Writer's Digest Magazine. He is the founder of Storygeeks, a
professional services company offering story development, training and
editorial services to writers. He is a popular presenter at leading
screenwriting trade conferences and teaches story development workshops
throughout the U.S. and in Europe.
And, he's also one of the greatest friends on the planet. Thanks for doing this interview, Jeff.
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Why did you write
this book? Does the world really need
another book on how to write better?
No, the world doesn’t need another book on how to write. The world has more than enough books on
writing, the world is glutted and drowning in how-to-this and how-to-that, when
it comes to writing craft. You are
correct. The world doesn’t need another
book on writing. Which is great for my book, because it’s not a book on
writing, or how to write, or what to write, or on anything related to writing.
It is a book about story: how to develop a story, how to structure a story, and
how to know if you even have a story. Anatomy
of a Premise Line is a book about story development. Writing and
storytelling are two different things and they have nothing to do with one
another. They are different skills sets and require two different kinds of
talents. You don’t have to have a pen or paper, word processor, or be anywhere
near a written language of any kind to tell a story. Stories can be danced, mimed, painted,
sculpted, or written, but stories don’t need writers. They only need storytellers. The problem is—and this is why I wrote this
book—storytelling (i.e., story development) is not taught in MFA writing
programs, or in film schools, or anywhere else, really. Writers are on their own, for the most part,
in developing their story development skill sets. That’s the need this book fills: this book is
the missing class you never got in that expensive MFA program, or film school.
What makes Anatomy of a Premise Line different than
all the other story development books out there.
That’s just it, there aren’t a lot of story development
books out there. In fact, there are
almost no books on real story development in the marketplace. That’s one of the differentiators for sure
between my book and other books, but the main differentiator is that Anatomy of a Premise Line teaches how to
leverage something called a “premise line” to discover and uncover any story’s
right, true and natural structure. Many writing books mention story premise in
passing; some might even devote a whole
chapter to the idea of “what is a premise,” but this is the only book devoted
entirely to the subject of premise development and idea testing. This is the
main differentiator between Anatomy of a
Premise Line and all other books on story development (the few that are out
there) in the marketplace. If a story is going to fail, it will first do so at
the level of the idea itself, i.e., at the premise level. This book teaches writers how to master this
invaluable tool and how to use it to uncover the perfect structure for any
story. Every story has a structure; every story must have a structure. If it doesn’t, then it’s not a story, it’s
something else. Anatomy of a Premise Line
teaches any writer how to use that structure to build a map that can guide
their entire writing process from inception to writing pages. By leveraging the
power of the premise line, a storyteller can learn how to harness the natural
structure of their story in one or two sentences. The book has many examples
from the worlds of film and literature demonstrating how this works. I liken it
to the old saying, “Give a man a fish and he eats for a night; teach a man to
fish and he eats for a lifetime.” Anatomy
of a Premise Line teaches you how to fish so you can create stories for
your whole life, not just muddle through one night of writing with some
flavor-of-the-month story technique.
What is the biggest
problem your book addresses for writers and storytellers?
Anatomy of a Premise
Line addresses the problem of, what I call, “premature writing.” Think about it, what happens when a writer gets
a new idea for a story? They get excited, they chew on the idea a little while
(very little), they get filled with anxiety because of the pressure to write
something—anything—and they just start to write. This is, in fact, the
consensus advice to writer, “Just write, don’t edit, don’t hold back, just do
it—just write. The story will write itself—trust the process.” Well, for a few
lucky souls this approach can work, the “just do it” strategy can produce some
useful writing, but for the vast majority of writes this is horrible advice.
Writers think that writing will get them where they want to go, but this is not
what happens. Instead, after a few
weeks, or months, and hundreds of pages they find themselves lost in the story
woods wondering, “Where did the wheels go off the wagon?” The story isn’t
working and they invariably have to backtrack to find their way again. I call this “backing into the story.”
Everybody does it—everybody, without exception. That’s the main problem this
book addresses, because when you are forced to back into your story you lose
writing time, money, and creative energy struggling to get back on track and
find your path again. This can be avoided completely! I’m on a mission to train
writers to hold back from the urge to relieve their creative anxiety by
starting pages before they know their
story’s structure. Develop your story’s premise first, figure out the basic architecture,
and develop your premise line; only then can you know if your story is going to
work or fall flat. You can know right at the inception of your idea whether or
not that idea will support a serious commitment by you as a writer. It can be
done. You can avoid “premature writing” and getting lost in the story woods, if
you let the premise development process guide you to the right, true, and
natural structure of your story—BEFORE you start writing pages. The premise
development process can literally cut your writing time in half by saving you
from getting lost in the story woods, and providing a solid story map that can
guide you thorough the entire writing process.
This is not exaggeration, this is what I’ve seen happen with literally
thousands of writers.
Is this book for
screenwriters or novelists? How about
creative nonfiction?
Story is story; writing is writing. They are not the same
thing. Remember, storytelling has nothing to do with writing. Writing is just
one form a story can take, and whether that form is a haiku poem, or a
screenplay, or a thousand-page novel is irrelevant. Certainly
screenwriting and novel writing are very
different activities, and each has its own peculiarities. But, Anatomy of a Premise Line is about
story, not writing, so I don’t care (nor does the book) what kind of writer you
are, in terms of your preferred format. All I care about is what kind of story
you are telling, and have you discovered your story’s right, true, and natural
structure. Consequently, the book makes
no preference as to screenwriting, playwriting, novel writing or creative nonfiction; it’s for anyone who
tells stories.
I really want to ask
you about how you write. What sparks a story for you? Do you have rituals?
The way I write is something I would not recommend to
anyone. In fact, avoid my writing process at all cost. I do EVERYTHING the
“writing advice” experts tell you not to do.
Here is my ritual: get up, have
coffee, feed the cat (so far so good), get on Facebook and spend an hour
kibitzing, get on Twitter and check statistics and notifications and respond,
get on LinkedIn and track all the mail/posts/messages, get on Stage 32
(Stage32.com) and respond to new contacts and review posts, write for a little
while, check email, check Facebook again, check Twitter again, repeat. This is my day. I spend as much time on social media
distracting myself as I do writing. I find
this is necessary for me. I need distractions to write. It’s counter intuitive, but that’s what works
for me. My day is from 8am to 12am
pretty much every day, seven days a week.
I’m writing and distracting myself all day long—literally. Run away from this as fast as you can and do
not do this if you want a life. You have
been warned. As to what sparks a story, who knows. I think it’s different for
everyone. For me it’s a mix of my personal neurotic fears and dreams and wishes
and obsessive desires. Right now I’m obsessed about the 11th century
because I want to write a novel about that period, and I’m all wrapped up in
the corruption of the Catholic Church and Popes, and kinky Cardinals and God
only knows where that’s coming from inside my subconscious mind. But, it is, so
I have to listen. What makes us write
the things we write are all very much about us working out our own personal
peccadilloes. So, somehow, right now, medieval Catholic perverts are my path to
emotional self-healing. Go figure.
What are you
obsessing about now?
Besides the 11th century, I’m obsessing about how
to build my self-publishing platform. I’ve been following the self-publishing
movement now for several years and I am convinced that the technology
platforms, the marketing tools, and the book packaging services are available
now to sustain any professional writing career—if the writer is willing to put
the time, money, and energy needed into building a real writing business. It is
now possible for writers to realize the dream of making a living as a writer,
not just a part-time job, not just a hobby, but a viable career. Two things are required: you have to produce
content people want to read and you have to understand how to build your
business and brand. It’s a huge job and a formidable undertaking, and not
everyone is cut out for it, but if you are then you can make it as a
self-published writer. Three years ago you could not really say that, but now
you can—and this “new” industry of self-publishing is only in its infancy, so
nobody knows the full potential. I have two traditional books being published,
and I’m determined to make both platforms work for me, with the self-publishing
platform being my main focus. You have to be in both places: traditional and
self-publishing. The days of just getting a publishing deal and letting the
royalties roll in are over (if they ever existed at all). Writers have to be in
multiple venues, on multiple platforms, and writing on a regular basis to make
a viable business for themselves. It’s lots of work and there are many learning
curves, but the tradeoffs are freedom, 70-85% of your profits, and 100% control
of your creative life. Not bad tradeoffs
in my opinion.
What question should I
have asked that I didn’t?
“Chocolate or vanilla?”
I still can’t decide.
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