Storytelling is as old as mankind. Our tribal ancestors used stories to teach and learn and pass knowledge down through the generations, these stories became myths and fairytales and - eventually - emasculated animated movies. [If you want to study the development of fairytales and mythology I would suggest reading Vladimir Propp's Morphology of the Folktale - I would also suggest that you'd be crazy to try! Propp's theories melted my brain back when I was writing my dissertation, but he has been able to break down all folk/fairytales down to a rather simple formula] I have been writing stories for as long as I can remember - but that doesn't make me an expert, by any measure - through my experiences reading and writing I have come to the conclusion that there are three most important elements required for a good story - not that these are the only elements required, but they cover the bases and if you can master these three points then your stories will be worth reading.
First, Character.
However you come by your story idea I find it best to get something down on paper first - whether that's a few notes or a couple of paragraphs of story is entirely up to you. After a few hundred words I find it best to stop and take a step back, then break the idea down and identify the main character/s.
For each character I set aside a page in a notebook and make a note of their appearance first - simple details like hair and eye colour come in handy down the line - then I imagine them sitting down with me for coffee (Yes, it sounds odd, particularly as most of my stories are Fantasy based and a warrior hung with steel looks rather odd sipping from a Costa venti mug) Some writers really push for you to write a whole autobiography, but at this early stage I prefer three simple questions...
- Who are you?
- What do you know?
- Where are you going?
The What can - usually - be 'nothing much', particularly in the beginning. The point of a story is for the main character to develop and grow. Even when the story starts with a war-weary warrior (See Sparhawk in Edding's Elenium) the main character knows what they know, where they have been and what they believe the world to be... that is likely to change as the story progresses.
The Where is - at least in the beginning - a far distant goal. It may be an unknown destination, or a long lonely road or a trail following a mysterious Man in Black (See King's Dark Tower)
Whenever I have a pause in writing, particularly if I find myself blocked, then I take the opportunity to go back to my character notes and re-ask these three questions so that I can see how my characters have developed and changed - and where they are still missing something. All of my characters get this treatment, even those who are only walk-on parts because you never know when you'll need a random villager to drop in with some vital piece of information.
Some authors really don't like Plot, the idea of trying to control and contain their stories goes against the freedom of creativity (See King's On Writing). If you reach the dizzy heights then you can put aside the chains of Plot, but at least in the beginning you need some idea of where things are going - particularly if you're going for a short story with a particular word count, or some kind of epic adventure. Christopher Vogler wrote The Writer's Journey, which is more closely based around screenwriting, but really does relate to the general stages of a plot - although he goes really in depth and lists 15 stages of the story, I would suggest that you have a look at his work, or a simplified list in the introduction to Edding's Rivan Codex. This is what I consider the stages of a story... (this fits pretty much any genre except Beat Poetry)
- Home - This is the protagonist's starting point, usually their home - or at least where they have grown up. There are many heroes who discover that they are not native to their land but still consider it home. This place is all the hero has ever known, it is often a carefree place - think Hobbiton, Faldor's Farm or the Two Rivers. In Gaiman's Neverwhere it is London Above - normal London. You should introduce Home as quickly as possible in order to set up the next stage of the story. King's The Gunslinger opens with 'The man in black fled across the desert and the Gunslinger followed.' This may not seem to be Roland's Home place, but it is where he begins, the start of this cycle of the books.
- Change - The moment of change in Fantasy is often quite obvious - the threat of the One Ring, the sickness of queen Elhana, Eragon discovering a mysterious rock. In other genres it may not be as clear, but the change must make the Home place no longer safe or comfortable and drive the hero to seek his Grail (I'll come to that in a moment).
- Quest - This should take up about 2/3 of your narrative. The hero starts on a journey - whether physical or mental - and along that journey they meet companions and competition. Jung - and other writers - have written many things on the stereotypes of dreams and stories - hero, heroine, warrior, wise man, trickster etc. Not all characters fall into one pigeonhole, however, so don't be afraid to mix things up. The quest is a learning experience as well - Harry Potter for example, learning more spells and more about the mythology of his world, so don't forget to develop your characters in that way as well.
- Minor Conflict - This could be any minor moment where the hero faces his villain and realizes exactly how similar they are - hero and villain are often two halves of the same coin - Often writers choose to kill someone the hero loves and drive them to the next stage with rage or grief. This often leads to a moment of...
- Choice - The hero's choice is the culmination of all their experiences to this point, but may not be a huge moment. In The Philosopher's Stone Harry chooses to go through the door rather than take his suspicions to one of the teachers.
- Final Battle - Basically what the whole story has been building towards, a moment of pressure release. In other genres this final confrontation could be a wedding or other moment of coming together - or final separation.
- Grail - From the Final Battle the hero gains the Grail. This could be a powerful object or an objective completed.
- Return - Once his quest is complete the hero returns Home, but he is changed by his experiences. This change could be for the better or the worse. The hero's eyes have been opened, or his power discovered or he has been damaged - like Frodo - and he may never be able to settle back into his place.
Editing is a constant process as each thought passes from your mind to your hands - usually one you do automatically as you order your thoughts - but in my opinion the best practice comes from remembering just 5 simple points...
- Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar - Obviously! Nothing jars the reader more than typos and little errors - DO NOT rely on spellcheckers.
- Narrative Flow - Does the story flow easily from one scene to another, do those scenes make sense. Have you mentioned something that you have not 'shown' to the reader?
- Dialogue - Do your characters speak in a realistic way? Can YOU speak their lines aloud without getting tongue tied? Are you over-narrating? (If your character is pacing and stamping around the room as he speaks is it necessary to say that he speaks 'angrily'?) Do you need to SHOW rather than TELL.
- Actions - Along with the dialogue, are your character's actions consistent? Does a normally honest character suddenly decide to lie without good reason?
- Will my READER like it? - Write for someone, I find that much easier than just writing for a large audience. My reader was a housemate from uni, I know what she likes and what things aggravate and what will cause her to laugh or cry.
I have mentioned before that I have written a number of novels - and started to serialize them through Kindle Direct. I am actually in the process of re-drafting the first book and will be re-releasing them in the next few weeks. Click the link below to be redirected to part 1 of book 1.
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