“Go into the story and find the animals”
On May 16th, this humble blog will celebrate its 8th birthday. Eight years! In the run-up to this august event, I’m going to write an occasional post reflecting on what it is you and I do here. As always, I am keen to hear any advice and suggestions you may have, especially since the site will be transitioning over to Medium in the next few months in conjunction with my longstanding partnership with the Black List.
Today I thought I’d start at the beginning and answer a question I get with some frequency: Why did you name the blog Go Into The Story?
Many of you know the answer, but a lot of readers don’t, so allow me to regale you with one of my favorite personal anecdotes. It derives from a conversation I had with my then three year-old son Luke. I was giving him a bath, a bit distracted as I was contemplating a story I had been working on earlier. On a lark, I asked Luke a question:
Hey, Luke, I’m starting to write a new script tomorrow. And it’s funny, but no matter how many times I start a new story, I get a bit, uh, nervous about it. Got any, you know, advice for your dad?
My son peered up at me and without a moment’s hesitation said:
Go into the story and find the animals.
God as my witness, that’s what my son said.
I thought that was just about the greatest thing I’d ever heard. As I mulled it over for the next several days, I peeled back layer after layer of meaning.
For starters the whole idea of going into a story is precisely what a writer does, immersing ourselves in a narrative universe that we participate in creating.
But over time, it’s the other part in which I’ve discovered more and more layers of meaning. Start with the verb “find.” Is there any word more appropriate to describe the writing process? Here are some of its definitions:
* “to come upon by chance”: Doesn’t that sound like brainstorming?
* “to locate, attain, or obtain by search or effort”: Doesn’t that sound like research?
* “to discover or perceive after consideration”: Doesn’t that sound like what happens when we mull over our story?
* “to feel or perceive”: As we go into the story, we become more and more emotionally connected to it.
* “to become aware of, or discover”: The biggie, where as explorers we uncover a story’s hidden gems.
Then there is “the animals.” I’m almost sure what Luke was thinking about was how a children’s story so often is habituated by animals. Thus in his eyes, my task was probably pretty simple: Go find the animals. They are your characters. But what if we think about it more symbolically.
* Animals can be both domesticated and wild. So some things we discover as we go into the story are what we might expect (domesticated). Other times we’re surprised, even shocked by ideas and thoughts that spring to mind (wild).
* Animals are alive, organic, and intuitive beings. So are our story’s characters.
* Throughout human history, animals have come to mean something in stories. A fox is sly and cunning. A crow in many cultures signifies death. An owl is wise. Per Jung and others who study myth and psychoanalysis, animals can serve as conduits into the mind of the dreamer.
Which reminds me of something I read about a movie director who in prepping to make a movie gave each of the actors their own animal token as something they could reference in interpreting their character.
I’m sure if you think about it, you could probably come up with other shades of meaning for what Luke said, but suffice to say it’s become my favorite writing mantra both because of its layers of meaning and because of its source.
And that’s why I named the blog Go Into The Story.
If you have any thoughts about the blog, I would love to hear them. How do you use the site. What are your favorite features of the daily posts. And as I say, if you have any suggestions, please let me know.
Onward!