The ROCK

Find your story in the rock

Sometimes it is helpful to use a metaphor as a way to describe the writing process. It helps us to stay
focused on what it is we are actually doing. The metaphor of looking at the rock until it shows us the form it
wishes to be is another way of saying this: It takes both a firm grasp of the writing craft as well as the belief
in one’s own intuition in order to find one’s story.

The rock I refer to is not an actual rock. Writers make use of the whole mass of archetypes as they live in the
fables, legends, fairy tales, folk tales, bible stories, myths that have given us what we call now narrative.
Finding within this huge amalgam of plot lines the best one for your story is the task all writers need to
perform no matter what genre they write in.

It is a given that writers need to let two things happen at once when writing: The writer must know all the craft
elements in order to create what appears on the page and at the same time the writer must know and trust
his/her intuition so that it too can do its part to guide the writer in the quest for the best way to tell the story. You
can think of the writer’s craft as a set of rules for how to keep the words on the page and you can think of that
intuitive side as what ignites the writer’s imagination and gives it its own identity.

Since there is nothing efficient about the writing process, I thus make no big claims for it in terms of efficiency
or ease or any kind of time saving. It will not bring you instant success either. The one thing I do know about it
is that with the students I have worked with and for me, it has proven to be helpful. It opens up both sides of
the mind and lets them talk to each other so the writer can get to work every day.

The other good news about this way of learning to write is that it allows for all kinds of surprises. When one is
not worried about making up new plot lines but realizes that there are hundreds if not thousands of stories out
there but really just a minimum number of plots to consider, then the imagination is freed up to find what it is
the writer really wants to be writing about.

There is another wonderful aspect to this technique which is that the emotional impact of the story is much
more evident while writing. All writers need that emotional push, the energy to keep the work moving forward
and that will make room for the surprises and the enjoyment of the work itself.

When next you read a book or a story or see a film or watch a play, think about what the basic structure of the
story is and what it reminds you of. You can do this with every story you read and after a while you will begin to
appreciate that there is no new story, just new ways, your very own idiosyncratic way, of telling a story. That is
why when you look at that rock and see the real shape you want to get out of it, you are entering into the entire
world of literature, past, present and future, and connecting with all the other writers who are and have been
and will be. That is the most exceptional part of being this kind of artist, you get to hook into a larger world and
enjoy being a part of it no matter at what stage in the process you find yourself.

This is how and why I teach writing. If this interests you, please let me know and we can discuss getting
started.

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Teaching: The ROCK