Power of Words: The King’s Speech and Good Writing
On Sunday night, Colin Firth won the BAFTA award for Best Actor for his portrayal of King George VI in The King’s Speech, and he is expected by many to win the same award at the Oscars in a little under two weeks time. It is a truly wonderful film, one that I had the pleasure of watching last week, and won seven awards in total, out of an incredible 14 nominations.
Not bad for a film, quite simply, about an heir to the British throne and his struggle to overcome a stammer.
The King’s Speech is an utterly wonderful and touching film, impeccably acted by everyone involved, and at turns surprisingly funny and quite moving. The film’s merits aside, I got to thinking what it can tell us about good writing, both in the execution of making this film, and the contents of its story.
A Simple Story, Told Well
You don’t need much to tell a great story. Sometimes we get caught up in the misguided belief that all great stories have to be cleverly-plotted, with twists and turns, different perspectives and shifts in time and place, with an overarching theme or moral, intricately-woven into every scene and sentence. This is rubbish. All you need is a simple story, with characters that you care about, and to tell it well, so that your readers will care about them too. The King’s Speech is a perfect example of making a compelling story from the barest bones of a “plot”. Colin Firth himself said that the film is, essentially, about two people in a room talking. But you are made to deeply care about these people, and their relationship, that you find yourself captivated.
Face your Fear
If there is one thing that holds back people from reaching their potential, it is fear. Writers are a group of people who really do struggle with this, and The King’s Speech is a film about facing that fear. Prince Albert is reluctant to become King, he feels he isn’t “King material”. Quite often, you may not feel like you are “Writer material”. But whatever is holding you back, it can be overcome. Find your weakness, and deal with it. Sometimes that weakness is just fear.
Accept help
Prince Albert is loathe to accept Logue’s help partly due to his unorthodox nature, but also in part because he is too proud to accept help. I’m sure some of you feel the same with your writing. Writing can be a solitary calling, but that doesn’t mean we have to struggle through alone. Friends and family will be more than welcome to read your work and give you feedback. There are some amazing writers to follow on Twitter, who offer advice, help and insights into their work. And then, of course, there are some amazing websites and communities, like Fuel Your Writing! Getting involved in these can do wonders for your writing, even just that you’ll realise that most other writers out there is struggling as much as you!
Do things Differently
Prince Albert sees many different speech therapists before being introduced to Lionel Logue, played by Geoffrey Rush. At first, Logue’s off-the-wall techniques put off the King; they are stupid, ridiculous, pointless. He doesn’t seem to take the situation seriously. Maybe you are doing the same with your writing. You’ve got stuck, writing has become too serious, and you are unwilling to try anything radical or different. But you should shake it up, change things. Write in a completely different genre, maybe the genre you hate most! Write a script for a change. Try writing a Twitter story. Give collaborative fiction a go. Make writing fun again, try new things, and you might be pleasantly surprised by what happens.
Power of Words
Words are incredibly powerful. With the new introduction of radio around the time The King’s Speech is set, it was not enough for a King to go out into public and just be seen. He had to speak, to command, to reassure the people of his country and of countries around the world, especially with the onset of war looming and dark times ahead. Believe in the power your words can have, and your writing will be stronger for it. Don’t feel that you have to over-explain everything with expositional dialogue, stilted description or over-long passages. And definitely forget those adverbs, how many times have you been told!? Choose the right words, be bold, write with guts, and the power of your words will be felt.
Please share your thoughts and comments, abut this article or The King’s Speech, in the field below. And good luck to Colin Firth for the Oscars!
Images courtesy of Worthing Theatres and Yahoo Movies.
Christopher Jackson is the Editor for Fuel Your Writing and a creative copywriter. He is currently working on Project: Snotbook, an interactive children’s storybook for iPad.
I completely agree with your remarks above. I was engrossed from beginning to end of that film, and there were no explosions, no crashes, no high-speed car chases. Just a compelling story of a man who overcame a disability that would hamper his work as King. I thought both Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush were excellent. I remember George VI, and the problems with his stammer were known about. He was a good King, much better than his brother would have been. A good story well told takes some beating whatever media it is in.
Thanks for commenting Jane. I also found myself engrossed, not bored for a second despite the simple subject matter.
What a great analogy/metaphor/comparison to writing and writers (and to life!).
Thank you Kathryn! I think you’re right, my article focused on writing but my points do apply to life in general. I find writing advice often does!
Wow…great article – thanks!!!
Glad you liked it! Thanks for commenting.
I agree completely, both with your comments on the (fabulous) film, and your comments on writing. Simple IS often best (an idea that Inception also teaches us…more film/writing crossover?) and I must admit, I found myself wondering how they could make a film about a guy struggling to overcome a stammer. Still, the film might be able to be boiled down to an elevator pitch (which all of our novels should be) but the simple storytelling does the rest for us.
King Colin for Best Actor next month!
You’re right about creating an elevator pitch for our stories, that’s a very interesting idea! Very important not just short stories, but larger novels as well, perhaps even more important for them! I think there’s an article in that… ;)
And yes, fingers crossed for Colin Firth in the Oscars. He thoroughly deserves it.
Thanks for commenting Icy!
Love it! I particularly like the ‘Do things differently’ accompanied by that brilliant picture. This is a great reminder to keep it fresh.
Thank you!
Really glad you liked the article Cynthia, and thank YOU for taking the time to comment.
I’m quite pleased with that picture too, made me chuckle when I found it, and knew I had to use it!
Very, Very excellent post! Great points with well illustrated examples… even if you haven’t seen the film!
Thanks very much for your kind words Eric!
great post about a great movie. love how you took this story and inspired us as writers. I retweeted it! thanks for lifting my spirit.
Thank you for reading and commenting Jean, glad to hear it lifted your spirit! :)
I totally agree, lovely article. I can’t remember the last time I was so moved by a film. Like you say a simple story told well. It’s an absolute pleasure to be able to engage with the characters and feel their pain, terror and joy. You’re right we should be brave, like Prince Albert and throw our insecurities to wind. I hope so…Thankyou I am glad I stumbled upon this article today.
I’m glad you did too! You’ve said it well, The King’s Speech was a pleasure to watch.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Di :)
Plenty of food for thought there. I liked your parallel between Albert’s reluctance to be king and a writer’s fear to actually write. A lot of us probably grew up with people dismissing our writing as a hobby or something you can only do if you have a “proper” job, all of which means we may be reluctant to actually write in the first place. I’ll be keeping that parallel in mind the next time I think that there’s something else I should be doing instead of writing. :)
Thanks for commenting Katie, glad the article has given you something to think about! Hopefully it will help you to commit to your writing and overcome that reluctance.