See a photo of Corey, a link to his bio, Part 1 of this Q&A, and Part 2.

Q&A with Corey Blake (Questions 3 and 4):

Q: How important is it to you and your work to function within the framework of a particular definition of “story?” (i.e., What is a story?)? What definition do you espouse?

A: I am a firm believer in two things: (1) the three-act structure and (2) characters drive stories. I follow the standard inciting incident, plot point one, mid-point, plot point two structure, but within that I have found tremendous freedom. I prepare extensive character bibles before writing any fiction (25-50 pages per main character), and I believe that all the work is done before the actual manuscript writing begins. If the homework is done well, the writing is pure joy. And I’ve experienced that enough to know that it works! In my early years as a writer, I also experienced what a lack of preparation causes; that pain inspired me to create my writing method!

Q: The culture is abuzz about Web 2.0 and social media. To what extent do you participate in social media (such as through LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Second Life, blogs, etc.)? To what extent and in what ways do you feel these venues are storytelling media?

A: I love this question. I am on Twitter, Facebook, Ping, YouTube, and about 15 other sites. My blog feeds into each of those profiles, so obviously I am a believer. Bea Fields is at the cutting edge of social networking, and I am privileged to watch what works and what doesn’t through her experimentation and insight. My marketing director is actually taking a 12-week course with Bea to increase her understanding in this area, which undoubtedly I will be fortunate to gain from!

That being said, your question is regarding the story that social media tells, and that is quite brilliant insight on your part. I was reflecting on this the other day while going through my Twitter account and looking at what people I follow were talking about. I started to sense that there was a story developing around each of them. Little pieces of insight about a person that build over time and create a story about who they are, what they believe in, what they are terrified of, and what they are chasing or running away from. In a sense, social media is the building of character bibles; little bits are revealed over time that eventually build a three-dimensional impression of someone. Facebook is the same. I especially love finding old friends from my youth and slowly morphing what I remember about them with these delicious morsels I learn about their new lives. A new story merges with the old. If anything, social networking has proven my theory that there are six billion people on the planet, and every single one of them has a story to tell!

See a photo of Corey, a link to his bio, and Part 1 of this Q&A.

Q&A with Corey Blake (Question 2):

Q: What people or entities have been most influential to you in your story work and why?

A: Barry Pearson’s work with me in his Shakespeare classes at Millikin meant the world to me. He used to make us parade on stage as we recited Shakespeare, moving in one direction until we hit a piece of punctuation and then we’d have to streamline on a different course. That exercise formed the basis of my understanding of the rhythm of words and has had a profound impact on my writing. My study with Jeff Goldblum and Christopher Liebe at Playhouse West was also inspiring. Chris had high standards that pushed me to my edge, and Jeff had a curiosity and playfulness that I adopted and still use to this day in my creative and business work. Ultimately, my clients are most influential to me. They walk away with a book, and I walk away feeling as though I have absorbed their wisdom. For story structure, I am a Syd Field fan. I love his simplicity. I’m a chameleon by nature, so I suppose that I have picked up thousands of useful tidbits from people who have no idea they have influenced me.

I’ve developed a fascination with business novels — important organizational lessons taught through story. Thus, I was drawn to EDGE! A Leadership Story, co-authored by Corey Blake.

The Q&A with Corey will appear over the next five days.

Bio: Corey’s writing and visionary work has been published in Writer Magazine, Script Magazine, and on StartUp Nation and has been featured on Fox News, NBC5, Sacramento and Co, Adelante (WGN Chicago), and in print such as Young Money, Hoy, La Raza, Hispanic Executive Quarterly, MovieMaker Magazine, Dance Magazine, and Hollywood Screenwriter Magazine. He is the co-author of EDGE! A Leadership Story (finalist, National Best Books 2008 Awards) with Bea Fields and Eva Silva Travers, From the Barrio to the Board Room with Robert Renteria, Excalibur Reclaims Her King with Angelica Harris and The Family Business with Dr. Kay Vogt. He is also Chairman of the Dream of Writers of the Round Table Inc.

Prior to writing, Corey worked in Hollywood as a commercial and voice-over actor starring in campaigns for McDonalds, Mountain Dew, Pepsi, Wrigley’s, Hasbro, Miller, Mitsubishi and the infamous Yard Fitness , where Corey plays basketball naked. Corey also appeared on shows such as “The Shield,” “Fastlane,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Diagnosis Murder,” “Joan of Arcadia,” and “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” before he produced The Boy Scout and directed and produced Gretchen Brettschneider Skirts Thirty and Unsuitable, all for Elevation 9000 Films.

An avid keynote speaker, Corey has appeared at the Society of Southwestern Authors 2008 Wrangling with Writing Conference, the 93rd Annual Missouri Writers’ Guild Conference, the Virginia Reading Association (with Angelica Harris), Screenwriting Expo 4 (LA Convention Center), Cinespace (Hollywood), Avalon (Hollywood), The Ivar (Hollywood — The Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater Los Angeles), Spring into Romance Writing Festival (San Diego), and the Midwest Literary Festival (Chicago).

Corey is proudly married to Dr. Dawn Blake, a psychologist. They make their home in the suburbs of Chicago, and Corey travels frequently back to Los Angeles.

Q&A with Corey Blake (Question 1):

Q: How did you initially become involved with story/storytelling/narrative? What attracted you to this field? What do you love about it?

A: I began and was trained as an actor first (BFA, Millikin University), so I have a strong appreciation for performance and the intimate experience that an audience has with a piece of art (i.e., book, play, movie). After acting professionally in Los Angeles — both on television and in commercials — I realized that while I loved my training in acting and was passionate about performing, I was not in love with the professional side of acting. I showed up on set, shook hands with the director, rehearsed, sat in my trailer for four hours, shot my scene, and then went home.

To be included more in the emotional process of creation, I knew that I needed to be part of the conception of a project, and for that I would have to start my own production company. With that intention, I brought eight other professional actors up to a cabin in Mammoth for a week-long retreat where we discussed story ideas, watched Syd Field’s “Story” DVD, and wrote together. From there we birthed half a dozen projects and a production company called Elevation 9000 Films. We raised financing for and shot a great little 35mm film called The Boy Scout, which I exec-produced. We toured the film around the globe, and I was then approached by Annie Oelschlager to produce and direct her musical comedy film Gretchen Brettschneider Skirts Thirty. That film was another hit.

To further my development process, I started the LA Film Lab with Jesse Biltz and David Charles Cohen (producer, Notorious B. I.G. Bigger than Life), which was a short-lived but successful development company and production class. We shot two more films, both of which I produced and one that I directed. Ultimately, at the end of what I call my PhD in filmmaking, I realized that while I had tremendous vision and creativity and could produce and direct well, what I lacked was great writing. That birthed my desire to learn to craft great stories.

I started helping other writers develop content both for screenplays and books and was then approached by Angelica Harris to assist her with her book Excalibur Reclaims Her King. Then I met with Robert Renteria in 2006, and we started crafting From the Barrio to the Board Room. Later that same year, Bea Fields found me, and we wrote EDGE! A Leadership Story together with Eva Silva Travers. My work as a writer/director of writing really snowballed from there, and I have since been hired to write or “direct” another dozen book projects. I LOVE the creative process. I love working closely with people who have a story to tell and need guidance both throughout the technical and spiritual aspects of putting a story down on paper.

See a photo of Michael, a link to his bio, Part 1 of this Q&A, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

Q&A with Michael Margolis (Question 5):

Q: In the same interview on the site of the 2008 HANO Conference (and elsewhere), you say that “Your story is only as ‘real’ as the stories that people tell about you.” Do you find that organizations (or even individuals) tend to be blind to the kind of stories being told about them? Or do they have a distorted view of these stories? How do you go about guiding them to tell the stories that strengthen their brand and constituent relations?

A: Perception is King. Never confuse a story for the absolute Truth – although every great story offers a kernel of truth. For brands today, the perception that people hold about you is embedded in stories based on one’s experience, assumptions, or judgments.

For too many organizations are afraid of facing the music – to make themselves vulnerable to actually knowing what people think about them, and why. Instead, it’s easy to delude ourselves into comfort that “business as usual” is okay. But only through an intimate understanding of your customer or target audience can you succeed today

At a process level, we work with the senior leadership of an organization or division to help them find alignment around their Brand Story. It begins with a cross-functional WorkGroup determining areas of consensus and open debate regarding the strategic story. This WorkGroup owns the process and represents key voices from across the organization.

We then conduct narrative-driven Focus Groups with key audience stakeholders to identify the perception gaps and opportunities related to the Brand Story. We have developed a Brand Story Audit methodology that helps to organize this conversation. We then go back to the WorkGroup and use our findings to help them focus and build consensus.

The client ultimately receives from us a Brand Story Blueprint, which serves as an organizational compass-point. It includes a combination of strategic positioning, messaging, audience profiling, and specific marketing strategies and tactics. This process takes 3-4 months, and we sometimes then support on the execution of the strategy.

See a photo of Michael, a link to his bio, Part 1 of this Q&A, Part 2, and Part 3.

Q&A with Michael Margolis (Question 4):

Q: In an interview with you on the site of the 2008 HANO Conference, at which you were the keynote speaker, you said: “Look at any organizational challenge through the lens of narrative; I guarantee you will discover new insights and solutions.” Can you give an example in your own work/experience in which you’ve gained new insight into an organizational challenge through this narrative lens?

A: One of our clients is the leading membership association for women in Hawaii. Even with 100+ years of proven legacy, the organization was struggling to maintain its relevance. Now this is a common problem facing almost every membership organization today. The old storylines no longer hold up to the complex modern world we are all trying to reconcile. Our client decided to adopt a radical new business model that would require both change and innovation.

In order to identify the new Brand Story, we conducted a set of narrative-driven focus groups with women who represented the target “new member.” We didn’t ask questions about our client’s services, but instead listened to these women and their life stories. We wanted to know how they integrated the various identities of work, family, community, and self into a cohesive whole. The insights that we gathered for our client gave them the confidence to break out of the mold. Through continued consulting we helped our client reposition their flagship facility into a Downtown Women’s Club, with a mission. The new Brand Story is opening up countless new opportunities and growth for the organization.