In 2012, I went on a holiday to an island resort, where I got the idea for Stuck on Vacation With Ryan Rupert. It came through me as a scenario I wanted to explore: what if my protagonist was stuck on an island with her first enemy, had a massive fear of the ocean, and they fell in love?

A week later, after being separated from my laptop and having days to ruminate on and develop this idea in my mind, I sat down and let this idea flow through me. I started exploring this potential relationship dynamic between the characters, setting up the stakes and storyline, and having the time of my life writing.

Within a week, the book was finished. All 40,000 words (that later expanded to 60,000 words when I rewrote and fleshed out the book three years later).

But my point being… I wrote a book in a week. And a lot of people still ask me how I did that.

The practical answer is: I was a high school student on school holidays, with a lot of free time and zero responsibilities. I got up at 7am every day and wrote straight until 9pm (sometimes 11pm) and channeled a lot of creative flow.

But the strategic answer is: I used the Storyteller Method, a unique method I properly developed years later when I got a better grasp on my writing process, and was able to identify my signature approach to writing.

The Storyteller Method

The Storyteller Method is founded on the principle that all good writers are storytellers first, writers second.

Writing is just our chosen medium for telling our stories. Other storytellers might do it through filmmaking, or marketing, or even music. But us writers tell stories through novels, and this means that to write a great book, you don’t need to be the best at the craft. You just need to be a great storyteller at heart.

Good stories will trump poor writing time and time again; look at Wattpad as a key example, and all the poorly written stories on the platform that have millions of readers hooked on a viral storyline. Look at all the mediocre books that get published each year and have thousands of raving readers.

Even Sarah J. Maas’s first book in Throne of Glass was sub-par compared to her writing today. But it didn’t matter, and launched a freaking literary empire because enough people read that book and went “I loved this story, give me more.”

Poor writing can be fixed later. But a story is the heart of the entire book—if your story is shit, you’re just fucked. That’s why I always say to trust your gut when a good story idea comes to you—the ones where you know it’s worth exploring further. Your intuition knows a good story concept, and it never lies.

My unique way of approaching book writing stemmed from doing drama in high school, because I used to be better at writing a script than I was at acting. 

With amateur play production, you don’t have a grand, broadway-worthy set or cinematic music or even costumes at your disposal to hook the audience. You have the plot you put together, the characters you develop, and the conflict that hooks your audience. And it turns out, you don’t need all the bells and whistles to keep your audience engaged if these are done well.

The same principle applies to writing a great book. The craft of writing only enhances an already great story.

The Storytelling Elements (e.g. Narrative of Writing)

There’s a reason that the first inklings of a great story always come to me in the form of an interesting character (or couple dynamic), a clever plot twist or a unique type of story I want to tell. Whereas, the art of great writing is rarely what lights my soul on fire. I don’t get out of bed yearning to write lush prose, that’s all just practice and part of the process. What gets me out of bed is what’s going to happen in my story, and to my characters.

And trust me, that’s what keeps the reader reading too.

I think of writing similar to any premium experience. Like shopping at a high end boutique or sitting in at a fancy high tea. The bells and whistles (like a private shopper assisting you or being treated to the finest champagne or having the best spot in the house) certainly amplifies your experience, making it memorable and giving it quality and polish. But all of that is pointless if you hate the bags the store is selling, hate the food your high tea is serving—hate the foundation of what you’re buying.

Before you can wow your readers with your craft, you have to have something worth crafting. And that’s why, in all of my first drafts of writing a book, I only focus on the ‘storytelling elements’ of my book (as outlined below).

Not only does this allow me to get my first draft down quickly (because it’s just a foundation of the book), it also allows me to fully channel the story aspect of the book and focus on telling the best story possible. So let’s go over these elements:

Plot

Your plot is one of the most important elements to a good story. It dictates what the story is about and why people feel called to read it.

When I teach brand building workshops, I ask authors to get clear on the types of stories they write for their audience. I’m not just talking about genre here either—what makes for a signature you book? What themes do you write about time and time again, and why? Do you write fast paced or slow, feely-type novels? What are the heart of your books about at their core?

(P.S: if you need an example of this, you can read about what makes a signature ‘Pagan Alexandria’ novel here for some clarity and inspiration.)

A good story is more than what sounds good on paper. It’s based on feeling—on what you feel called to write in your heart and soul. The plot is shaped by the key milestones or plot points that light you up most, that you can’t ignore even if you tried, which drive you to pull together a comprehensive narrative. Follow these ‘hints’ and the feeling that accompanies them, and focus on channeling that in your creative process for the entire first draft to find your storyline.

Characters

Your characters are what people remember when the story is done. But most importantly, people remember how characters made them feel. There’s a reason SJM has an entire fandom built around the ‘bat boys’ and ‘Feysand’ — these characters (and the dynamics between these characters) make her readers feel certain kinds of ways, and they feel compelled to create content around them and discuss them with others.

So when it comes to getting your first draft down, your characters are a huge component. Knowing who your characters are and what they are to the story, and to each other, is a critical piece of crafting a compelling narrative. How will they make readers feel? What aspects of their personality make them interesting, or admirable, or awe-inspiring? And what will readers remember about them a year later, when they’ve forgotten almost everything that happened in the book — but not how much they loved reading it?

Conflict / Stakes

Finally, the conflict and stake make up the final pieces of this foundational framework. These are the answers to the questions “what is the problem my characters face?” and “why is it such a bad thing if they fail?”

To write a compelling story, these two answers must be clear for the reader. But not only this—they must be interesting and exciting for you to pursue and write about.

Ever wonder why so many writers get a ‘great idea’ but then get stuck a few chapters in, not sure how to proceed? It’s because the idea sounds good logically, but they themselves are not called to write on that particular topic. So, it requires a shift of some kind to steer it into territory that lights you up again.

For example, this slight shift could be taking your ‘detective thriller novel’ and focusing less on the detective element, more on the character dynamics, if that’s your driving force. This also informs the types of conflicts that will come up — they may have less to do with the ‘mystery’ of each murder and more to do with the psychology of humans themselves, which could be more interesting for you as the writer to explore.

Great stakes are not just fun for the reader to read about, they’re exciting for the writer to write because you either don’t know how it’s going to pan out yet (pantser style) or you’re stimulated by the prospect of pulling off some of your best writing yet in the form of a complex and clever series of plot events (planner).

The Enhancement Elements (e.g. Craft of Writing)

Once you’ve gotten your first draft down, and you’re happy with the flow and structure of your narrative, then it’s time to go back and focus on everything else (such as worldbuilding, dialogue and descriptions).

This is not to say that you completely ignore these things in your first draft, but it is to say that you only put what needs to go down on paper into your first draft in order to complete the first draft. Everything else can be enhanced later, and it is, in fact, easier to do this once you have something on paper to improve on.

As I’ve written more and more books, I get better at the craft elements of writing each time. I learn from my editor, and from reader reviews, so I remember to include more things as I go while I’m focusing on putting a story to paper. I’m never overly focused on building a world or describing a room in my first draft, but sometimes I’ll have a better idea of how to go about it in the moment, which requires less revisions and rewriting later on.

This is something you’ll get better at with time, experience, and feedback. But there is no point trying to be as masterful as Stephen King on book one, with zero drafts to your name.

That’s why the Storyteller Method works.

It draws on your innate, already-existing ability to tell great stories which, if you are a storyteller at heart, already comes naturally to you. Nobody needs to teach you how to tell a great story, you’ve been doing it your whole life and it’s what you were put on the planet to do.

On the other hand, there’s loads you can learn along the way on how to improve your craft. That’s also why it makes sense to leverage that as a tool to polish your raw material afterwards, since it requires more collaboration, learning and integration—as well as existing material to practise on.

So, next time you’re writing a book, give The Storyteller Method a try — and see how quickly you’re able to get your first draft down on paper!

P.S: If this post helped you, do another writer a favour and share it! It would help me a lot and help others too.

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