how to use stories to build communities
1. tell your story to give energy to the community
2. give it as a resource, not as a way of promoting yourself or to
impress. be normal
3. speak your need + ask for help
4. don't look for trade + exchange + equality. just
ask for help
5. say thank you
6. build relationships for their own sake - not
to get somewhere else
7. make yourself useful by offering help and
expecting nothing
8. if you benefit from the community, show the
community that it worked
9. tell community stories to the community that
have these processes embedded in them
10. help + encourage others to make use of the
community
11. be open about + share your expertise in
finding how the community can help
12 if you're willing to talk to absolutely anyone, then you have something
to give (or sell) to people who aren't willing to talk to absolutely anyone
13. as you grow you need to be more explicit
to stay inclusive
2. give it as a resource, not as a way of promoting yourself or to
impress. be normal
3. speak your need + ask for help
4. don't look for trade + exchange + equality. just
ask for help
5. say thank you
6. build relationships for their own sake - not
to get somewhere else
7. make yourself useful by offering help and
expecting nothing
8. if you benefit from the community, show the
community that it worked
9. tell community stories to the community that
have these processes embedded in them
10. help + encourage others to make use of the
community
11. be open about + share your expertise in
finding how the community can help
12 if you're willing to talk to absolutely anyone, then you have something
to give (or sell) to people who aren't willing to talk to absolutely anyone
13. as you grow you need to be more explicit
to stay inclusive
how to have a global smash hit
by malcolm mclaren
"you need sex, style and subversion. if you have those three things, it's guaranteed."
"you need sex, style and subversion. if you have those three things, it's guaranteed."
13 things to think about when writing stories you want people to remember
1. It’s OK to be boring.
2. Ask 'What do I actually want it to do for me?'
3. What's it supposed to do for the person who reads it?
4. How will it do what you want it to do?
5. What are the memorable bits? And do those memorable bits help it do what you want it to do?
6. When you've written it, put it away and try to write down what you can remember. Go back and cross out everything you forgot. (or rewrite until it's memorable enough)
7. Read it out loud to someone and ask them to tell you what they remembered, then only use those bits.
8. Keep it visual. How would you draw it? How would you mime it? The visual bits are the memorable bits.
9. It can never be too short**
Kingsley Amis was challenged to write the world’s shortest novel. He used six words.
“For Sale. Baby shoes. Never used.”
10. Write the way you speak. Otherwise, whose voice are you using??
11. Details are always good.
12. Read George Orwell's Politics and the English Language
13. Keep it simple. Try shouting the story to someone in a crowded pub and see if they care.
2. Ask 'What do I actually want it to do for me?'
3. What's it supposed to do for the person who reads it?
4. How will it do what you want it to do?
5. What are the memorable bits? And do those memorable bits help it do what you want it to do?
6. When you've written it, put it away and try to write down what you can remember. Go back and cross out everything you forgot. (or rewrite until it's memorable enough)
7. Read it out loud to someone and ask them to tell you what they remembered, then only use those bits.
8. Keep it visual. How would you draw it? How would you mime it? The visual bits are the memorable bits.
9. It can never be too short**
Kingsley Amis was challenged to write the world’s shortest novel. He used six words.
“For Sale. Baby shoes. Never used.”
10. Write the way you speak. Otherwise, whose voice are you using??
11. Details are always good.
12. Read George Orwell's Politics and the English Language
13. Keep it simple. Try shouting the story to someone in a crowded pub and see if they care.
a story about 13 things that make a good story
try to REMEMBER a
SHORT man with black EYES and a spotted bow tie.
He walks into A PUB and a makes funny face.
A STRANGE EXPRESSION that he REPEATS again and again until it’s so BORING, people are laughing and dropping their pints.
He disappears. SILENCE. Then, with very GOOD TIMING, he reappears. We can suddenly see EVERY DETAIL - the threads loose in his bowtie, the stained hanky in his top pocket, the little slick of grease sliding through his hair like a wet duck.
AFTERWARDS, we FORGET NEARLY EVERYTHING. The only thing we can remember is his black eyes and his spotted bow tie. And that’s WHAT THE STORY WAS SUPPOSED TO DO.
SHORT man with black EYES and a spotted bow tie.
He walks into A PUB and a makes funny face.
A STRANGE EXPRESSION that he REPEATS again and again until it’s so BORING, people are laughing and dropping their pints.
He disappears. SILENCE. Then, with very GOOD TIMING, he reappears. We can suddenly see EVERY DETAIL - the threads loose in his bowtie, the stained hanky in his top pocket, the little slick of grease sliding through his hair like a wet duck.
AFTERWARDS, we FORGET NEARLY EVERYTHING. The only thing we can remember is his black eyes and his spotted bow tie. And that’s WHAT THE STORY WAS SUPPOSED TO DO.
Eight rules for working something out
1. get everything you have (ideas, bits of paper, lists, lists of people). put in one place, or write everything down.
2. pretend you're five and write about how you'd want it to work out, without worrying about if it's realistic.
3. pretend you're super-critical and miserable and cut down all the five-year-old's ideas until you have something very realistic and boring
4. pretend it's a beautiful, sunny day outside and you're in a good mood and you're going to give the five-year-old a break and maybe you were too sensible and make it a bit more like you wish it could be
5. now come up with every possible way of doing the thing and express it in every way possible - draw it, write it, make lists, make models, paint it, ring people up and tell them, interpretive dance, a song, more lists, screenplay, storyboard, tv advert
6. no take all of those versions and mock-ups and prototypes and bits of paper and destroy them all. so you have a totally blank slate
7. don't do anything. forget everything. just wait. at some point the worked-out idea will pop into your head. maybe just a word, maybe a whole plan.
8. the first step. go do the first thing
(weg der acht)
2. pretend you're five and write about how you'd want it to work out, without worrying about if it's realistic.
3. pretend you're super-critical and miserable and cut down all the five-year-old's ideas until you have something very realistic and boring
4. pretend it's a beautiful, sunny day outside and you're in a good mood and you're going to give the five-year-old a break and maybe you were too sensible and make it a bit more like you wish it could be
5. now come up with every possible way of doing the thing and express it in every way possible - draw it, write it, make lists, make models, paint it, ring people up and tell them, interpretive dance, a song, more lists, screenplay, storyboard, tv advert
6. no take all of those versions and mock-ups and prototypes and bits of paper and destroy them all. so you have a totally blank slate
7. don't do anything. forget everything. just wait. at some point the worked-out idea will pop into your head. maybe just a word, maybe a whole plan.
8. the first step. go do the first thing
(weg der acht)
Six rules for improvising
1. Choose a pattern
2. Repeat it
3. Vary it
4. If you make a mistake, incorporate it
5. Listen for what's needed and then add it
6. Whenever it sounds like music, do more of that
2. Repeat it
3. Vary it
4. If you make a mistake, incorporate it
5. Listen for what's needed and then add it
6. Whenever it sounds like music, do more of that
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