Writing From the Bottom Up

                A very long time ago, long before stories were written down, in fact before there was much in the way of language at all, there was a caveman. His name has been lost to the mist of time, but perhaps it was Bob. Bob was out hunting as he had every day since he could hold a spear when out of the depths of the forest primeval lumbered a terrible bear. Not a small, relatively tame modern bear like a Grizzly or a Kodiak, but a horrible prehistoric protobear , superior in every way to its smaller cousins.  Until today, every caveman who had ever encountered a bear before had dropped their spears and run for their lives. Some lived, some died but all ran. Until today that is. For today something took a hold of Bob,  call it Fate, call it madness, perhaps it was misplaced rage because a similar bear had killed his hunting partner just a week before his retirement, but Bob didn’t run.  Hefting his lucky spear Bob howled his challenge at the bear and charged to meet his Destiny.  Later, sitting by the fire, with a brand new bearskin to ward off the chill of the encroaching glacier Bob showed off his sweet new scar, and for the first time ever,  in the primitive language of the cavemen, the Tale of Small versus Large was told. His cave man buddies gave him primitive high fives, and his cave woman mate was like “I am so hot for you right now”

                A couple of ice ages later,300 Spartans and some Thespians held the narrow pass at Thermopylae against several hundred thousand Persian soldiers.  And though they had little in common with Bob there was something in that battle, an echo perhaps of the caveman’s epic battle against the bear. The fear, the courage against dire odds, perhaps a sense of awe that they were actually doing the impossible. Though the Spartans all died their sacrifice had saved Greece.  All about the country the Tale of Small versus Large was told once more and Athens was like “I’m so hot for you right now Sparta”

                Again and again this story is told and though the names and faces change and the battles take many forms, from wars for independence to lawsuits against giant corporations to boxing matches against enormous Russians who couldn’t possibly be in your weight class they are all the same story, and they are all powerful.  The story of Small versus Large has endured all of these years because it is powerful.  It is powerful because it strikes some chord within all humans. Perhaps because we have all been small at some point and have felt threatened by the powerful the idea that sometimes small can stand up for itself and win is infinitely appealing.

                If you look for them you will find so many of these powerful stories that keep recurring throughout history and have found their way into modern fiction.  We have three of them in our Declaration of Independence.  How many great stories have been built on those eternal quests that drive mankind? Survival? Freedom? The chance to find Joy or at least peace in your life? The Shawshank Redemption had all three.  This is the secret to writing from the bottom up.  Look for the stories that really affect people. Chances are once you get past the details, they are the same stories that moved your grandfather and his grandfather, and his grandfather before him, because the Human stories endure.  The times change, and the fashions change, and new technologies replace old, but what makes us human remains as it ever was,  and always there are the stories. 

        When you figure out what it is that makes these stories so appealing, build your story right on top of that. It almost doesn’t matter then what the details of your story are, because this epic tale that has survived thousands of years of fans and critics is doing the heavy lifting. I call this writing from the bottom up because the energy of the story is welling up from Bob the caveman , through the Spartans, through David with his sling, and the Alamo, the Battle of Britain and Rocky Balboa and it’s just sitting there, waiting,  all that potential energy looking for an outlet through your story.

                When your story is sitting on top of one of the great stories, you have to work very hard to make it bad.  If you had never watched a Pixar movie, and all you knew about them was a synopsis would you ever have imagined that they could be as good as they are? Living Toys? Clown Fish? Rats that want to cook. Are the things you want to write about less plausible than those? Pixar movies are great because they’re telling Human Stories.  There is absolutely nothing stopping you from doing the same.

Writing Naked

                In the world of martial arts, almost any discipline you care to name is going to be largely concerned with balance.  If you don’t have it, you can’t really move, and if you can’t move, you lose.  Some styles describe that balance with the concept of the centerline.  It is more than just your center of gravity; it is where you are more than any place in the world.  Soft disciplines like Tai Chi or Aikido will try to hide the centerline or divert attacks around it in order to minimize the force that can be brought to bear on you. Hard styles though, like wing chun for instance will drive out from the center, because this is where you can generate the most power.

            That’s all very interesting you might say, but what does this have to do with writing? And why should I be naked? Is this some kind of trick? All very good questions. The point is that when you write, you expose yourself.  People who never met you begin to get an idea of who you are, and what you believe.  You become vulnerable. You set yourself up to be laughed at or criticized. If you let that make you self conscious, you start to try to protect yourself.  Instead of driving out from your center and saying what you really meant to say, you let your fear of being hurt make you write obliquely so that when the criticism comes it won’t hit you where you live, and in doing so you lose your power.

            Here’s a for instance.  Not too long ago one of my best friends got married.  I’ve known him since I was a kid, and he’s definitely one of the smartest, well read and well traveled people I know.  I worried a lot about what I would say if the moment came where I needed to give some sort of speech or toast. I wanted something heartfelt and appropriate but I think deep down I really wanted to come up with something that made it sound like I hadn’t fallen behind on the reading of important books and the pondering of deep truths and exploring the world. The day came and I still hadn’t come up with anything, but luckily the DJ cranked up “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, someone started moshing and  I dodged that bullet. If he were getting married today though, I might have said something like this.;

            “Finding someone to share your life with is kind of like going to the Wizard of Oz.  You feel a void in your life. Maybe you’re not miserable, but you’re not really happy either. You just know that something’s missing, and you don’t feel quite whole. So you go to the Wizard and he gives you brains.  If you are very lucky, the woman you choose to spend your life with will be smarter than you. Aside from the fact that intelligence is always attractive in women, a smart woman challenges you. It keeps a relationship interesting, rising up to meet that challenge, finding new ways to keep surprising her even when you’ve grown old together. Being challenged makes you better, and any woman worth marrying is worth becoming a better man for. 

 But the wizard isn’t done. He also gives you courage.  A man is never so brave in his life, nor capable of as much as he is when the woman he loves needs him to be. Having someone who believes in you is an immeasurable source of strength. I’ve seen it make the crippled walk, I’ve seen it outlast cancer. If there are miracles in life, the faith of one who loves you is surely one of them. I think you’ll look back one day and realize that some of the bravest moments of your life involved this girl.  Walking across the room to ask her out when you might have been shot down. Asking her to marry you when she might have said no. Holding her hand while she reenacts the dinner scene from Alien in the maternity ward, and those are the easy ones.

  If that weren’t enough the wizard gives you a heart and now you find yourself feeling things as you never have before, and if you are more easily hurt in ways that you weren’t before, you are also more alive.  You might find yourself watching a movie like Forrest Gump or Up, and really getting for the first time how everything that’s good in the world can come to be represented in a the form of a person and how wonderful and scary that can be.  Feelings like that are a powerful thing and they bring heartache and joy with them, but the joy makes the pain bearable and the pain gives the joy meaning.

 There is just one more thing. When you find a woman who brings all these things into your life, and you join your life to hers, you are home. So to my friend and his new bride I say, welcome home."

So I’ve got my wedding speech. I wrote it just now. Give it a little time, and I’ll start to worry.  “What if everyone thinks its stupid, What if they laugh at me. What if my buddies think I’m a wuss now and don’t want to hang out with me anymore? Wizard of OZ?  What was I thinking? So maybe I throw this away and go with something safer.

“Congratulations on your beautiful wedding. I know you’ll both be very happy. I wish you many happy years together. Cheers”  

Phewww! That was a close one.  No one will make fun of me for that one. In fact no one will remember it two minutes from now. DJ crank up the Teen Spirit.  One of these was safe. One of these can’t hurt me because it didn’t come from me. It didn’t say what I felt.  Didn’t make me feel exposed. One of these had no power whatsoever.

The greatest thing in the world for a writer to be is fearless.  If you can write with the brazen vulnerability of a Superbowl Streaker, then there’s a chance you’ll be able to create something really special.