Who? Me? Dragon Slayer?
The Importance Of How You Frame Your Writing Victories
December’s days are dwindling. The year-from-hell that has been 2020 is drawing to a close. It’s a natural time to ponder career paths and goals for 2021. In this year of pandemic, election turmoil, racial reckoning, and economic downturn, it’s compellingly important for writers to assess what they’ve achieved this year and what their goals are for 2021.
Don’t get me wrong - given what’s going on right now, writing may not be at the top of the list of your goals. That's a smart survival strategy. You can’t write if you’re not alive.
However, if you ARE pondering some writing goals for yourself, I’d like to suggest a skill for practice in the coming months. It will make you a better writer, can help you sell your work, and may also connect you with others for collaborative teams.
What is this powerful tool? Liz Ryan, CEO of the Human Workplace, calls it the dragon-slaying story.
Here’s how she describes it.
“A Dragon-Slaying Story is a story about a time when you made a difference. You could have had that impact over months on a big project, or you may have saved the day in twenty-five minutes one random Thursday afternoon.”
Ryan notes that dragon-slaying stories differ from ordinary descriptions of one’s work achievements because they tell not just what you did, but why. It offers the one thing that separates your story from a competitor for a job, or an assignment - context.
A Personal Dragon-Slaying Story - Wherein I Launch A Podcast
Let me give you an example of a Dragon-Slaying Story from my own work history that is somewhat writing related:
In 2008, my employer - a university alumni association - was exploring new media platforms to promote the university’s ambitious research agenda and the alumni association’s year-round menu of activities. As a fan of the development of podcasting, I proposed that the association launch its own podcast. I had to borrow equipment to record the first several episodes. When the technology staff proved unsure what equipment to offer, I researched current podcasters were using and created a set-up that allowed me to start production. Sometimes the sound quality was rough; I remember distinctly myself and a guest basically shouting at a laptop after a microphone connection failed during the recording of one early episode. Eventually, networking with other podcasters at the university led me to colleagues who had built a sound studio in a building DIRECTLY BEHIND MINE. That turned out to be the studio where I recorded 70 episodes of the podcast over seven years.
I could have just mentioned that I launched a podcast at this employer and produced 70 episodes. But my dragon-slaying story tells you a number of things about me:
I was ahead of media trends (podcasts didn’t really start to take off until the early 2010s).
I was tenacious enough to resolve the resource problems I had with launching the podcast.
I was willing to record low-fidelity “pilot” episodes to demonstrate proof-of-concept.
I recognized the value of internal networking to find better ways to produce the podcast.
I was prepared to take advantage of a stroke of luck that led me to the recording environment I needed. (I also arranged a reward for the colleague who helped me launch.)
Why Lively Career Stories Matter For Writers
One reason I encourage writers to learn how to shape dragon-slaying stories stems from my work as a magazine editor. Some freelancers are good at describing their work history relevant to a story pitch or request to be considered as a contributor. Some fall back on buzzwords (“award-winning”) or a list of publication credits (which is useful, but would be more helpful if story topics or the story of HOW they wrote a particular story were also included). The buzzwords and list of credits provide basic information but do not give a sense of the person. Understanding the person is important - I frequently conducted business with these writers entirely by phone or email, so I had far fewer chances to pick up cues related to interpersonal dynamics. Those dynamics often make the difference between a collaboration that is efficient and pleasant and one that is unnecessarily challenging.
Anatomy Of A Dragon-Slaying Story
I break down Ryan’s dragon-slaying story structure into just four words:
Objective - What ignited your actions? An assignment? An observation? A curiosity?
Challenge - What made the quest difficult? Lack of resources or data? Administrative setbacks? Tight-lipped sources?
Battles - How did you overcome your challenges? How did you turn failures/setbacks into lessons learned?
Results - This is the positive difference that proves you actually slayed (slew?) the dragon. This is where sharing quantitative data starts to matter - your reader now has the context to interpret it.
Dragon-slaying stories can be compressed into a single bullet point on a resume or comprise part of a document that spans an entire career, such as a website “about” page or an author bio statement. It doesn’t just work for writers, either. Here’s an example that’s drawn from the “narrative resume” of an applicant searching for a position in logistics. Many of his jobs are quite modest, yet the dragon-slaying theme is evident, and his quest to make a name for himself in that field is what ties the resume together.
Why Are Dragon-Slaying Stories So Effective For Writers?
Dragon-slaying stories move the needle toward your goal for two reasons: they make your accomplishment more relatable, and they don't overwhelm your audience with unnecessary details.
This can help you demonstrate to an editor why you’re an ideal freelance contributor or convince an employer you can enhance the sort of nonfiction writing they produce. AND it helps you do it with some memorable specifics.
If you want to learn more about how to craft your dragon-slaying story, I highly recommend Ryan’s book Reinvention Roadmap. It is an excellent resource.
That’s it for this month! Until next time, wishing you long days and pleasant nights.
P.S. HELP ME PLAN THIS NEWSLETTER IN 2021 - I’m setting the topic calendar for True Story Newsletter for next year right now, and would love to hear what writing topics you’d like to see addressed. Just reply to this newsletter (if you received it by email) and we can talk.