Travis Hinkle 👻

Writer | Marketer

[Travis Hinkle 👻 @TravisHinkle]

@taranjeetio @mem0ai Amazing @taranjeetio and @mem0ai!

[Travis Hinkle 👻 @TravisHinkle]

@mateocernosek lol

[Travis Hinkle 👻 @TravisHinkle]

@BrandSanderson I might have spotted your biggest fan in Mississippi

[Travis Hinkle 👻 @TravisHinkle]

@alex__chu__ Cool to hear your story, @alex__chu__!

[Travis Hinkle 👻 @TravisHinkle]

@mateocernosek

[Travis Hinkle 👻 @TravisHinkle]

@alex__chu__

[Travis Hinkle 👻 @TravisHinkle]

@alex__chu__ lol!

[Travis Hinkle 👻 @TravisHinkle]

@alex__chu__ Now I’m hungry for shrimp. Thanks @alex__chu__

[Travis Hinkle 👻 @TravisHinkle]

@KatieJDouglasAZ Congrats! An awesome birthday gift!

[Travis Hinkle 👻 @TravisHinkle]

@StephDRondeau Just liked and RT’d! Thanks @StephDRondeau!

[Stephanie Rondeau @StephDRondeau]

How is it already the 1st?

#amquerying friends I'm doing it again— 1st of the month #critiquegiveaway! This month is for PB (picture book) authors. To win a FREE query and PB ms critique, like, RT and comment here!

Fiction manuscripts up to 1000 words eligible. Good luck!

[Travis Hinkle 👻 @TravisHinkle]

@NGDWrites @theTurman Good for you, man. Reminds me of this scene.

[Merriam-Webster @MerriamWebster]

*crab-walked

[Travis Hinkle 👻 @TravisHinkle]

@MerriamWebster @SaraSchon I prefer to read it as “killer 🦀” 🤣

[Travis Hinkle 👻 @TravisHinkle]

@Variety @JasonKPargin I truly hope there’s a toggle switch for this. I’m not paying to have my movies interrupted by any news, breaking or not, @StreamOnMax

[Nathan Baugh @nathanbaugh27]

One storytelling tip: Make it timeless.

Critics argue Harry Potter is Star Wars retold with wizards instead of Jedi.

Maybe. Except they act like Star Wars was an original.

Even George Lucas disagrees:

“I had an idea of doing a modern fairy tale. I stumbled across The Hero with a Thousand Faces. I began to understand how I could do this. It was a great gift.”

Lucas then rewrote Star Wars to follow the Hero’s Journey.

So, you could argue Star Wars is a copy of every story that came before it that follows the Hero’s Journey.

It's a silly debate but a lesson in Timeless Storytelling.

Every story comes from somewhere. But not every story can be timeless.

3 ways you can tell timeless stories:

1. Focus on your category

Over the last few years, “web3” rose to fame, had millions of dollars poured into it, and then crashed in a storm of scandal and fraud.

Many creators made their entire story about web3. Today, their engagement has fallen off a cliff.

It’s not because of bad content. It’s because they tied their story to an idea (“web3”) that isn’t timeless.

Examples of timeless categories:

• Habits
• Health
• Wealth
• Writing
• Mindset
• Creativity
• Happiness
• Philosophy
• Storytelling

Loads more.

2. Focus on the Quest (theme)

A story isn’t a string of crazy events thrown together. A story is how the people involved in those events changed, diminished, or grew through those events.

• I was once this, but now I’m this.

• I was once lost, but now I’m found.

• I was once trapped, but now I’m free.

Stories about transformation, change, and growth never go out of style.

3. Apply the Hero’s Journey to your ideas (structure)

I know. The “Hero’s Journey” sounds so… cliche? So dramatic? Yes, but it’s effective. It gets to the core of the human experience.

We come wired to understand the Hero’s Journey.

Not to tell stories through it (that takes practice!), but to relate to stories that do it well.

• We’re frustrated in ___ situation.
• A call to adventure comes through ___.
• On that journey we fight ___, overcome ___, realize ___, and become ___.

A structure as old as time. That does not mean it’s boring. Quite the opposite. That means it’s timeless.

***

Tldr:

When you tell a story, make it timeless in 3 dimensions.

• Category
• Quest
• Structure

Nassim Taleb says:

“If you want to be read in the future, make sure you would’ve been read in the past.”

[Writers Guild of America West @WGAWest]

"The shift to streaming is intentional, because it affords the studios cheaper labor costs," writes @ddayen in @TheProspect https://t.co/GtvGI9oWJI #WGAstrike #1u #SAGAFTRAstrike

[Travis Hinkle 👻 @TravisHinkle]

@VP_excess @DanielleNicki @Beyonce The more you know. Thanks for sharing that, David.

[Writers Guild of America West @WGAWest]

Update on the AMPTP’s August 11th counteroffer #WGAstrong #WGAstrike https://t.co/S3HpK5zk6G

[Travis Hinkle 👻 @TravisHinkle]

@DanielleNicki I don’t disagree with you or @Beyonce, but go listen to The Beach Boys. Short songs aren’t new. Apparently we didn’t have attention spans in the 60s either.