So You Want To/Write a Story: Difference between revisions

 

 

 

The rest of this article addresses how to accomplish that.

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Most stories have:

Typically, [[The Protagonist]] is opposed by an [[The Antagonist|antagonistic character]], or else to achieve their goal they must struggle against society, an object, a natural disaster, etc.

 

 

The [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]]: Where do you stand?

Do you wish to portray a world in which karma works in favor of the virtuous, and villains get their comeuppance? You might choose this path to inspire your readers to do good in the world, or simply because it feels good to read a happy ending.

 

 

You can place your story anywhere between the two extremes. Maybe some good characters get hurt or die despite their virtue, and some villains go [[Karma Houdini]] in the end, but most of the characters get what's coming to them, one way or the other.

Similarly, save the globe-trotting for a time when you've already proven you can write. For now, stick to a few [[Environmental Symbolism|relevant locales]].

 

 

 

Now, this does not mean your character needs to ''evolve''. [[Character Development]] is useful, but it's not the only way to run a story; [[Structural Archetypes|sometimes]] the Protagonist is the [[Blithe Spirit|only character]] who does ''not'' grow. So it's perfectly okay to have a [[Static Character]] - as long as that character is ''not flat'' (and not [[Pettanko|in the way you're thinking, either]]).

Also, you may hear that [[True Art]] is [[True Art Is Angsty|angsty]], [[True Art Is Incomprehensible|incomprehensible]], offensive and such - take this with a pinch of salt. Whilst it is true that great stories have been told in ways that can be painful, complex or challenging to our core beliefs, true art often cannot be summed up so simplistically, and it is often a sign of a certain degree of pretentiousness when people insist that art is 'only' one thing or another. Great art can just as often be optimistic, simple and inoffensive - and the greatest works of art generally tend to acknowledge both sides.

 

 

Whatever theme you can do can be subverted in either way. The most common form to do that is the [[Deconstruction]], analysing the theme and dissect it until the last consequences. Another way to do this is by adding [[Hidden Depths]] to seemingly archetypal characters.

But please, for the love of all that is holy, don't abuse the [[Twist Ending]] gimmick.

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There's a wide range of motifs to choose from when crafting a character, a story, a world. But you need to make the motif serve your story, not the other way around. If you find you're bending the characters to suit the motif, you're probably going to end up with something simple and flavorless, hardly standing out from its fellows. And readers who recognize the motifs are going to guess your plot twists a mile off.

* '''[[Animal Stereotypes|Animals]]:''' Each major character gets an animal "totem" that shows off the basic feel of the character. ''[[Elf Quest]]'' did this with Cutter, Leetah, Skywise, and Rayek: a bantam rooster, a cat, a fox, and a snake. But this was never the be-all and end-all of their characters; even Rayek, despite going fairly dark in many places, was never ''merely'' the "[[Reptiles Are Abhorrent|snake]]" of the series.

* '''[[Color Coded for Your Convenience|Colors]]:''' Each character gets a color, which usually informs some aspect of their personality. White might indicate [[The Messiah]], yellow [[The Ditz]], pink [[The Chick]] (or perhaps [[Real Men Wear Pink|a more macho type]]), [[Chromatic Arrangement|blue]] [[The Smart Guy]] and red [[The Lancer]], green or brown the guy who's close to nature, silver [[The Dragon]], etc., etc., etc. There are plenty of ways to play with this (offhand: why is purple listed under villains or at best neutral?), so don't be tied down to what others have done just because others have done it.

 

In general there aren't really suggested plots in works outside "conventional genres". Just open your arms and let the plot come!

 

Another tactic: Design your main character and center your story around what he or she does. Just remember: A plot happens when someone ''wants something badly'' and ''is having trouble getting it''. If Bob, your hero, wants a job at a nearby Pizza Hut, make him ''really'' want it, and let us in on the reason he does. Maybe he's desperate for money. Maybe the girl of his dreams works there too. Maybe he needs a job, any job, before his great-uncle shows up and drags him off to something worse (or his parents send him to That Camp). But if he really doesn't care whether or not he gets the job, we're not going to care either. And if he just walks in and applies, and they accept him on the spot, then maybe the job turns out to be [[Be Careful What You Wish For|not all he dreamed of]]. Otherwise, if he gets his wishes immediately ... what was the story again?

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This is never easy as you think. Besides the whole "created world" versus "some version of our world" choice, there's a bigger concern: putting the reader there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

# Visit the place yourself. If your story is set in London, then you're more likely to be able to vividly, accurately and effectively recreate it if you have some experience of what it's like to be in London; not just where the famous landmarks are, but how the streets are planned, what the weather's like at particular times of the year, even what it smells like in certain regions. Most people have seen a picture of the Houses of Parliament, but if you actually visit it then you can get a sense of what the surrounding area is like, in order to describe it.

# Base your settings closer to home. Walk the streets around your house, visit local places, get a feel for it. You can just as easily set your story in your hometown as anywhere else, or extrapolate a more fantastical setting based on your hometown.

 

Any props that you use should be [[Chekhov's Gun|established as early as possible]]. If it's important for the climax of your work that the hero bests the villain in a sword fight, then you're going to want to give him a sword and experience in using it as early as possible; if he just produces a sword and the ability to use it [[Ass Pull|out of nowhere]] at the end, the reader will feel cheated. That said, you don't have to be too obvious or clunky about it; try not to give away too much too soon.

 

Many amateur authors go to great lengths to describe what their characters are wearing. This can work better in some genres than in others, especially when the story is going to a visual medium, but in most cases an über-detailed description isn't needed. Especially when the time of the media leap/adaptation arrives and the director designates a costume designer with his or her own ideas.

 

* Do the clothes say something about the character? What, exactly?

* Does the description of the clothing contribute somehow to the characterization or the plot?

 

Because of the [[Mary Sue]] backlash and the rise of "more realistic" stories, there is an increasing amount of writing about average-looking people. While this is generally good and applauded, this could deviate in several ways:

 

* Falling in the old dichotomy [[Beauty Equals Goodness]] Vs Ugly=Evil in an attempt to subvert this.

* The dreaded [[Suetiful All Along]].

 

Don't be ashamed to write about pretty people. Just don't indulge in endless [[Sour Grapes Tropes|sour grapes]] [[Wangst]], and your public will forgive you. Mostly.

If you want to avoid these problems, the recommendation is not avoiding physical descriptions entirely, but instead characterize with few elements. In fiction, a character's actions and attitudes shape their appearance; if you have a character do an evil thing and then touch their facial hair, The Reader will automatically picture a Snidely-Whiplash mustachio or a [[Beard of Evil]]. This goes for positive / good-guy characters too: you can have a character be a nice person and then let The Reader's imagination do the rest. Seriously, who's better at envisioning a character The Reader finds attractive: you or The Reader? So, give only the pertinent details, avoiding [[Purple Prose|purpley adjectivation]], and then leave it alone. It's better if your readers have their own mental images. Let them ''be'' the Casting Director.

 

Be keenly aware of the medium you are writing for when putting stunts into your story. Many impressive physical feats only work in the movies (and other visual media) because describing them with words commonly ruins the timing and pace. One of the reasons is that most action scenes in the movies have several things happening at the same time:

* [[The Hero]] punches [[The Dragon]], [[The Dragon]] dodges while countering with a hidden knife...

Notice how the time you need to read through that sentence is much longer than the actual actions it describes. A text is linear (you can only read one word at a time) while a motion picture is holistic (you notice or can notice many details at once), therefore, just like with the clothes and appearances, avoid describing in great detail each move that a character makes in your book because it simply won't be as interesting as in the movies.

 

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Just search any Literature Classics section in the bookstore/library, or ask the old man under the bridge who sells second-hand books.

 

Most of the works listed here as being [[So Bad It's Horrible (Darth Wiki)|So Bad Its Horrible]] got there for a reason.<ref>Okay, [[Hate Dumb|two reasons]] -- that page wasn't moved to the [[Darth Wiki]] for nothing.</ref> Read or watch one to get a good idea of what not to do.

 

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[[Category:Just for Fun]]

[[Category:Write A Story]]