"There are eight million stories
in the naked city; this has been one of them": (from the television series,
The Naked City).
Look around you for the best story starters. They come from
life, sometimes even your life. Think of the things you did in the last
24-hours. Was there anything you wish you could have done differently? Write it
that way and explore the possibilities of what might have happened. Play what
if, ask yourself at every step what would happen if something unexpected
occurred.
Is there a news item you’ve heard about recently? Think of a
character, he/she can be from a book, a TV show, or a fictionalized version of
someone you know. Next think of a time period and location you would like to
write about. Finally take the news story, adjust it if necessary to fit the
time and locale. Put these elements together and write a short story. Once you’ve
written “the end” read through it and see where there was the possibility of a
choice, re-write the story with that choice being made differently. Is there
any place in that new story where your character should consider himself lucky that
things went as expected or hoped for? What kind of obstacle could he have
encountered? That’s right, re-write it again and throw in an obstacle or two.
If you are really feeling it, throw in another different kind of character,
maybe even one that would want something different than your first character.
Using the “Power-of-Three” (character, event, and time/place) you’ve developed
an entire story!
Congratulations, you’ve written a story! Is that story
interesting enough to hook a reader into wanting to keep turning pages? How can
you improve your writing and go from boring to titillating?
Know your characters – know what they want most, know
something critical that happened to them in the past (bad or good), and know at
least one unique trait that will make that character different than the others
(a speech pattern, a disability, a fear, a nervous habit…). The setting has to
be real to you – if action takes place in a house try to get a idea of what it
feels like to be IN that house, is it drafty, dusty, smelly, or does it feel
antiseptic like an OR? When your character is out of doors “be next to him” and
learn if the mountains make him feel small or if the wet sand around the lake
feels like it is sucking his feet into the earth. You have to know how it feels
to be in the story (in the location and in the time period) in order to let
your readers feel like they are a part of it. Remember to show more than tell
and speak to your reader’s emotions and not just their eyes and brain.
Whether you open your story with action, tension or both,
open with something that will interest your reader enough to want to read past
the first paragraph. To start you story with “Donna was skipping rope” is action, but why should your reader stay
interested? However if you say “He was
watching as the little girl skipped rope in the empty school yard” then you’ve
created tension – WHO is HE and what are his intentions? Give your audience
something to be invested in. If you find the story is getting a bit boring as
you re-read it then it is time to toss in a conflict – the conflict can be
emotional, another person, an act of nature, a physical obstacle or, in cases
of fantasy, a little bit of magical dust. The conflict or obstacle needs to be
realistic for the story setting and the character should be able to overcome or
revise their path to get past the conflict, just not too easily.
Be sure to end each chapter on a “cliffhanger”, always leave
something significant unresolved to make the reader need to turn the page and
find out what happens next. Even at the end of the book, leave something minor
open and let the reader’s imagination finish the story to avoid the total let
down of going through crisis after crisis and suddenly – boom, nothing. The typical
Happy-Ever-After doesn’t have to end with the couple getting married and having
a family, they can be together and talking of a future and the rest can be left
to imagination. Unless you are planning a series where you need to leave a
regular and full cliffhanger, it doesn’t hurt to end every stand-alone novel
with a slight opening for a continued story.
Writing exercise: Make a list of 5 people, 5 settings, and 5
events. Mix and match and develop at least 5 synopsis that you would use as a
book blurb (short description often found at buy links to tell the customer
about the book)
Writing prompt: Make
a list of 10 to 15 unique character traits. Match each trait up with someone
you know who epitomizes that trait (you can use TV or book characters if
necessary)
Challenge assignment:
Take a pen and a notebook to somewhere you can comfortably sit and
observe two or more people (preferably strangers) without hearing them; if the
view from your window is busy enough, you can use that. Using their body
language, hand gestures and what you can see of facial expressions, imagine the
conversation that is happening and write the basics into your notebook. A
little later take what you wrote in the notebook and put it into a complete
story and do NOT stop writing until you have at least 500 words – keep writing
if you have more to say.
The Living, Breathing, Writing Kindle Blog has been in existence for six years - from now through August I am re-posting revised blogs from the earliest weeks in addition to the normal weekly posts. Each re-posted blog will feature a Writing Exercise, a Writing Prompt and a Challenge Assignment.
