7 Lessons for Writers from The Fault in Our Stars

In case you haven’t heard, the biggest thing to hit the big screen this weekend is a film called The Fault in Our Stars. I’m taking my wife to it because we haven’t cried together in a while, and if the movie is anything like the book, it’ll live up to that expectation.

The Fault in Our Stars book

I stumbled up on this #1 New York Times bestseller earlier this year after getting tired of seeing it on the evergreen best sellers list on Amazon. Listening to the audio version while driving home, I tried not to wake my sleeping son with my suppressed laughs. I couldn’t put the book down.

Afterwards, I was fascinated with the author, John Green, and spent more than an adequate amount of time on his website. What struck me was how he was inspired to write such a story, how it clearly has made an impact in the world, and how what he believes about the world influences his writing.

I identified several lessons that any writer can learn from Mr. Green and apply to their own craft (I certainly plan on doing so, anyway):

1. Write what you know

This was one of the secrets to Hemingway’s genius: he wrote nearly-biographical fiction which, he thought, was truer than reality. Green, who spent some time as a hospital chaplain before he became an author, did the same.

In fact, he admitted to basing part of The Fault in Our Stars on a teenage girl named Esther, who sadly passed away before the book she inspired was ever published.

2. Build a tribe

John and his brother Hank share a wildly popular YouTube channel called “vlogbrothers” where they talk about science, philosophy, politics, and anything else that tickles their fancy. They have given a name to their community — Nerdfighters — who “fight to increase awesome” and decrease suck.

What Green has tapped into with his video blogs, especially for his young adult audience, is something more authors could learn from: go where your audience is (and who isn’t on the Internet these days?), and meet them there.

He calls it “Nerdfighteria” — I call it your tribe. Whatever the name, go find the people you want to reach, and start serving them. Give people a place to gather, and you will have something more than just a good story. You will have a movement.

3. Tell a story about real life

Sure, there’s plenty of room in the market for the next paranormal YA romance novel; and if that’s your thing, go for it. But there’s also power in telling a simple, realistic story well.

Reality is something we can all relate to, and Green does an excellent job of this in his novel about two teenage cancer patients who fall in love. The dialogue is funny and often sardonic, occasionally filled with believable profanity (how else would two kids dying of cancer talk?).

Because it feels real, at the end of the novel, you’re left with a sense that there’s some lesson you just learned about your own life.

4. Make your audience cry

I once heard musician Damien Rice say that he creates better art when he’s sad. I think we all do.

There’s a profound exchange that happens between artist and audience when we share our pain. At some level, every human being is acquainted with suffering, so when you tell a sad story, you are sharing something universal that we can all tap into.

5. Give hope

It’s not enough to just tell a sad story. You have to give people something to believe in. Yes, you must be real and authentic, but what makes The Fault in Our Stars, or any good story, powerful is that within this tale of inevitable tragedy, there is hope.

Throughout the novel, you know that someone is going to die, but there still is a theme of redemption woven throughout every chapter. Yes, you know something bad is going to happen; but you also believe something good is happening, too.

A good story captures our imagination and transports us somewhere else — but it also brings us back to our own realities, helping us understand ourselves and the universe just a little bit better. At least, that’s how I felt when I finished reading The Fault in Our Stars. We’ll see if the movie delivers the same.

Note: My online writing course, Tribe Writers, closes next Wednesday. Find out more here.

Have you read a book that fits all the above lessons? Share in the comments.