Another Time, Another Place, Another story

A Presentation on Storytelling James D. Best Author of Tempest at Dawn, The Shopkeeper, Leadville, The Shut Mouth Society, & The Digital Organization Another Time, Another Place ... Another Story

Another Time, Another Place ... Another Story Working on Murder at Thumb Butte

A Little Background
Started writing fiction in 1998
Previously wrote non-fiction
The Digital Organization
Magazine columns
Journal articles
First book written Tempest at Dawn
Last book published Tempest at Dawn
Another Time, Another Place ... Another Story

Tempest at Dawn
Twelve year project
Novelization of 1787 Constitutional Convention
Inside Chamber—True to Madison’s notes
Outside Chamber — Conjecture
based on solid circumstantial evidence
Accurate character presentation
Alternating Points of View

The Westerns The Shopkeeper Leadville
Different Kind of Western
First person
Strong historic theme
Mining instead of cowboys
Unusual hero & bad guys
Appeals to women

The Shut Mouth Society
Started as a sequel to Tempest at Dawn
Changed direction for Lincoln bicentennial
Chase/Suspense plot
Contemporary story with a strong historical theme
Used what I knew

Storytelling Another Time, Another Place ... Another Story

What is storytelling
Possibly the real oldest profession
Storytelling takes the reader/listener to another time, another place
Storytelling can …
Entertain,
Provide moral lessons,
Transmit culture/heritage to the next generation,
Encourage social change

In the first fifth of the story, put the protagonist up a tree In the middle of the story, throw rocks at the protagonist In the final fifth of the story, get the protagonist out of the tree Another Time, Another Place ... Another Story How do you tell a story?

Great literature is also great storytelling Books read down the generations must be well written and good stories Another Time, Another Place ... Another Story

Another Time, Another Place ... Another Story Raymond Chandler “ It might reasonably be said that all art at some time and in some manner becomes mass entertainment, and that if it does not it dies and is forgotten. ”

Another Time, Another Place ... Another Story Tension
Tension between characters
Plot tension
Tension reflected in dialogue
Or even tension in time or place

Another Time, Another Place ... Another Story Protagonist
Cerebral—Sherlock Homes, Nancy Drew
Action—Dirk Pitt, The Bride
Thinking Champion—Philip Marlowe, Joan of Arc

Another Time, Another Place ... Another Story The Protagonist Roy Rogers Flawed Hero The Anti-Hero The Wholesome Hero John Wayne Chigurh

Another Time, Another Place ... Another Story Traditional Hero—As Defined by Raymond Chandler “… down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid. He is the hero; he is everything. He must be, to use a rather weathered phrase, a man of honor—by instinct, by inevitability, without thought of it, and certainly without saying it. He must be the best man in his world and a good enough man for any world. “The story is this man’s adventure in search of a hidden truth, and it would be no adventure if it did not happen to a man fit for adventure. If there were enough like him, the world would be a very safe place to live in, without becoming too dull to be worth living in.”

Another Time, Another Place ... Another Story Antagonist
The antagonist makes the story interesting
Must be formidable
Misdirection common
No norm, so wide open
F. Murray Abraham Salieri

Another Time, Another Place ... Another Story The Antagonist can be: A place A child Time A longing An animal A comic

Another Time, Another Place ... Another Story The Antagonist is often: A villain

Another Time, Another Place ... Another Story My favorite theatrical villain Alan Rickman Professor Snape Sheriff of Nottingham Hans Gruber Elliot Marston

Another Time, Another Place ... Another Story Villainy and Redemption Darth Vader Anakin Skywalker Moll Flanders

Another Time, Another Place ... Another Story Mrs. Iselin, a.k.a The Queen of Diamonds Villainy with Demagoguery

Another Time, Another Place ... Another Story Villainy disguised with a phony niceness Eddie Haskell

Another Time, Another Place ... Another Story Relentless Villainy Wile E. Coyote

Another Time, Another Place ... Another Story Depraved Villains Hannibal Lecter Cujo Voldemort Amon Goeth

Another Time, Another Place ... Another Story The Ghost of Christmas Past Dorian Gray Inner Villainy

Great storytelling
A story you care about—The Plot
With people you care about—Characterization
Transport audience—Description
Eavesdrop on interesting conversations—Dialogue
Another Time, Another Place ... Another Story Gets our hero out of the tree

Another Time, Another Place ... Another Story What next?
Murder at Thumb Butte
Prescott, Arizona, 1880
A who-done-it disguised as a traditional Western
Steve, Jeff, and Joseph will be back

Always do right—this will gratify some and astonish the rest. Mark Twain (1835–1910) Another Time, Another Place ... Another Story

Thank You

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Another Time, Another Place, Another story

by James D. Best on Apr 19, 2010

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Another Time, Another Place, Another story — Presentation Transcript