Then I will begin…

In The Writers Tale I mentioned (or rather I used Russell T Davies to illustrate) that there isn’t a particular way to write. In fact, despite me obsessing about having the right ‘voice’ for my stories, the story is the most important part.

Particularly Project No.2 I know I have a very strong story, and though no story is original, through research I’m fairly sure my story is different enough. And good enough to eventually be a popular piece of literature (for a couple of months at least).

Story is more important than anything else. If you don’t have a good story all the other stuff doesn’t matter. My favourite example of this is Toy Story. If you ask people what was outstanding about it they will probably defer to telling you it was the first feature length film to be entirely in CGI (Computer Generated Imagery). That was significant, no doubt. But had it been a bad story it would have been a bad thing. Had it been a bad story it’s most likely CGI would have been blamed, and it might have had a hugely negative impact on an industry from the start. The story was the hero for Toy Story. It was the hero for Pixar, Dreamworks and anyone else making CGI features since. It was a good story that meant a new type of movie became a whole genre very quickly.

Taking part in a book club over the past few months has helped me see how a good story can triumph over bad writing, or a style that a reader isn’t comfortable with. On the other hand a book written well but with a bad ending is a book you probably won’t recommend. We’ve just read the The Time Traveler’s Wife and I know a lot of people find the structure of the book and storytelling style challenging. But despite that it is a popular book. That is because the story compels you to continue, and it haunts you enough to recommend it to other people. Again a great story more than compensates for the flaws. A great story makes the reader or viewer want to make the effort to get through a style that they find challenging.

Stephanie Meyer has come in for a lot of stick about The Twilight Saga. But did she ever say she was trying to emulate the great writers? No. She just wanted to tell a story. Not trying to impress critics. And much as people scoff at grammatical errors, and the style of writing, she has entertained us in our millions. She has compelled us to go and buy her books and read them as quickly as possible. And tell everyone else to go and read them too. In additional she’s made a hell of a lot of women (not just teenage girls, but fully grown women) fall in love with a fictional vampire. The story wins again.

I can’t help but bring Shakespeare into this argument too. Although Shakespeare is a genius, as a 15-year-old teenager Shakespearian language is a total pain. It is difficult to read and understand. It was the strength of the story of Macbeth that made me persevere. I really did struggle with it, but I loved it. It gripped me. It still does to this day. It’s a story that I will find exciting and clever for a lifetime. I really loved it. To this day I find Shakespeare difficult, but I still believe everyone needs to see Macbeth

It is my firm belief (and I have very few firm beliefs) that story is more important than anything else. It can be enhanced by how it is told. It can become legendary. But ultimately if the story is bad then nothing can redeem it. A great story will shine through bad writing or bad acting. Great writing or great acting can never save a bad story.

Over the centuries there must have been millions of stories, fables and myths told, many more than survive today. Stories that were told before people could write, let alone make blockbuster CGI movies. The stories that still exist, survive only because of the strength of the story.

The End.