By John Bao
These two concepts look contradictory at first glance, but lately, I’ve found that the best kinds of stories (or at least in my opinion!) always have the element of an authentic voice, no matter the genre or medium. You can write about fantastical worlds with magic systems or futures where we can imagine new frontiers, but remembering to incorporate authenticity keeps the story grounded. It keeps it relatable and, most importantly, it will be how you develop your voice!
You might say, “Duh, isn’t that how you’re supposed to write?” As a writer who mainly writes in mediums outside of short fiction like screenplays and film criticism, it took me a while to come to that realization. In film writing, you often have to consider the business side of things. Is this a marketable concept? Is my logline memorable? Coming up with a more unique concept can involve having to invent new kinds of stories and you can get caught up in the details of worldbuilding. When pitching your ideas, it’s these attention-grabbing ideas that are highlighted to potential investors and collaborators and not the human element. I found that happened all too often when I wanted to make sure I got the details right, in order to avoid breaking immersion, especially for genres like psychological thrillers and science-fiction.
Whenever I had others read my actual drafts though, I found that they highlighted the human elements of my stories – the deeper conversations between characters over their conflicting values, or when evoking the mundanity of everyday life. Maybe I did too good of a job with the details that they didn’t even notice it. I’d like to think that it’s the strength of the dialogue which has a basis from the conversations I have in my own life that carry the story in the end.
Even in non-fiction mediums like criticism, adding in how you felt as you experienced the story helps put into words for others how they felt about the story. It allows them to connect not only to your emotions but even more so to the original writer, whether or not they particularly liked the work. It allows for a deeper understanding.
It can be scary to write authentically from your own experiences. Artistic expression requires vulnerability. When your heart is out there in the open for everyone to see, any kind of comment can sting. It’ll all be worth it when you hear heartfelt feedback from your readers and audience members, though, and the negative reviews won’t even matter in the end. It really does provide that sense of connection more than almost anything in the world and continues to be what keeps me writing.
The next time you outline your story, try leaving some space for your authentic voice to come out. You’ll be surprised to see the results of it!
John Bảo is a Toronto-based emerging filmmaker. He recently graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in psychology and cognitive science but found a passion for film and screenwriting. He is currently in the midst of writing a few screenplays, both shorts and features, as well as learning about storyboarding for animation. He’s currently working on small indie film sets and at local film festivals to meet other like-minded filmmakers.
The views and opinions expressed in blog posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of all WiT members.
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