The power of story for personal growth
Inside Story's impact on writing and life
My latest recommendation is a writing craft book but it’s so much more than that. It’s full of wisdom about being human, about our modern culture, about the flaws and beauty in our hearts and societies.
Although it is a book on how to write screenplays, I’ve used it to develop my novel and short story writing craft. To grow as a writer, as a teacher, and as a person. I think it’s probably the book that sparked my need to become a slow writer. To know that we need to change the stories we’re telling ourselves about what being human is.
In Inside Story: The Power of the Transformational Arc by Dara Marks this is what she says about storytelling in the introduction, among many other profound things, that really captured my heart and mind.
When I was young and living in a scary and violent home, reading novels quietly in my room, and writing stories of my own, was what I did most of the time to keep away from the chaos. I fell in love with fiction, where no matter how bad things got everything always turned out okay in the end. Then as I grew older I stayed out of the house a lot but when I was home, I read a lot of horror. Mainly Stephen King, Clive Barker and Dean Koontz. Which made what was going on in my home seem not so bad in comparison; and also no matter what went on in these books, at the end the good guys were always alive. Battered and bruised mentally and physically, but still here, still moving on. So when I was old enough, I would be able to get away too.
I didn't know that this was my reasoning at the time. It’s hindsight that has taught me that my reading patterns were related to my home life. Because when I left home at just eighteen, I stopped reading horror and I started reading character driven stories that were about people overcoming the normal everyday horrors they’d encountered in their lives.
And when I started writing fiction again as an adult, what was driving me, alongside the fact that I had always wanted to be a writer of stories, was the desire to connect to readers in the way the writers I’d read had connected to me. To show them they weren’t alone. That good could still come no matter what. That stories could help us turn our experiences into higher consciousness and understand ourselves and everyone else better.
But then I got all caught up in the mainstream publishing world and forgot for a while about what story really can, and needs to do. But I came back to myself and started slowing down. Then I started writing The Mindful Writer which led to the development of the Slow Writing Movement. And last week I started reading Inside Story from the beginning again. Because I know I will always be learning, changing, growing, making steps forward and steps back. That my life is made up of more than one transformational arc.
What I have come to learn is that we experience birth and death constantly — of hopes, dreams, relationships, fears, jobs, writing projects, night and day. So the life and death at the heart of our stories, is not just the one that happens to our physical bodies. We are always living through the death of something. But, we can choose to keep moving towards growth, change and development, rather than decay. And I definitely do. And I choose for my characters to move that way too.
What about you?
Have you read this book? I’d love to know what you think of it? Or are there other writing craft books you’d recommend that have the power to change us as well as our stories?
You can see the other books and films I’ve recommended in this series here.
With love,
Come write with me
I have lots of upcoming courses, workshops and now also a writing retreat. I used to run four or five tutored retreats a year until the lockdowns. Now I am starting up again, albeit on a less frequent basis. My first retreat since February 2020 is taking place in November 2024. I am excited!
Workshop: Crafting Short Stories: Reeling Readers In
Sat 18 May 2024 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM BST
Join me for a Zoom workshop focused on creating compelling openings to short stories. We will look at the ways in which you can open a short story to ensure that a reader will want to read on. We’ll look at lots of examples and you should bring a short story you’re working on to find ways of editing the first paragraphs to make it compelling.
Course: Edit Your Novel
Starts: 25th June 2024
This 6-week course will give you tools and resources to ensure:
your novel is compelling and the story delivers on what you promise;
the characters are memorable and three-dimensional; and
the reader is going to be invested in the outcomes so they read right to the end.
All of the content for each workshop is online for you to access 24/7 and work through when suits you best.
Each week, you’ll share some of your draft based on the tasks set for each workshop to get feedback from Amanda and your course mates. In total, you’ll be able to share up to 12,000 words of your draft for feedback throughout the course.
“This course was such hard work, but so rewarding. Amanda walks you through six aspects of your novel draft and gives you the opportunity to really focus and think about the decisions you've made. Her feedback is encouraging yet she isn't shy to point out where she thinks your story can be better, your words work harder. This course will push you in directions you didn't know your work needed to go. I definitely recommend.” — Martha Lane
The Short Story Retreat
17th - 23rd November 2024
Join me for a tutored writing retreat in the Devon countryside this winter. It’s taking place in two adjacent cottages with three bedrooms and two bathrooms each, plus wood burning stoves to keep you cosy and warm, where you'll have a room of your own, time to focus on your craft, and hearty vegetarian meals to fuel your writing.
The retreat also includes four writing workshops all about the art and craft of short story writing. The workshops will focus on developing a single short story over the course of the week. You can bring one with you that you are already working on, or you can start writing a new one from the prompts and exercises provided.
My thanks this week go to new friend and kindred spirit, , who kindly tried to use my tip jar and discovered that the Buy a Coffee page I’ve set up isn’t accepting payments. If you too have tried to tip and had problems, thank you and sorry! If you enjoy my work you can now leave me a tip via the following link.
I really like that second quote, Amanda, "a space that lies just outside of what we know about ourselves." I love it when my writing takes me to that space, and I notice when it doesn't, when I'm keeping my writing too controlled, too neat and tidy. Thanks for reminding of the possibilities inherent in writing.
Thanks for sharing this book and your experience. I didn’t know about till now but will check it out. Novelists can learn a lot from screenwriting, especially since movies have programmed audiences to expect a certain story arc.