Image Credit: Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay images.
I catch up with a lot of stories during the Advent and Christmas periods but not always via books (of any format).
Taking in Stories via Song and Film
Some of the stories I sing given most of the carols tell the story of the Nativity from different angles.
The carols also give me poetry and I especially think of Christina Rossetti here with her Love Came Down at Christmas and In The Bleak Midwinter. The latter has to be sung to Gustav Holst’s wonderful melody as far as I’m concerned given it has a slightly bleak quality to it which suits the poem.
I also take in stories via film. I’ve watched Hogfather (Terry Pratchett), The Muppet Christmas Carol (the best adaptation of Dickens’ classic novella), and The Polar Express (Tom Hanks is fabulous in this). Another tradition of ours is to watch The Great Escape on Christmas Day which is also based on a true story.
A truly great story or poem is one you can turn to time and time again regardless of its format.
The Story Writing Challenge
So the challenge to all story writers, regardless of word count being written to, is to come up with tales of our own which others would want to read and reread. No pressure then!
I think the best advice I can give is to read and keep reading. Read in and out of your genre. Read classic and contemporary.
Don’t forget to include non-fiction as I’ve found ideas can spark for stories when I’m reading something factual. I will read something interesting and ask myself whether a character would come up with something similar in their setting and/or how their setting would change things. That’s just one example.
You also find out pretty quickly what you like and dislike in stories and characters by reading the works of others. This is so useful. It’s the single biggest thing I’ve found useful in working out what I want to produce in terms of characters. There are certain character types I know I will never want to write because I read their type elsewhere and loathed them!
Tips
Ask yourself why you care about your characters. You are your own first reader. You need to care passionately about your characters and what happens to them. If you don’t, why should anyone else care?
Following on, this means the stakes for your characters have to be high enough to matter. Can be life or death situations, of course, but it doesn’t have to be this either. Something which is crucial to your character can mean little to another, but we as readers need to see why it does mean the world to your creation and what they do as a result. We also need to see the consequences of their actions. We want/need the rising tension as we read on to find out if the characters achieve their objectives or not.
Characters have to be active then though the degree of activity can vary. A character can be active simply by saying something which “sets another character off”.
What is your theme and how do your characters deliver on it? Ensure loose ends are resolved in some way. A story does have to finish!
Read plenty of short stories if you intend to write them, plenty of flash fiction if you intend to write that. You do need to know what is already out there. It is studying the market.
It is your character’s story so ensure we can hear their voice, see them “in action” etc. There is a great quote from Elmore Leonard which states, “Try to leave out all the parts readers skip.” Often this is description which goes on too long or dialogue which doesn’t move the story on in some way. Everything in your tale has to move the story on, else why it is in there?
Ensure your language is appropriate to (a) your character and (b) your genre. Bear in mind this does change over time. Flowery language from the Victorian era is unlikely to go down well now. Yet another reason to study the contemporary works. What you still learn from the classics is the basics of how stories work and how characters can hold their readers’ attention. There is a reason we still love Sherlock Holmes.
I find it useful to outline but this doesn’t have to nail everything down. I need to know who my character is and what drives them. From that I will have a good idea of what behaviours and attitudes they are likely to have. I need a rough idea of the opening, a working title, and a pointer to a likely ending. I then fill in the gaps. Sometimes things change along the way and that’s fine.
Better ideas can occur as I’m drafting a piece so I note them down and then can see where they would fit into my story, where they are better than my original idea (though I still needed that to get me started), and change accordingly. Having an outline helps me see better where a new idea would fit in. It’s like having a jigsaw partially completed and I can see where the missing bit I’ve just found should go.
Knowing what I like to see in stories I read makes it easier for me to work out what I would like my readers to get from my tales. I can then outline accordingly. I know I like a good pace, cracking dialogue, characters I care about, and a good ending (though not necessarily a happy one). I can ask myself what makes me care about a character so what can I do to make my readers care about mine.
Once your first draft is down, rest it for a bit. Draft something else. Coming back to your first story after a gap will help you to see it with fresh eyes. Expect to see flaws. But this is what the editing is for – to get rid of those. I find it helps to read a story out loud (or record it on Zoom and play it back) as you take in a story as a reader would doing this. You can also hear how well or otherwise your story, especially the dialogue, flows.
There are plenty of excellent writing craft books out there. Do read at least some of these. You can always check out our lovely library here as they are likely to have some in and you can then decide which books you absolutely must have your own copies of at home. I’ve found Story (Robert McKee) and On Writing (Stephen King) eye opening. For a fabulous analysis of plots, The Seven Basic Plots by Christopher Booker is a long but riveting read.
Conclusion
Above all, write and keep writing. It is a craft. It takes time and persistence to develop. One thing I love about writing is you do keep learning. This is so good for us.
Related Posts:-
Read interviews with Chandler’s Ford writer Allison Symes: Part 1 and Part 2.
Read blog posts by Allison Symes published on Chandler’s Ford Today.
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