Critiquing Tim Grahl’s ‘No Doubt’ (Part 1)
Summary: Tim’s invited feedback. Let’s take him up on it.
December 2024, writer and Story Grid CEO Tim Grahl published a YouTube video titled, ”I wrote a short story... does it SUCK?“ He also published the short story itself and a companion annotated analysis piece.
Now, these are marketing. Tim’s using them to promote his mentorship program, which helps writers improve their craft. But they’re also a very useful set of resources for people like you and me who are learning to tell stories. (Thank you, Tim.)
In giving his video a splashy, attention-grabbing title, Tim has extended an invitation. And, as an exercise for you and me to learn something, I figure I’ll take him up on it.
So here’s the plan: In the series of notes that follow, I’ll use the “audience hierarchy of needs” to analyze Tim’s story and answer his question. We’ll look at what works and what could be better. And, we’ll talk about how analyzing the story around those five key layers of perception helps us understand why things work or don’t and suggests ideas for what to do next.
If all turns out well, this will be a tool you can use you when you work on your own revisions.
It’s okay to hand someone a screwdriver and tell them to drive in some screws. It’s even better if you demonstrate how to do it. This is my attempt to do that.
Giving credit and showing receipts
Tim deserves some praise for putting his work out there and inviting public critique. Regardless of his motivations, it takes bravery to do something like that.
Writing takes effort. Writing well takes, at the very least, consistent effort. We should be grateful for folks like Tim who are willing to share their writing with us for free.
I also think it’s important that those who teach a craft take time to demonstrate how they apply their ideas themselves.
This isn’t about being perfect. The few stories of my own, which I’ve shared on my site, are far from exceptional. It takes different skills to write a great story versus teach storytelling craft. (An excellent teacher may not be a particularly excellent storyteller and vice versa.) And even with objectively good stories, individual audience member tastes vary quite a bit.
But, when a teacher shares their work, it gives you a frame of reference. It helps you put their insights in perspective. You can start to see, for example, which of their recommendations come from their own tastes and preferences. And that can help you decide which tips to follow and which ones to leave to the side.
By the way, I hope you do this with me as well. The point is not to learn Tim’s system – or mine – or anyone else’s. The point is not even, really, to build a system of your own. (Although doing that might help you a lot.)
The point is to become a better storyteller.
What’s next?
In the notes to come, I plan to analyze Tim’s story based on five categories, with one note dedicated to each category:
- Clarity
- Believability
- Engagingness
- Affect
- Meaningfulness
These aren’t the only way to do analysis, but I’ve found them to be quite useful for covering the bases evenly. They help me avoid getting rabbit-holed on one particular, subjective element of critique.
They’re also useful because, as I said before, they suggest where to go for fixes.
- If your character actions feel unrealistic, for example, you may need to do better setup of their motivations (believability).
- If, on the other hand, your readers say a chapter is boring, you might need to find a driving mystery or dilemma to keep people leaning in (engagingness).
- Etc.
Knowing the type of problem makes the solution much more obvious.
Some (optional) homework
Tim’s story is around 5,600 words. That translates to roughly a 30-minute reading time.
I know that reading a 30-minute story is a big investment to ask of you. Marketers will tell me that I should never put anything in your way that might cause you to hesitate. But experiencing Tim’s story for yourself will make the analysis more fruitful. So if you have the time, it’s not a bad idea. If not, don’t worry; I’ll summarize the relevant bits when I do the analysis.
Lastly, be warned: I will spoil the story heavily. So if that matters to you, go ahead and read the story first. Really.
Ok? Ok.
Onward!
Rate this note
Level-up your storytelling
Understand how stories work. Spend less time wrangling your stories into shape and more time writing them.