Movies of late have made me sad. I am a near-rabid fan of going to the movies–the actual theatre–and getting lost in another world for a couple of hours. But unfortunately, most movies of this latest decade have failed to deliver that experience. And I am not a snob, I used to love marvel movies for their ability to take me away as much as I did Oppenheimer.
Then this past weekend a friend and I went to the movies. We had bought tickets to see Mickey 17 but when confronted with an oversized poster of Black Bag starring Michael Fasbender and Cate Blanchett we decided to make a last minute change. The teller assured us Mickey 17 was excellent but so was our new pick. I love when a change of plans works out swimmingly and this one did just that. It was the perfect Sunday matinee and the most delicious, satisfying film I’ve seen in some time. And that’s coming from someone who does not usually enjoy the stress of a thriller slash spy movie. This review of the film in Vulture sums it up nicely–though it says more about plot than I like in a review.
Yes it’s a spy thriller, but it’s move about relationships, and trust, and loyalty, and the weird dynamics of human beings navigating the dangerous lines of those themes. Like I said, it was delicious. Also Steven Soderbergh. Go see it, you won’t regret it. Take some time out from the dreariness of the news and real life and reality and enjoy the thrill of a great movie.
Yes, I started this note with our “A Story Well Told.” Because this film is a masterclass in storytelling. From the opening POV tracking shot I knew we were going somewhere good. And boy did we.
But this newsletter is about insights and resources for storytelling. So let me share more. Good storytelling is crafted. No matter your medium, you take time to pull the right elements together into something that will move other people. Drive them to action if you’re a marketer or move them emotionally if you’re an artist. Or both if you’re just good at what you do.
I have said it many times and I will say it again here because it bears repeating: storytelling is one of the most human things you can do. Like dancing, singing, and eating it fuels our humanity. And yet.
And yet we live in a world where we have become willing to give over the gift of storytelling to AI. But so far the heart and uniqueness of human storytelling is lost on AI–it is often too cliched and too artificial. But this isn’t a note lamenting the age of AI, it is a technology that has its uses (despite how awful it is for the environment).
No, this is my long-winded way of saying I’m changing my approach to this newsletter. My typical process for writing this weekly note is similar to my process when I was a daily news reporter. Get an assignment or topic, do research to ground my understanding, and write through it fast. In the space of an hour I can put together a newsletter depending on the topic. With a cursory re-read and edit, I set it up and schedule it to go out to you.
It is a process that has served me but it is not one that allows me to dive deep into a topic. It gets the lesson and the point across but it sacrifices the potential poetry and magic of something written with more care and time. And quite frankly we are approaching a point where any AI could do that. And we already live in a world where everyone has a newsletter and the internet is bursting at the seams with (mostly bad and boring) content. I’ve shared my high level thoughts about content from the perspective of storytelling, but I could honestly rant and rave about how much unnecessary shit there is on the internet. Stuff we have to wade through to get to anything worth spending time with.
I want to give you something better than weekly content that is grounded in expertise but isn’t as considered as it could be. So I’m changing my approach. This newsletter is becoming monthly again. NOT because I’m sick this time and unable to write, but because I am well and have space to take my time and edit the way I edit my freelance pieces. To research the way I do them as well. To be considerate and hopefully weave magic that will leave you with Something worth spending time with. It will contribute to my own commitment to be a better writer (always be learning, folks) and give you a monthly bit of storytelling magic–at least that’s the hope. I’ll share my process some other time (once I develop it) but know I’m doing this for both of us.
Let me know what you think in the comments. And for my paid subscribers, I will also take the time to think through giving you additional value beyond the open archive. How do you feel about audio? Let me know in the comments. See you in a month and let me know if there are any topics specifically you’d like to see me tackle. I’m open and experimenting and deep in play mode as I turn to learning while sharing with you.
This is going to be fun.
P.S. If you enjoyed reading this newsletter and want to support you have options(!):
Subscribe if you haven’t already (hit the button below and include your email)
Forward this newsletter to a friend or colleague and encourage them to subscribe here
Reply to this note and tell me what worked for you and what you’d like to see more of. (Or comment below if you’re reading on the site or substack app)
Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive weekly insights and resources for better communication through storytelling. Consider becoming a paid subscriber for access to the full archive and additional storytelling support I only offer subscribers.