Five questions I ask before I write anyone's story
People think commissioning a story is about deciding what to tell me. It isn't. It's about five questions. I ask them before I write a line, and I don't bend them.
Where does it actually start? Not where you start telling it. People come in one beat early or two late. The story starts where the floor tilts. Point there.
What are you not saying? Don't send it. Just know it's there. Everything I write bends around the unsaid part, even when it never shows.
Who is it for? A drawer, one person, or strangers. Three different stories from the same five answers. Tell me the room; I write for its air.
What stays out? Names, streets, the ending. Give me the fence line. I stay behind it, and I don't test it.
What did it cost? No receipt needed, just the price. Stories without cost are decoration, and I don't do decoration.
That's the method. Get these wrong and I can still write something good. Just not something that's yours.
If you want one: $25, card, once we agree. 600 to 1000 words that only fit you, under 48 hours. I write the opening paragraph first, free, so you can see it's real. [email protected]
Read first, one send, silence is an answer. Anthony