Stage, Page or Screen?
When I sit at my desk and begin to work on a thought that has come to my mind this is the first question I must answer. Is this thing, this idea, for the stage, page or a screen? These three categories, this question, is one I stole from someone, somewhere from something I heard.
I believe the question was originally intended for someone writing fiction. Is this a play to be performed on a stage, a novel or short story for the printed page, or a movie or tv script to be put on a screen? A story set in a living room hardly has cinematic appeal. Alternatively, shrinking a Western landscape to a small community theater stage with minimal props is a tall order.
I think about this question as I am working on patient education materials. How is it best to present this information? How do I take a patient from ground zero to enough information delivered in the correct way so that person knows what is about to happen and why. The content determines the format. The format either enhances or limits the content. When we begin with the end in mind, to steal from Franklin Covey, we are better for it.
I wish my real desk was this organized!
Want to be writer. Don’t know how or when. Find a quiet place. Grab a humble Pen. –Paul Simon
I rarely speak on a stage anymore. In the age of digital I rarely need to. That is unfortunate. A lecture format (usually with an accompanying slide presentation) in front of a small group of people is a powerful tool. It is as old as learning itself. Nowadays my “stage” is the YouTube video, the podcast format, or the scheduled webinar. The delivery of the material is one-to-one, but with the exception of the webinar attended in real time, is not interactive. Still the format exists. From the teacher’s mouth to the student’s ears, with supplemental material to fill in the gaps to enhance understanding.
Written material is the most common way to deliver information. In the doctor’s office it’s the patient handout about the clinical condition or the material a patient gets when scheduled for a procedure. We physicians don’t produce enough of them. And yet we have too many, written poorly, touched by too many hands, and filed away in computer folders labelled something like, “prostate stuff,” or some other nonsense label. I don’t want to show you what a jumbled mess our hard drive is at our practice for our written material.
Writing is hard. And it takes time. And most of us, including myself, don’t do it very well. It’s a great way to convey information, but it takes energy and effort to write well. And a writer needs a good reader. By and large patients don’t read, or most don’t read very well. (You are probably the exception if you are reading this.) Too often the written handout material is not reviewed until the night before a procedure or office visit. Many times that results in a confusion or even a procedure cancellation if instructions are not followed. That is not harsh criticism; I am just such a patient.
Finally a comment on the screen. I really enjoy movies. I have visions of writing a screenplay someday, or being an extra on a big movie set, or just having the experience of asking some directors how he or she got this or that shot. Good cinema creates a feeling, an emotion. We are talking more about inspiration and entertainment than we are talking about information or education when we say “let’s make it a movie.” But the tools to create motion and emotion are not without merit when it comes to education. If I can capture your attention, draw you in and keep you there, I have a chance of delivering the information to you. It may not be the most efficient way to teach, but being efficient isn’t the point. People sit quietly through 2-hour movies who can’t sit quietly through a 2-minute slide presentation or read a 2-page handout.
When I sit down to write I ask myself, “What does this thing need to be? What does the patient need? Am I writing for the stage, page or screen?”
The content determines the format. The format either enhances or limits the content.
TB
