THE ROYAL CANADIAN REGIMENT: A SOLDIER’S STORY
Tell Your Soldier’s Story in Writing
How to keep your stories alive.
What stops people from sharing their stories isn’t that they don’t have any, but that they can’t/won’t/don’t write them down. Everyone has a story in then that is worth telling. Don’t let the physical act of writing it down get in the way of telling your stories.
If you aren’t sure where to start, let me know and I’ll work with you. What you need to know is your story is worth telling because soldiers are the living history of the Regiment.
Official history’s only tell part of the story. Sure, you’ll know the battalion went to Puerto Rico in 1968, but the official history won’t tell you who got bit by a tarantula or about the guy who thought a cow was a tiger. These stories are the ones told over and over again at reunions. When you write stories down, they become part of the Regiment’s history.
Your Story
If you’ve got a good story, but can’t get it down, let me know and I can help you write it. Basically, if you can tell it, I can write it. If you want to give writing a shot and haven’t written a story before, keep reading.
Every story comes in one of three forms:
- Funny Stories — anyone with more than 20 mins in the army has seen or done something that doesn’t make any sense. No matter now frustrating, nonsensical, inexplicable, or hilarious, you’re left shaking your head and laughing for years as you tell and retell it. Soldiers bond over humour when they learn somethings in the army never change.
- Leadership and Life Lessons — we’ve all learned something from someone or an event. They don’t have to be life altering events, because sometimes little things give us new perspectives. Stories can pay tribute to their teacher and pass on the lesson learned.
- Memories, Memoirs and Reminiscences — these are those events that stand out in our minds over the years. They can be a combination of the above, or something else. You can credit an unsung hero or shine a light on something you participated in.
Writing Your Story
Your story doesn’t need to be thousands of words. The some of best stories are 500–800 words and take only a few minutes to read.
The Hero’s Journey — This story format is thousands of years old. There’s a hero, a villain, a conflict, and a victory. The hero has a challenge to overcome, the villain puts obstacles in the hero’s way, the hero faces defeat, but then finds an unexpected way to resolve the conflict and so comes out on top.
The Hero’s Journey format is not just for the movies, but can work for non-fiction too. In fact, you probably tell your stories following this format, and so do the best story tellers.
Funny Stories — Like a joke, a funny story leaves the punchline for the end. The ending ties everything together with a surprise twist. Because the ending is the most important part of the funny story, figure it out first.
- Punchline — In this Hero’s Journey, the soldier is the hero who gets the last laugh. Write the ending of your funny story in three or four lines. Writing the end first helps you stay focused and plugs the rabbit holes.
- Set the Stage — Introduce the hero and the challenge. Start with the five W’s: who, where, when, what, why. Each should be one to three sentences to put the reader into the picture.
- Build suspense — In the army the villain is usually ‘the system,’ be that the rules, the MPs, the RSM, CO, the Duty NCO, Sergeant-Major, course staff, the supply tech, etc. This doesn’t mean the villain a bad person, but from the hero’s point of view, the villain has the power or authority to stand in the way of what the hero wants. Start by introducing the villain. Who or what is it? What are they doing to the hero? How are they preventing the hero from over coming the challenge. What choices does the villain give the hero? What are the consequences if the villain loses? What does the hero decide to do to outsmart the villain?
- Tune Up the Punchline — How well did you hit the target? Does the punchline still mesh with the story? Because you wrote it first, make sure you tie everything up if you’ve added new information.
Leadership and Life Lessons — In this story the hero is the soldier as young pup or an old dog learning new tricks. The villain is the challenge in this case. It is something where the answer appears obvious at first, but is much more complex than it appears. When all appears lost, the calm hand or cool head enters and steers the hero to the answer. If the hero listens, good, and then explain why they did. If the hero didn’t listen and instead learned the hard way, only realizing later they should have listened, that’s how the hero redeems themselves.
Write this one like the funny story , but instead of a punchline, it’s the outcome of the situation based on the lesson the hero learned.
Memories, Memoirs and Reminiscences — When your story doesn’t have a punchline or lesson learned, then this is what you want. But that doesn’t mean you have to abandon the Hero’s Journey! The hero can be a section, platoon, or battalion. The lesson can be a collective one. There can be a surprising twist in a seemingly innocuous story.
It is tempting to tell your story in a straight line, which will sound like, “and then, and then, and then, and then, and then.” You can write it like that, but most stories can be made into a Hero’s Journey once they are written to heighten interest.
Once your story is written, add some pictures and send it to me at the email address noted below.
What I’ll Do With Your Draft Story
Like I said above, I can write your story. But whether I write it or not, it will always be your story, and you’ll have final approval over it before it’s published.
Once I get your story, I read it and give it a very light editing. I look for missing words, spelling mistakes and punctuation issues, etc. I’m no grammar genius so I use a program, but it does miss the odd thing, so be sure to be on the lookout for them.
Then I format and add your pictures where they fit in the story. I also research what you’ve mentioned to see what’s on the net. I’ll add pictures if I find relevant ones, or add links if I think they help explain the time or place where your story took place.
I may shorten the story to 800ish words if you’ve gone over. What I won’t do is change or rewrite your story beyond trimming it down. I will however expand acronyms or add short explainers to help the audience follow the story — not everyone will know what REFORGER was, for example.
Once I’m done, I’ll send you the formatted story. I’ll probably have some questions and ask that you send me a short bio and a picture of yourself like Cam Carbert did.
Editing and Proof Reading
Once you get the story back, you’ll have a look and let me know if you see anything that needs fixing. This includes mistakes, changes, additions, etc. We’ll go back and forth until your happy.
Distribution of Your Story
When it’s done I’ll post your story on the Regiment’s Facebook pages, give you a link you can share, and can send a word or pdf document too. So far the nine stories published have each been read 200 or more times, and have stimulated some good conversation on the Regiment’s Facebook pages, which was the aim I pitched to the Association, when I first recommended the stories be presented like this.
What’s the End State?
That’s a good question. I’m not sure yet. Once there is a critical mass of stories, say 50 or so, I’ll be in a better position to recommend something to the Association, or they might have an idea of their own. Ultimately, I would like to see these stories form part of the Regiment’s living history going into the future.
Can You Do It?
That’s only a question you can answer, but there’s no reason you can’t. I’m here to help you get it done in the way that works for you, up to and including writing it for you, so you really don’t have an excuse.
So, what are you waiting for? Get writing!
Story by Jay Tarzwell and published by The RCR Association with his permission.
Tell your Soldier’s Story — email jayson.tarzwell2@gmail.com for details.
