Take Them On The Journey
How do I create compelling and memorable communications and stories?
“My friend Greg and I, after playing a particular video game for 11 hours straight, get stuck. We call a fellow gamer to learn what moves we need to make to get to the next level. With the new information in hand, we finally complete the game.”
~J.J. Abrams
This is a flat, awkwardly worded, meaningless recount of events. I have to read it twice to understand what he is saying. Why were they playing 11 hours straight? When did they get stuck? How did the fellow gamer help? What was the new information shared? It’s missing everything that captures your attention and makes this interesting. It’s like so many communications we’ve received—boring and quickly forgotten. Which is exactly what J.J. Abrams wanted you to experience to illustrate a point. You learn the outcome and events, but you miss out on the journey.
J.J. Abrams is a filmmaker and composer. He’s written, directed, and produced numerous films including Armageddon, Star Trek, Star Wars The Force Awakens, and Star Wars the Rise of Skywalker. He also write and directed several popular tv shows, including Lost.
Lost was inspired by the movie Cast Away. It told the story of survivors of a commercial aircraft that crashed on an island in the South Pacific during their flight between Sydney and Los Angeles. The plot unfolded through flashbacks and flashforwards for each of the characters on the island.
The Age Of Immediacy
Lost was a fan favorite, running from 2004 – 2010. Coming of age during the explosive growth of social media led to its popularity. Fans joined message boards, wrote summaries, and posted their theories from each episode. They tried to find hidden easter eggs in each episode and sleuth meaning from everything. Were the characters dead or alive? What made the plane crash? Why was Kate being arrested? What is the monster? What did the six numbers stand for? Why is there a hatch? How did Locke regain the ability to walk? People didn’t just watch episodes, they then analyzed them for hours.
Somewhere around the third season, Abrams revealed that the show would run six seasons, and he already wrote the ending. Fans relentlessly hounded him, wanting to know how the show would end and if the characters would get off the island. J.J. wrote this article for Wired Magazine, describing how frustrating this was for him:
“I always wonder, do they really want to know? And what if I did tell them? They might have an aha moment, but without context. The experience—the setup for a joke's punch line, the buildup to a magic trick's big flourish—is as much of a thrill as the result. There's discovery to be made and wonder to be had on the journey that not only enrich the ending but in many ways define it.”
Take Them On The Journey
He opened the article with the brief, summative story at the top about living with Greg Grunberg, his friend since kindergarten. They were 23 and obsessed with playing Super Mario Bros. 2. There was just one problem: you couldn’t save the game. Any progress made was lost as soon as you turned the machine off. Later in the article, he tells the story in more detail, taking the audience on the journey of their gaming experience.
J.J. had the controller and couldn’t jump to a specific cloud. Each time he did, he would miss and Mario would fall, costing them a life. They were watching the 22 Mario lives they had stockpiled begin to dwindle to 15 and then 12. J.J. began panicking.
Greg calls his cousin for help while J.J. keeps playing. Each time he loses another Mario life, he jumps up and down and yells, “What should I do?!!?” Greg’s cousin tells them to move to the right edge of the cloud and double jump up to get to the next cloud. J.J. tries and his Mario tumbles. Another life was gone. Greg’s cousin tells him to try it again, swearing it will work. J.J. jumps and misses again. They are down to five Mario lives.
J.J.’s heart sinks. He tells Greg that they aren’t going to be able to complete the game. Greg insists he tries again. The next three attempts end with Mario falling.
Greg’s cousin tells them to try it one more time. J.J. does and dies again. He starts yelling that Greg’s cousin doesn’t know what he is talking about, and he’s cost them all but one Mario life. Greg covers the phone and tells him to be nice, that his cousin is seven years old.
J.J. takes a deep breath and tries again. Turns out the seven-year-old was right. He lands on the cloud and completes the game.
Telling vs. Experiencing
The opening version of the story ends in the same place as this one. But the first one is void of any detail. It’s flat and unmemorable. This second version gives you rising stakes, tension, and some surprises. It creates an experience for you as the reader. You place yourself in the setting, even if you don’t play video games. It’s so memorable that I still remember reading this article thirteen years ago in 2009.
You picture the young men camped out all day playing this game. It’s easy to feel the increasing stress as the 22 Mario lives dwindle and the men snip at each other. You don’t expect Greg’s cousin to be seven. Or for the advice to work. I’m not a gamer, but I find myself thinking “Would I have continued playing and completed the game?”
When you are communicating or telling stories, you are creating an experience. The question is, are you sharing the information in a flat, unmemorable way, like the opening story? Or are you thoughtfully weaving in detail to take the audience on the journey of understanding. Are you connecting them to what is at stake and helping them experience the events?
Next time you are communicating or sharing a story, add a few specific details. Intentionally take the audience on a journey. It doesn’t have to be lengthy to be meaningful. Don’t just list facts or events. Make the audience feel like they are in the experience. Connect them to the emotions of the characters. Share the journey. Help the audience consider, discover, and internalize new ideas or actions. The experience is everything.
***
Want to receive more articles like this one? Sign up for Brain Food here.
Follow along with my process of publishing my book or catch up on previous book writing blog posts.
