Hi everyone in blog land. Here in the United States and Canada it’s Labor Day. As many, or all, of you know it’s the celebration of working people. Hats off to everyone one of you. I applaud you. Jobs can be GREAT at times and jobs can be awful at times. It comes with the territory right? We work hard and deserve to be celebrated. Take care on this day. I pray the Lord Jesus Blesses each and every one of you. Be safe all.
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Uniqueness
What do you bring to your writing? This question has an answer, but it might not be known to us right away. It’s something we may need to think about. I believe it’s subconscious, and on that level something goes into our writing that we aren’t aware of. I call this our unique inner signature…. a writing signature.
Now you might call this style. And you’re right. It is our style. It’s a writing style DNA. About a year and a half ago, I took a class called Keys to Effective Editing. In this class the instructor discussed how, when you’re editing someone else’s work, you have to be careful not to alter the meaning/style of the author. In other words, don’t make it your own. In a nutshell, when you are editing someone else’s writing, edit with great care.
As a beginning writer, you might not know your style, or uniqueness, yet. It’s something that you grow into. The word flow might not be there yet. Not to worry, it will come with time and practice. Something you could try is to write down what makes you, you. Spoiler alert, this may take some thought on your part. We are good at critiquing others, but when it comes to ourselves, it isn’t as easy. To save time, ask someone else what makes you unique. Ask someone to critique your writing style. This is how I learned more about myself as a writer because it allowed me to reflect on their words, then look at my writing, and then grow from there. You can too.
Legs
(How many of you can relate to a story like this?)
I laughed at the comedy on TV. It was welcoming because I hadn’t gotten into a program in a long time.
Work, crafts, writing, they all had taken my time lately. But that’s ok. I’d rather do those things than spend all of my time watching television. A good brain workout doing other things than TV was better anyway. Then it happened.
The brown, hairy, eight legged thing revealed itself as I threw my head back in laughter once again. Damn, there was always something that had to spoil the fun. And just when no one else was here to kill it for me. I pursed my lips together wondering how I was going to do this. The way I saw it, I had one of two choices. I could sit and stare at it until my husband got home…….six hours from now, or I could face this and get it myself. Neither option appealed to me. Of all the places it could be, the ceiling. The only choice I had was the fly swatter.
With the fly swatter in hand, I steadied it below where said spider was. I was still too short. Damn! I trudged over to the step stool and placed it just to the right of where that ugly thing sat. I stepped up. Now I was too close. I shot out a breath. “Well, this has to be done for my own peace of mind.” I looked up and hunkered down out of its way just in case it fell. I didn’t want it dropping on me. Steadying the fly swatter just below the spider, I paused. Then, smack. But, instead of pulling the fly swatter away, I left it there, moving it back and forth to make sure I had killed it.
I stepped down off the stool and released the fly swatter at the same time. Peering down at the brown blob on top of it, I breathed a sigh of relief.
Story Structure in Three Acts
In an earlier post entitled Story Organization, I touched on ways I come up with story ideas and once I am satisfied with one I like, I create the story moving from general to specifics using a one line premise and expanding on that until I have a five paragraph summary of my story. In this post I’m going to open things up a bit and introduce the three act story structure. Every novel and movie is structured this way. When I learned this method, it opened my eyes to the skeletal aspects of the story itself, and I never looked at a story in a novel or a movie quite the same way again. I can’t help but notice the transitions from one act to the next. The three act structural pattern below is what I used to write my novel. Yours might be different depending on how many scenes/chapters you have and the different types of scenes you have (action/reaction).
Act I Part 1
The Setup (Backstory)
*Create stakes, backstory, and character empathy
Reaction Scene
Reaction Scene
Create Empathy Scene
First plot point (point of no return/inciting incident)
Add however many scenes you need
Act II Part 2 (Response)
Reaction to First Plot Point
Reaction to First Plot Point
Regroup and retreat
Regroup and retreat/weighs options
Doomed attempt to take action
Setup of pinch point
Pinch point
Response to pinch point
Response to pinch point
Leading up to midpoint scene
Leading up to midpoint scene
Leading up to midpoint scene
Act two is the response. Here your main character isn’t winning. They are trying everything they can to win but they keep coming up short. Here the reader is wondering when the main character is finally going to overcome the bad guy. Feel free to insert problems and obstacles here. Yes, this is a great part of the story to show your main character’s fear(s). Trial and error run a muck in this part.
Act II Part 3 (The Attack)
Midpoint scene
Plan of action
Action scene
Action scene
Action scene
Setup of 2nd pinch point
2nd pinch point
Reaction to 2nd pinch point
Action scene
Action scene
Leading up to 2nd Plot Point
Leading up to 2nd Plot Point
Okay, act two part three is the attack. Somewhere at the end of act two part two and act two part three your main character becomes fearless. What occurred in the story to allow this change in character. Make this believable or you risk losing your readers. In this part of the story your main character starts winning.
The combined nature of act two is to create that rising action that moves to a resolution. You need to create that climax by building tension. Keep in mind the character arc (growth) for your main character (That’s another blog post for a later time).
Act III Part 4 (Resolution)
Do not add new information
2nd Plot Point
Action scene
Action scene
Action scene
Resolution
Also, bear in mind that there are other characters helping your main character obtain his/her goals. In the end your main character, and others in the story as well, have a new sense of themselves. The inner growth they accomplished throughout the story has made them stronger, more confident. They now have a sense that they are able to accomplish anything. I’ll touch on character growth in a later post. For now, I hope the above outline gives you some direction of how to structure your story. Happy writing.
Story Starters
What do you think about when you’re standing at the top of a mountain? What’s going through your mind? Is your imagination poking at your brain? Is fear setting in? There weren’t any side rails along the road on the way up, so you’re wondering how you’re going to get back down without going over the edge. Getting up there was easy. What if you get stuck on the way down (if you climbed up)? Questions questions.
Story ideas start with questions. Usually they’re ‘what if’ questions, but that doesn’t mean they have to be (see above questions for examples). I like the ‘what if’ questions only because that’s what my brain goes to automatically. Below are some ‘what if’ questions you can steal. Remember, one what if question can create more than one story.
- What if you were eating in a Chinese restaurant and received a fortune cookie made gold?
- What if someone knocked at your front door? You answer it and it’s your late grandfather. You give him a hug and immediately that takes you back in time to his era.
- What if you’re walking to the elevator in the busy office building you work in, and you suddenly realize you’re alone. You’re the only one in the whole building.
- What if you stumble upon your parents who aren’t your parents but they look like them?
- What if the spiritual realm became visible only to you?
- What if a one hundred dollar bill was found stuck in your second story bedroom window and you know it’s not yours?
- What if you bit into a cookie and found a ring inside with an inscription?
Character Names
What’s in a name? When we name our kids, we want to make sure we give him or her the right name. We want it to mean something. We want it to sound right. Maybe the child will be named after someone we admire? The process can be very simple or it can be long and tedious. The same can be said for story characters. I believe this is especially true for story characters.
In my novel The Triunix of Time my main character started out with the name Amanda. The antagonist started out with the name Dominick. Yes, I still laugh at that. At the time I named my main character I didn’t have a clear focus on where exactly my story line was going. I had an idea, but it wasn’t solid. Amanda was the only name that popped in my head at the time. It seemed like a nice name, so I chose it. Then, I realized I didn’t know how to take my story and carry it through to the end. I didn’t have a road map, and, because I didn’t have a road map, I didn’t have a clear focus about what my main character’s name should be. Yes, the two should go together, but in a way that blends. You don’t want to create a stereotype, so stay away from the name Biff for a tough guy. There are better names to give him that aren’t so obvious.
Since I needed to learn about story structure, I put my manuscript down for a while and did some research. In my research, I discovered the three act structure. I won’t go into the particulars on this. That’s for another post entirely. I delved into this structure and learned everything about it. I focused on what types of information and scenes are placed into each act. Once I learned this, I had a road map for my story. THEN, I picked it back up, I wrote my ideas into a journal. I brainstormed and visualized, and right in the middle of it all I also realized my main character’s name had to change.
I deleted the name Amanda and went on Google. BUT, I didn’t just look at names to look at names. What I did was look at names and their meanings. I wanted to choose a name that meshed with my main character’s goal and who she was as a person. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without knowing what the story was going to be. I needed to have that first. As it turned out, I did something VERY unique with her name. I’d tell you but that would give away part of the story.
My antagonist I worked much the same way. I needed to know what his motivations were. He was a bad guy but that’s all I knew. At first I gave him the name of Dominick. Here again, this was before I had a clear story line, so I was stuck. Once I learned story structure, I had a name for him; a nick name. It isn’t until later in the story that I dubbed him with a regular name outside of the nick name. (Laughing) He wasn’t happy with me either. I didn’t care. It worked and he was stuck with it. Here again, his nick name and his regular name also meshes with the story line.
So, give some real thought about your character’s names. Research and know your story. Jot down notes here and there that you can refer to later if you need to. Enjoy the process.
Story Organization
Organizing your story can be rather daunting if you’re new to it. Not knowing the various ways in which one can go about doing this will bring on this feeling. To feel confident about story organization, learn some tricks that other authors do, then choose one or two methods that suits your style.
What I do
I start by moving from general to specific. I do quite a bit of thinking and brainstorming by rolling around various what if scenarios in my head and write down a list as I go. Many of my ideas come from real life events from my past. When I started writing the Triunix of Time, I began with a story about a relationship. It was supposed to be about a man and a woman who started out as friends and ended up falling in love. A simple plot. Right? Ha!!! At first yes. Where it ended up years later wasn’t where I started from. There is some romance in there, yes. But, it was secondary to the main story, which was something else entirely. That’s the nature of writing a book. It’s going to change as you write it.
Once I pick a scenario I’m happy with, I come up with a one line premise. This one line will sum up what your whole story is about, yet it will do this in general terms. See the example below:
- Tora is a headstrong, career driven woman who sets out to find the truth about her parents and discovers a family secret that goes back to the Magi.
The above example is the one line premise for my novel The Triunix of Time. Once I had this down (It didn’t start out perfect. I had to rework it a few times, and so will you with yours), I expanded it to include four more sentences. So now you are moving toward being a little more specific. Once you get your one five sentence paragraph that sums up your story, take each of those five sentences and turn each of them into a paragraph so you end up with a five paragraph synopsis of what your story is about. Keep expanding on this summary until you have a long synopsis (this length is up to you). This method will take some thought. You will end up changing things around along the way until you’re happy with it. That’s just how it goes. Have fun with it. Believe it or not, when you finish writing your novel, you will condense this long synopsis until you are able to use it on the back of your book when you publish it. Below is an example of the five sentence summary that expands from the one sentence premise above:
- Tora arrives home after a long drive from Norfolk, Virginia. Soon, she discovers a journey she must take. At the onset of this journey she comes to the knowledge that there are secrets regarding herself and her family. Add to that, she, along with Kyle and John, must defeat the Black Mamba. But, this will not be easy. Tora is the Triunifier, so without her this mission cannot be accomplished. She gets her strength from Kyle and John. Soon they are racing against the clock and must obtain possession of the pieces of the Triunix. They accomplish this, but the Black Mamba tricks them and Tora (now Nadira) merges with him.
Notice that mine is a little more than five sentences. That’s okay. You get the point. This summary paragraph and every summary/synopsis you write must move your story progressively from the beginning of the story to the end.
The Writer’s Way
Is there one correct way to write a novel? I say no…….there isn’t. Are there elements of a novel that must be used? Yes…….there is. How do these two entities go together? It’s simple. You take the required elements and use them in a way that suits you and your writing style. Everybody is different, so the way in which we go about writing our book will be different. If you don’t know how you yourself would write a novel, then learn the different methods that have worked for other writers, try them out and go with what suits you. It’s a learning process and might take you a while to figure out what works for you. But it might not take you long at all.
A very important aspect to know is whether or not you are a “pantser” (you make the story up as you go along with no planning) or an out-liner/planner. Now, I’ve come to discover that you can be a little of both. I’m a little of both. I didn’t know this of course until I tried each style and found it difficult to use just one. The one I use at the time I’m writing depends on the part of the story I’m writing. When I get stuck, then I go to planning and thinking, which gets the wheels turning again. Then I’m back to pantsing.
Another important part to note is setting. People like pictures. When we were little, we started out reading picture books and many of our children’s books have pictures. Gradually as we get older, the pictures in the books become less and less. Eventually, all we have are words and it’s up to us to create the pictures in our minds as we’re reading. BUT the author plays a huge role in this part because they are the ones who are creating the pictures for us to see. They’re just not doing it with pictures, instead they’re doing it with words. HOW they do this is up to them. It’s their style of creating that contributes to creating the settings depicted in their novels. You will figure this out as well. I can’t tell you how, but I can give you ideas about how I go about do it. But that’s for another blog post.
Lastly, I wanted to touch on the creation of characters. I know how I do it, but I only figured out how to do this by reading how others did it, and used what worked for me. I combined that with a few of my own ideas. So much goes into the creating of a character. We are complex individuals and so are your characters. They have to be complex if they’re going to be believable. In my mind: who a character is on the inside + who a character is on the outside (actions and what they say) = a believable and complex character. See my earlier blog post from May 12 entitled Character Building for more information on this topic.
In the end, it’s YOUR story. Make it yours. Write it YOUR way, but by all means learn from others. Through it all, you will find your style and what works for you.
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Inspiration
Painting Your Picture
Story setting is essential. It’s one of the elements that pulls readers into the story and places them there. Can you imagine what reading a story would be like if there wasn’t any description of the places in it? Flat, that’s what it would be….flat. I would cast it aside in a heartbeat.
How do we paint a picture of what we want our readers to see when they read your story? It really is up to the writer. I say this because we’re all different and have our own ways of doing things. So, take what you will from this post and make it yours. I like to create my settings in such a way, so that when someone reads it, it sounds natural. What I don’t want is for the action/story to stop so that I can describe something. Doing that takes away from the story. Note the two examples below.
Example 1: Laural stepped into the room with her bare feet. The room was white with plush carpet. White curtains hung on the windows and blew in the breeze. To the right of the window sat a small square table with a bright green tablecloth. In spite of the brightness of the room, she should have felt comforted, but no. There was an eeriness that made her feel uneasy. A lock of her blond hair fell forward and she moved to push it back. She stopped midway as she felt his finger along her cheek.
Example 2: Laural stepped into the white room. Now barefoot, she stepped onto the plush, white carpet. At one time this feeling would have comforted her, but today the cushion of the carpet only served to increase that eerie sensation twisting in her gut. White curtains billowed as the breeze from the open window whispered into the room. Again, a false sense of comfort played in her gut. It were as though the room was dark, not light. The only color in the room came from a plant sitting on a small square end table to the right of the open window. A single black rose stood dead center of a plant whose bright green heart shaped leaves came to thin tips. His calling card. A lock of blond hair pushed forward over her right shoulder. Moving her hand up to push it out of the way, she froze midway as his finger caressed her cheek. Her breath caught in her chest. She wanted to run, but her legs wouldn’t move.
“You look pale, my sweet,” he said.
In the first example the setting description does nothing to move the story along and it doesn’t create any kind of feeling either. We are told that Laural is feeling uneasy, but the description doesn’t heighten this feeling at all.
The second example combines description of the room with how Laural is feeling, which in turn goes along with the story.
When you’re writing, and get stuck on how to describe something, sit back and relax. Close your eyes and picture your setting or situation. Then, when you’re ready, describe it simply. When you’re done with that, embellish it to fit the story/scene. It takes practice.
WRITE TIME AND AGAIN 