Storytelling and writing: two different talents

Last night, once again I was reminded that there are two strands to be an author of fiction. First and foremost is storytelling. This encompasses the creation of stories with its attendant characterisation, setting and plot structures. Then there is writing or the manipulation of language.
To tell a story, you don't have to write. Stories can be told in pictures or with sounds. You can tell a story orally.  And to write, you don't need to tell a story. Writing can be a list, an essay and is simply the act of putting words on a page. It can be poetry or it can be as dry as dust. It can have a soul or not be very deep at all. But the act of writing does not guarantee a well-formed narrative.
When you have the marriage of the two, you get an author. It is the combination of two talents -- the ability to tell a story and the ability to manipulate language on the written page that creates an author. No one person is equally adept at both.  In commercial fiction, the ability to tell a story outweighs nuanced language. Sometimes in literary fiction, it is the other way around and the poetry of the image and symbolism can hold more sway. There are reasons why commercial fiction is more accessible to the masses.
Once you accept that there are two types of talent, then the question becomes not how much talent do I have, but how can I maximise and make the most out of the talent that I am given. How can I achieve its potential?
 The truth is that you are capable of far more than you think but you have to be willing to work at it. It is not easy. You have to learn to play to the strengths of your talents rather than playing to what others might think. If you adore heavy symbolism, do you want to write a rom-com? If you need the action and adventure rush, do you want to write a tale that is mainly internal and gentle? Conversely if your talent lies with exploring the depth of human relations within a family, do you want to write a thriller? Work with the themes you are drawn towards. Explore the ways you like to tell stories.
You have to accept that storytelling takes maturity because it deals with the human condition. The maturity to tell a meaningful story comes to us at different ages. The desire to tell stories may happen earlier. There are reasons why successful novelists as a general rule tend to be older --- unlike say mathematicians who tend to do their best work early for some reason. Life adds depth to storytelling, rather than taking from it. For example for women, having children can add a resonance and understanding that wasn't there previously. The stories you write in your forties will be different than those you wrote in your twenties.  This doesn't mean that good story tellers don't exist in their twenties btw. It just means the average age for a successful novelist tends to be older.
But however the mix of your talent, it is up to you maximise it and work with it if you want to be a successful novelist.

Throats and spayed dogs

My voice remains a distant memory. My throat aches. The doctor informs me that Laryngitis is in 98% case viral and so it is a matter of time rather than antibiotics. I have started gargling salt water, drinking honey and lemon, spraying my throat with chlorosceptic when the coughing gets too bad, sucking on boiled sweets. If it goes gets worse, I can go back...

Tess was spayed yesterday. She is six months old and I most definitely did not want puppies. Plus spaying early (before the first season) is supposed to provide some measure against breast cancer in female dogs. It will mean she does not have to go through PMT and nor will there be a mess to clean up. Neither will I have to beat farm dogs off with a stick when we are out on walks. Equally, I did not want an incestous relationship as the chance for inherited defects rockets.

With Hardy, he will be done about a year old. Males are slightly later developers and there is no medical benefit to be being done early. Thus I want to wait until he is mature and his personality has had a chance to develop. But it is important that he gets done as well. I have no wish to breed and lots of other bahavioral problems can get solved...

My main problem now is keeing an active collie quiet. She needs to be on the lead. Tess is also wearing a cone as she has a tendency to try and lick her wound. Apparently smearing it in vaseline will discourage other dogs from licking as littermates in particular will groom eachother.

I am also blogging at Totebags today about the hard work required to become talented.

And finally a picture of all three of the dogs together last Sunday in the sun room. Just because.

Is talent a myth?

My CP, Donna Alward has just read Outliers which she says is very good. It is one of the recent crop of books that asks what is talent and does talent have to be honed. The answer tends to be yes and it takes many hours. The question for most people is do they want to spend the time and are they honing the right skills.
There remains a persistent story, probably enhanced by the film Amadeus that Mozart just was. Nothing can be further from the truth. Mozart practiced. At first his father worked him hard, and then he worked. It was how he supported his family. Mozart was that good because he put the time and effort in. He also loved music.
If you look at any of the top athletes, they do practice their skills. They probably practice them more than anyone. The great Australian cricketer and possibly the greatest cricketer ever, Don Bradman famously played for hours as child hitting a golf ball with a stick. He did it because it was fun.
Or if you look at dancers, the amount of time someone like Twyla Tharp spends in dance class etc. As she said in her book, The Creative Habit the top ballerinas spend more time at the barre than anyone else.
If you read Blake Snyder, you will see that the top film moguls know movies inside and out and still love them.
Get a group of writers together and what do they discuss -- writing. The top authors do spend lots and lots of time working. Successful authors read and have read since childhood, absorbing the love of words. Many have written and scribbled away. Nora Roberts' work habits are legendary.
Some say without practice, talent is latent and asleep. With practice, talent blossom. Like anything, it is a matter of using it. It is also a small matter choosing the right bits to hone. This does go back to the whole being willing to listen. People who succeed have honed the right skills. I need to remember this and not to keep practising and polishing the same thing but to honestly look at what can be improved and see how I can go about it.

Now I need to get back to my copy edits for Compromising Miss Milton but I think I will get Outliers and one or two others for my TBR pile as Anne McAllister has not come up with my summer inspirational reading book yet...

Deciphering McKee's Story

Trish Wylie asked me very politely if I could tell her why McKee's Story was great or if I had some pointers. In other words - -why do I keep it on my bedside table? Why do I reccomend it? It is a large book and if it just overs the same goround....

So I am going to do a small series on some of the more important points in McKee's book. These may not be everyone's but they are mine. Hopefully it will convince some to pick uip this book or at least to ponder his ideas.

What i am talk about today is Powers and talents. It is a short but I think hugely important part of the book. It actually gets to the nub of the craft of Story.

According to McKee and I have no reason to doubt him, there are two types of talent in story writing.

First is Literary talent. This talent uses words and is the putting together of words to form images. It is a common talent. A lot of people can produce wonderfully descriptive writing. But literary talent does not necessarily lead any where. A description of a sunset stays a description of a sunset. There is no movement. The base material of literary talent is words.

Story telling talent is much rarer. It is the ability to hold an audience, to tell a story in such a fashion that the audience is transfixed. It is what causes the pages to be turned. WIth storytelling talent, even the most mundane can be exciting. The base material for story talent is life.

Commercial publishers buy story telling talent. They want page turning reads that people come back to time and again.

The desire to relate an incident in an intersting manner shows that you have some sort of story telling talent.

It is the combination of the two talents that results in a truly great writer.

Talent can not be taught, but it can be control by the learning and studying craft. You do not need to have studied craft to produce a publishable book, but if you want to stay published over the long term, you need to klearn how to control your talent. You need to learn the why behind the rules. You need to master forms and not formula. It also makes it much easier when editors come back and say -- this is wrong with your novel. With the knowledge of craft, you can see how to rewrite and make better, rater than flapping around in the dark and hoping. Craft is what allows the writer to control her environment, rather than having her environment control her.

Because I apt to have attacks of the crows of doubt. Or simply to forget. Rereading the passages where he says these things makes me feel better. It gives me the breathing space I need. It means that I don't have to get things right the first time, because I know I have learnt the craft tools to get it right when it dfoesn't work.

In other news: the Late Night Praty ducks have discovered the compost heap. where they hide. Then as I return from locking the other ducks in the duck house, one quacks, very loudly, making me jump. The LNPD then rush across the bridge. They consider this a good game. Particularly as we then play round and round the duck house and the other ducks come out and join in the fun. I find it less amusing.