Going off the Rails

Going off the Rails?

During the earlier days of my writing career, I made use of a whiteboard that I bought for ￡9.99 at a stationery shop, for brainstorming and suchlike.?

It was a phase. Normally, I’m a traditional pen-and-paper person. But during this time, I remember needing to snap out of a funk; and the glossy surface of a whiteboard excited me. I could pen all the mistakes I wanted on it, in fluorescent blue, green, and yellow felt-tip pens. Then erase them (forever) in just one swoosh.?

Every night, after I’d tuck my toddler into bed, I would manically write ideas down on this whiteboard - and say the words repeatedly, out loud.

To me, my narration sounded like a cathartic sermon. Almost a desperate prayer.

To anybody else, I could have easily sounded bat-shit crazy.

A healthy dose of “crazy” is necessary among creatives, I feel. But before I continue, I must make clear that this article is by no means romanticising the link between creativity and insanity - despite what Plato and other ancient theories suggest.?

While writers are more likely to develop symptoms of depression, anxiety, and other mental health disorders - note, this is mainly due to the conditions of our work and lifestyle. It does not mean that insanity and creativity must always co-exist.

When I refer to a healthy dose of “crazy” - what I really mean is the art of being unconventional.?

Thinking outside the box. Sticking your middle finger up at the status quo. Learning all the rules of English writing (because, I must say, they are important) - but only so you can break those rules from time-to-time, in the correct way.

The other day, a client challenged my writing because I started a sentence with a conjunction (the word “and”) - and I thought to myself, “Well if you think that’s breaking the rules, then what the hell will you think of the rest of my writing?”.

Because I’m not just here to make the Grammar Police angry my good friends. Non-conformity in writing is defined by your concept first-and-foremost. Are you brave enough to make people question societal conditioning, longstanding stereotypes, and beliefs that they may have harboured over a lifetime?

Are the muscles of your writing strong enough to carry two contrasting themes and smush them together, in a way so sophisticated, that they just make sense?

You see, this is why I adore the use of storytelling in branding and marketing. With stories (fiction or otherwise) you can create worlds about just about anything - and still make them relevant to your hospitality business and your guests in an unexpected way.

So, in the spirit of going off the rails, I’d like to delve into a project that I’ve been working on for the best part of a year with my partners Mateo Bradford-Vazquez and John Stokinge r - it kicks all the conformities in the short-term rental industry in the ASS.

The project is called DERAILED . And it’s an episodic fiction podcast, set in the vacation rental environment.

The unexpected part??

Well, it’s a murder mystery - and the content warnings alone will have you reaching for a sick bucket. (Probably not for the faint-hearted among you).?

Getting Painfully Personal?

It was a summery day in Birmingham, England last year - when I received a LinkedIn message from John, proposing the idea of a fiction podcast to me. Essentially, he wanted a murder mystery story, featuring real-life vacation rental brands right at the heart of it - as a way of marketing them and giving them exposure among an engaged, global audience.?

I thought it was brilliant.

And also no surprise as both John and Mateo are known for shaking things up in the industry, as they prove so well on their podcast the no BS podcast . I’d actually appeared as a guest on the show not long before John had sent me that initial message. And I have to admit, given the way the duo asked me to perform slam poetry (on the spot!) at the end of our official episode, I knew these two hosts were definitely in a creative league of their own.

So, the three of us founded the project together; and then began the weekly Tuesday meetings across two different time zones. We discussed killer plot lines, watched John eat porridge for breakfast, and talked about life stuff… You know, the things that mattered to us.

As the writer and creative lead, the responsibility of coming up with a story was largely mine.?

It was a tough brief. Not only did I need to create an original story, I needed to ensure that it had plot holes where our vacation rental sponsors could (seamlessly) sit - and thrive -. I needed to ensure the story worked well on audio. I needed to ensure that it would be believable yet shocking at the same time. These were all immovable requirements.

While I had little experience in writing murder mysteries, one thing that I DID know was that all suspense stories need to be written backwards. The other thing all suspense stories (and stories in general) need as a BASIC, is a hero and a villain.

During those early days of brainstorming, I didn’t write anything down (gone were the days of the whiteboard). In fact, I’ve learnt from my favourite author Stephen King that the litmus test for story ideas is to never write them down. If you never write ideas down and they’re still on your mind a couple of weeks later, then you’re onto a winner.

I reassured John and Mateo that I had it all under control, despite having zero ideas about the story itself at the time. But I was confident that the moment would come, as it always does - unexpectedly - when I’m not putting too much pressure on myself. The irony of the situation is that the best way of coming up with cool ideas is by emptying your mind of all the other bogus ones first.?

Anyway, lo’ and behold… Because one day in a soapy bubble bath, my thought process went a little like this:

Hero/ Main Character: Let’s make him a writer because writers have complex emotions by nature, and because I’ll relate to him on a personal level, he’ll be far easier to write.

Villain: I can’t give too much away here because the final episode hasn’t launched! However, when coming up with my idea for a villain, I first decided on what their motive/ deepest desires would be. To me, a flat villain is even worse than a flat hero. They need substance. A backstory.?

The Crime: This is who dies. This is why they die. And this is HOW it happens. Let’s make the victim a doctor because the irony of a person who saved people’s lives for a living getting brutally killed and set on fire is much too delicious to ignore.?

Of course, these mental notes were just “top level” ideas; and I knew there’d be far more detail to flesh out for the script itself. Either way, I took out my phone in that instance and sent John and Mateo a WhatsApp message with the plot overview.?

Thankfully, they liked it.

Now, one secret I must share with you when it comes to writing your own fiction stories (be it for marketing, branding, or entertainment) is that every character should try and include an element of YOU if possible.?

I know it sounds awfully self-absorbed. But if you’re subtle with this and make it relevant to your story, then this is an excellent trick. Writing make-believe characters is no easy feat; but the best authors lean on parts of their own personality in every person they create - because it makes the process a lot more enjoyable, fulfilling, and the writing itself comes across a lot more authentic. Even JK Rowling claims that she’s a little like Harry, a little like Hermoine, and a little like Ron across all the Harry Potter stories - why else does her dialogue tug at our heartstrings as much as it does?

We have some incredible, rich characters in DERAILED. I’d be lying if I said there isn’t a bit of Neely in all of them. For example, our protagonist Jase Nolan (played by John Stokinger) is a soft-hearted writer just like me. He is also suffering from PTSD throughout the entire story, which I have personal experience with.?

Detective Johnson (played by Jason Gann ) is a paternal figure in our story, with longstanding principles and ethics. The unconditional love Johnson has for his daughters as a single parent is very much inspired by my experiences as a single parent to my little girl. I also love this character’s tendency to judge people whom he sees as “juvenile” - I hate to admit it, but this is very much a habit that I have!

The emotionally complex Emily Hadid (played by Amber Erickson Hurdle ) battles with feelings of insecurity and lack of validation from her loved ones throughout the story. Her emotional outbursts means she is often misunderstood, even though she is highly educated, independent, and sexy - and this very much takes me back to my experiences of mania, as a result of my bipolar disorder.?

And of course, the character whose story DERAILED quakingly sits on - Lina Hadid. Oftentimes, Lina’s story mirrors elements of my life, and the lives of those who are dear to me.

As a writer, it’s important to not let your ego get to a place where you make everything about you and forget your audience completely. But pulling inspiration from your own emotions and personal experiences is a powerful way (probably THE MOST powerful way) of giving your story soul. I hadn’t written a complex murder mystery before, so leaning on these characters - who felt like friends to me - made the process easier and transpired well into audio. (But I’ll let you be the judge of that!).

Bloody Marketing?

Coming up with a story is a journey within itself; but selling it, a mountain one must climb.

We were very fortunate to have Mateo on our team, who is an absolute natural when it comes to pitching ideas in a compelling and ethical way. I personally believe it has a lot to do with his smooth American accent and dulcet tones (did you know he was almost our narrator?); but he’s far too modest to claim that for himself.

The problem with pitching an idea that’s never been done before, is that there’s nothing to compare it to. So, when you’re asking people to invest their hard-earned money into it, you’re basically asking them to just trust you implicitly - while you work enormously hard to deliver the content.

Mateo did an incredible job of bringing DERAILED’s Starring Sponsor Casiola on board - who provide vacation homes guests love across Miami, Orlando, and Aruba. As the writer, this was content gold for me - as it gave me real direction about the geographical location(s) of our story. Not only this, but I was able to study Casiola’s ideal guests and ensure my fictional characters fit this demographic - to make the story believable, and to also position Casiola in the correct way.

Dennis Goedheid and his team were supremely helpful from day one. As soon as they were confirmed as our Starring Sponsor, I initiated back-and-forth conversations with them to ensure we were capturing all the standout elements of Casiola, that make it positively different to other vacation rental brands.

This was easy to do as the brand itself is so unique.

Here’s a few examples of how I wrapped our fiction story around Casiola’s brand, while not making it salesy in any way. The trick here is to create a situation with your characters, which demands the use (or the desire) of the brand you’re trying to market.

Casiola’s Property Locations: DERAILED’s story is purposely set across Miami, Orlando, and Aruba where Casiola’s luxury properties are located. We’ve even included a scene at Universal’s Island of Adventure in Episode 8, to showcase one of the property’s close proximity to the theme park.?

Casiola Luxury: Our story’s starring family “The Hadids” frequently rent properties with Casiola and are loyal to the brand. The family is well-to-do and of part Middle Eastern descent - meaning it makes sense for them to enjoy “the finer things” in life.?

Casiola’s Features: A number of scenes across DERAILED’s episodes rely on the set-up of Casiola’s properties. In Episode 11, when Jase Nolan is beginning to discover who the perpetrator is - he has to download a floorplan of a property in Aruba from Casiola’s website, and talks about the room layout in detail, for the purpose of his own “investigation”.?

Casiola’s Personality: Throughout the episodes, we hear several characters referring to Casiola as “the bright pink brand” - because this is what the company is known as among locals (thanks to their standout pink trucks!). We’ve basically made our fictional characters talk about Casiola in the way any other person would - making the brand a part of “everyday conversation”. This is an excellent storytelling technique when it comes to marketing and really embedding a brand into your audience’s mind.

I used similar methods to feature our other sponsors in DERAILED’s story, including Arrived, Lynx, Mount, Boostly, COZI, Auntie Belham’s Cabin Rentals, Xplorie, and Seaside Vacation Rentals.

Core Themes?

You can throw all the colourful adjectives known to mankind in your story; but without deeper themes and sub-plots, your end result will remain kind of flat.

Please let this be your biggest takeaway from this article. The difference between a good story and an excellent story is the substance. The depth. The subtle parts that stir people’s souls (and they can’t work out exactly why).

DERAILED’s main story is relatively simple. It’s about a writer trying to uncover how an innocent doctor named Lina Hadid was killed on July 17th - but it’s the story’s key themes that are going to make listeners from across the board emotionally connect to it in different ways.

That’s what you always want with a story: An emotional connection with your audience.

Once again, I leaned on a few topics that were important to me, as a way of making the story more authentic. Now, this is a personal hack. But I need to find something meaningful in anything I turn my hand to as a writer - otherwise it becomes difficult for me to see a creative project through till the end. So, as a side note,? if you’re struggling to finish your larger creative writing projects, ask yourself if a lack of emotional fulfilment is to blame.

Outside of personal fulfilment, is the opportunity to stand for the things you truly believe in with your writing. This is hands-down the best part of being a storyteller. Your narratives have the potential of being so impactful if you allow them to be; and you can use them to serve marginalised or misconstrued communities, if that might be something you’re passionate about.

For example, you’ll notice throughout DERAILED’s story, that we’re representing several different religions, ethnicities, and LGBTQ+ communities via our fictional characters. Each of these characters are vital to our story and challenge common stereotypes and societal misconceptions.

From challenging Islamophobia in one of my favourite scenes of the series in Episode 4, to settling the misconceptions about Puerto Rican culture… to celebrating gender diversity with one of our most popular characters 9Nine (played by Wil Slickers ) - DERAILED brings in perspectives and experiences from a range of different characters.?

The story also explores much darker issues including depression and PTSD (and particularly how it affects men), suicidal feelings, childhood trauma, psychosis, and borderline personality disorder - all of which are paramount to the story and its ultimate climax. This was perhaps the most emotionally draining part of the project for me, as I often found myself spending hours reading about mental health disorders and the devastating impact(s) of it, to help make my characters sound more believable.

However, as a storyteller, I knew that these are the details that will make DERAILED effortlessly memorable - whether listeners approve of its dark nature or not.

______________

I find myself nearing the ninth page of my document, yet I have millions of more things I could write about my experience of working on DERAILED.

Our final episode will drop in less than a week’s time; and this is usually a conflicting time for me as a storyteller.

One half of me is euphoric about the story finally coming to its natural end (and for listeners finally finding out what happened to Lina Hadid!), while the other half is not-so-secretly sad to be bidding my characters goodbye. The ones I’ve been writing for nearly a year - and have gotten to know so deeply.

I must thank each and every voice actor who has dedicated the time and effort into bringing our story to life - despite most of them never having done voice acting before. I must always express my gratitude to our wonderful sponsors, without whom this show would not have been possible; and without whom, our story would be quite different.

Mateo and John - it’s been a rollercoaster ride alright. I can’t think of two better people I’d rather be screaming my lungs out with.

And to every single one of our listeners, who by this point, has dedicated over twenty hours to our content (?!) - thank you for accepting that we are not perfect, and allowing us to entertain you anyway.?

The final episode of DERAILED drops on August 1st 2023. In the meantime, feel free to send me messages and suchlike, should you wish to embark on a creative story project of your own. Be warned, there may be some fictional fatalities…

[email protected]

www.derailedpodcast.com