The Lightness of Stories

I’ve just finished watching The Beatles Get Back documentary, the boxed set of which I received for Christmas. Being a lifelong fan of the band, but lacking the subscription necessary to enjoy it when it first came out, I was reduced to watching snippets on YouTube. I was grateful for these little tastes, all of which left me hungry for the full experience. I was not disappointed. If ever there was a sausage I was happy to see being made, it was The Beatles’ music.

What I had not understood from the clips, however, was just how much time the band spent goofing around. It seemed as if half the documentary was dedicated to watching The Fab Four crack jokes, sing standards, riff on their old tunes, or play the songs they were trying to learn deliberately poorly or using funny voices. You’d be excused for believing they didn’t take their music seriously. Obviously, quite the opposite was true.

There is, however, a lightness inherent in creativity. It’s there no matter how heavy the subject matter. It’s useful for writers to remember, since all our stories involve trouble of one kind or another. It might be trouble we’ve lived through, or what we’ve dreamed for our poor, unsuspecting protagonists. Nobody wants trouble. When it visits, we just want it to go away, smothering, as it does, all the fun and joy of life with its most insidious, unanswerable question: What if this never ends?

This is where the lightness is necessary. You, the author, know it will it end. The tension of conflict has no real value unless it’s eventually followed by the release of resolution. Do not mistake pessimism for wisdom. Life is not just endless trouble to be endured with as little complaint as possible. Believe in your own stories. Believe in what is revealed when the darkness lifts, when the coil of pain unwinds and the world at stories’ end is once again at peace.

If you like the ideas and perspectives expressed here, feel free to contact me about individual coaching and group workshops.

Everyone Has What It Takes: A Writer’s Guide to the End of Self-Doubt
You can find William at: williamkenower.com