navy storytelling workshop sept 2013

Agenda and references

Types of Features

Ref: Feature & Magazine Writing: Action, Angle and Anecdotes

by David E. Sumner and Holly G. Miller, pages 15-17

Story

Ref: Story Craft: The Complete Guide to Writing Narrative

Nonfiction by Jack Hart, pages 9-16

Action



Anecdotes


by David E. Sumner and Holly G. Miller, pages 5 and 118

Ref: A Writer’s Coach: An Editor’s Guide to Words that Work

by Jack Hart, pages 150-153

Ideas and Angles



Research and Interviews



Color: Observation and Details



Putting it all together

Navy

Storytelling

September 2013 Silverdale, WA

Coronado, CA

Norfolk, VA

types of features

Shorts

Interesting, informative and relevant nonfiction items of various lengths

How to How to transfer 9/11 GI Bill benefits to your dependents

How to prepare your house for the movers

How to conduct the perfect spot check

How to retake your ASVAB

How to convert into a new rate and advance quickly

Lists Five steps to get your budget under control

5 Places to visit during port visit

4 Ratings looking for Sailors now, ready to advance to PO1

Personal experience How I overcame my fear of R-Supply, became hero of my shop

My Struggle to Summit Mt Saint Helens, AKA Hell Climb

types of features

Profiles

A story intended to reveal the personality or character of an institution or

person.

Seasonal Pieces A story tied to a specific time on the calendar. Anniversaries, observances,

historic dates

Trends and Issues A phenomenon that is increasing or decreasing in frequency. A development that

affects a portion of the audience or something the audience assigns value to.

Inspiration and Motivation Pieces A story that teaches, inspires, motivates through highlighting a personal

example.

Dramatic Stories

A story that is about one person or group and one specific event.

story

Story = Action + Character + Complication + Resolution

Examples: Blackhawk Down by Mark Bowden

Soldiers battle Somali street fighters after helicopter crash

and attempt to get back to their base without being killed

Man Overboard

Sailors launch RHIB into freezing ocean and attempt to rescue

Sailor who fell overboard

Paying for child’s college

Sailor navigates complex websites and new rules to transfer

GI Bill benefits to child

Fighting for my son’s life when he wants to die

Sailor fights to understand suicidal son, resources available

“There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories.”

Ursula K. Le Guin

Action is people doing something

Tell stories about people doing things using:

Narrative = people doing things

Dialogue = people saying things

Exposition = explaining stuff

Description = describing stuff

Narrative moves the story from Point A to B to Z

Dialogue brings character to life

Narrative + Dialogue = Engine and Frame of story

Exposition + Description = Paint Job + Rims

“Readers love action, any kind of action, and the story that does not move, that just sits there justly labeled by some

editors as MEGO – My Eyes Glaze Over.” William Blundell, The Art and Craft of Feature Writing

action

People like stories about people

Use anecdotes; they are important for 3 reasons

1. They take a general topic and demonstrate it to the reader

through a specific situation.

2. They show people doing things so readers can see them, empathize

with them and imagine themselves in the same situation.

3. They make stories more interesting, add credibility and

believability

anecdotes

“My working habits are simple: long periods of

thinking, short periods of writing.” Ernest Hemingway

Ideas come from your experiences, observations and

conversations.

- Get out more. Walk, talk, look, listen

Events are not stories

ideas and angles

blundell chain

Navy Budget Reduced

Ship maintenance deferred

Sailors to do more upkeep maintenance

Ships spend more money on

Maintenance

Command Budgets reduced

Less money for departments

Less trained Sailors

Less money for training

Less money for departments

High risk evolutions

become riskier

Shipboard Safety decreased

Min

or

Mai

nte

nan

ce

def

erre

d

Minor Maintenance

deferred

Ship deployments extended

Extra stress on ships, crew

Maintenance deferred b/c deployment

Sailor retention decreases

Shipboard manning

decreases

Takes longer to accomplish task

Longer work hours = less sleep = more

tired Sailors

Takes longer to accomplish task

Longer work hours = less sleep = more

tired Sailors

ladder of abstraction

Damage Controlman Fireman John Doe

Sailors in DCFN John Doe’s Flying Squad

Sailors aboard DCFN’s ship

All Firefighters – military and civilian

All Sailors

Americans

All of Humanity

Everything there is

Your story = Sailor saves ship, people by putting out fire

Action: DCFN John Doe leads flying squad to the Aft Main Machinery Room which is on fire. Character: DCFN Doe Complication: First real fire, overcoming fear of failure Resolution: Leads hose team to extinguish fire

Story exits on a continuum from the absolute concrete to the abstract.

DCFN also represents all the other Flying Squad Sailors. This story also talks to what they accomplished. Description is more generalized though… “They wore FFEs, looked through face shields attached to their yellow helmets….”

DCFN also represents all the Sailors on the ship. They all were affected/worried by the fire.

DCFN also represents all Sailors. We’ve been there. We relate. We respect. Same thing with all firefighters.

DCFN’s struggles of fear, wanting to save others, wanted to be challenged, tested… they apply to all Americans and humans. We relate.

Great story moves us up and down the ladder of abstraction with ideas, themes that give us all something to relate with…

Good stories come from good research

- Read, ask, read more

If you can’t explain your story in one sentence, you

don’t have a workable idea

ideas and angles

Good research = good stories

Research past stories on the subject

Get bio information first; know who you’re interviewing

Conduct pre-interviews with many people around the story

Interviewing

Interviews aren’t conducted to just find quotes;

Interviews are conducted so you can understand the story

(and find anecdotes and quotes that breathe life into the story)

research and interviews

Interviewing basics

• Prepare a long list of questions you can’t find through research

• Phrase questions so they encourage the subject to express opinions and

feelings

• Don’t crowd the interview – give plenty of time for the subject to answer

and don’t ‘guide’ them to an answer

• Ask questions that elicit anecdotes

• Cluster questions into categories to keep their thought in one area at a

time

• Listen to the answers and try to ask follow-up questions

• Take notes about body language

• After the interview, take time to write down your observations during the

interview.

– How did the person talk? Fast? Slow? Deliberate? Did they take time to think first

and then answer? Reserved? Energetic? Rapid-fire?

– What were the mannerisms of the subject? Foot-tapping? Always checking email?

Relaxed? Warm?

– What were the subjects facial features? Kind, weathered? Quick to smile?

research and interviews

Authenticity

• We are there each day. Our world is normal for us, but exotic for most

others. Observe the surroundings. Make the SCENE part of your story.

– Written pieces: Use specific language to set the scene

– Audio pieces: Give me natsound bursts to fill my mind with what’s going on

– Video pieces: give me NATSOUND bursts to fill my mind with what’s going on

Specificity

• Use concrete words that add meaning

– Use specific nouns to add clarity

– Use specific verbs to add vigor

Details matter

• Was the subject wearing a flight jacket, or a flight jacket with 32

patches from her five deployments in eight years.

• Was the subject dragging tie chains across the flight deck, or was the 140

pound Sailor lugging 50 pounds of tie down chains strung over her neck

color: observation and details

• Entice me first

• Tell me people stories

• Understand what your theme is

• How does your story relate to people at different levels, different places

– The best stories are ones that people can relate to… they tell us

something about being a person

• Show me, don’t tell me

• Story = Action + Character + Complication + Resolution

putting it all together

navy storytelling workshop sept 2013

Education