Page 42 - PLATINO EDUCA

42 1. “All stories are already told”

Yes, our story, for sure, has already been written by someone.

This, which at first may seem dreadful, is actually an extraordinary opportunity to stop
racking our brains about what we are writing and focusing on how we write it.

The way we narrate and the angle we put on things are unique and personal. The form
is where the true originality of a story lies - that’s why The Lion King and Hamlet tell the
same tale but are different stories.

2. “Write what you know“

A very common mistake when writing is copying stories that blow our minds. For
example, I love The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972), but that doesn’t mean I
can write a story about the 1960s Italian American mafia in New York. If I did, it would
be a poor and very uninteresting one because I’m not a mobster, I don’t know Italian, I
haven’t been to New York, and even my parents weren’t born in the 1960s.

3. “Pay attention to references”

It is just as important to consider the films that we like (what works about them? What
makes them great stories?) as it is to know which paths we should not take. There are
unsuccessful movies written with very good intentions. Let’s study them to find out
what is wrong with them and try to avoid making the same mistakes.

Three tips: write personally, write about what we
know and study references (Marcel Oosterwijk /
CC BY-SA 2.0)