THE STORY SPOT

Franco Sacchi tells the story of how, against all odds, Nigeria created the world’s 3rd largest film industry. Producing 40 to 50 independent films per week, Nollywood exists largely without foreign investment nor government aid. Many films are made within a matter of days for less than $10,000 and are the filmmakers’ primary means of supporting themselves and their families.

Filmmakers produce “stories about our people from our people” carrying on a tradition that is as old as communication itself. As Sacchi says, “The key to a healthy society is a thriving community of storytellers. The Nigerian community has proven this.”

Franco Sacchi: Welcome to Nollywood on TED.com

Who knew? It’s so very exciting to have 100 story enthusiasts with us here at THE STORY SPOT via the Twitter service. We’re relatively new to *actually* using this simple yet powerful service (though we’ve been interested lurkers since Day One). It’s been brilliantly rewarding to interact with you all in this meaningful and immediate way. So thanks everyone.

This week, Blake/Evenlake, the man behind http://domesticfather.com and http://evenlake.com became the 100th person to follow THE STORY SPOT via Twitter. To celebrate this completely random yet momentous occasion, we awarded Blake with a gift of a free story consultation service. He seems happy about it all so that’s a good thing. We’re quite thrilled ourselves. Congratulations, Blake and thanks for coming along for the ride.

To the rest of you out there in Lurker Land, through the end of 2008, Twitter followers of THE STORY SPOT may purchase any one service from our menu and receive 20% off the listed price. Yep, that’s right. To get this very special offer, send a direct message via Twitter to @thestoryspot with the service you’d like to purchase. We’ll get back to you with your 007-style discount code. But you must “follow” to get the goods.

Tweet Tweet, y’all. Spread the word.

My advice is [that] you have to sit in the chair and you have to read other people’s stuff and you have to do it all the time. If you can do those two things, you’re well on your way.
– Donald Ray Pollock

Donald Ray Pollock is a newly published writer who was recently interviewed on Michael Silverblatt’s Bookworm. The quote above is taken from that interview.

Incidentally, authors are not usually invited to the show having published a single book. Pollack started writing in his forties, left his long-term occupation in his small town to pursue his MFA, and talks of how his life has changed as a result of his leap into the creative great beyond.

Knockemstiff by Donald Ray Pollock on Amazon.com
Pollock on KCRW’s Bookworm
Pollock’s official site

Our very special guest, Blake Snyder, author of the bestselling (and indispensable) Save The Cat! series of books on screenwriting, offers THE STORY SPOT’s readers guidance on that notoriously difficult pillar of any story: The Midpoint. (We’ve added the product links below to help you find your way.)

Read on »

Writers of Creative Non-Fiction and Memoir tell their true-to-life tales using the same ancient storytelling techniques that writers of invented tales employ. We all work to capture attention, create immersive dream worlds, and memorably move our audiences. But at times, it may seem as if truth and fiction share no common edges.

Don’t be fooled.

CNF, memoir, biography, autobiography, and other truth-based narratives aren’t all that different from a good old-fashioned work of fiction in shape and intent. They do however, present their own set of unique challenges not the least of which is separating author from narrator from main character.

In 2006, William Zinsser spoke on NPR about the challenges of writing personal history. His book, “How to Write a Memoir” offers this advice: Read on »