The Story Within Your Story

When I was in college, I was taught that stories structured according to a plan and moral were formulaic and lacked the organic honesty necessary to a great work of art. What I learned how to do was write beautifully symbolic imagery, fragmented from any sort of larger purpose (and we could launch into a whole discussion of academia and postmodernism with that, but let's be honest, I would be the only one interested in it. :) ).

Then, I went the other direction. When I fell in love with writing romance for CBA, I was finally free to write those moral-of-the-story scenes my heart had longed to put on the page. What I ended up writing then were overly-formulaic sequences wherein the characters came across flat and predictable.

Now, I realize-- all great stories need both honesty and morality.

If you try to hard to actively push a moral or agenda, you do not have a story. You have instruction, preaching, and perhaps, some metaphor. But you don't have an honest and gripping story.

But if, on the other hand, you follow where your whims take you and write compelling scenes with absolutely beautiful imagery that do not advance any kind of larger plot and structure, you do not have a premise. And therein again, your story probably stinks.

Ever wonder why no one really enjoys reading literary fiction? Even us book nerds who "get it"?

BECAUSE THERE IS NO STORY! You guys, it seems to painfully obvious to me now. I don't know why I didn't figure this out ten years ago, when I thought I might want to write "literary fiction."

If you haven't read Stanley Williams' book The Moral Premise, you absolutely need to buy and read it ASAP... it's probably the most helpful text I've ever read for writers. And in it, Williams essentially says that every strong story--every story that resonates with readers or viewers-- upholds some sort of moral premise. Even a tragedy. Think about Finding Nemo and the questions it presents to us of identity and home. Or It's A Wonderful Life, and its themes of contentment and community. Or Jane Austen's preoccupation with class structure and gender power relations.

If you want your story to be successful, it needs to present a consistent moral. But how does that happen? Do you go out and say, "I want this story to be about faithfulness... or love... or grace... or forgiveness... or fear"? Well, maybe. Some people do. But usually, that gets you into dangerous territory because you start to force your characters.

There's another way I want to suggest.

Know yourself.

Pray.

And then recognize within yourself the themes that are important to you.

Allen Arnold often says in his workshops that the enemy preemptively attacks areas of God's greatest glory in our lives.

Are you afraid of failure? Then why? What do you have to lose? Could it be that your fear actually stems from a great passion and purpose that you need boldness to step into?

Are you angry? Bitter? Then why? Do you need to forgive someone--even yourself-- to find the healing God has extended to you?

 Struggling with insecurity? Why? Do you feel the dream God's given you is just too big to actually come true?

Dig deep. I know it's not always easy. Be honest. And I'll bet you'll find something amazing-- that the moral of your manuscript is already within you.

See, your characters don't have to preach to one another in order to speak God's truth.

I dare you to do something braver.

I dare you to tell your story through the themes of your manuscript. To not hide behind forced dialogue attempting to prove your point. But instead, to write the struggles that you have faced--that others face-- in all their complexity.

Then you will discover the story within your story.

So, be brave, friends. Dig deep. Because the world needs to hear that story!

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Ashley Clark writes romance with southern grace. She's dreamed of being a writer ever since the thumbprint-cookie-days of library story hour. Ashley has an M.A. in English and enjoys teaching literature courses at her local university. She's an active member of ACFW and runs their newcomer's loop. When she's not writing, Ashley's usually busy rescuing stray animals and finding charming new towns. You can find Ashley on her personal blog, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. She is represented by Karen Solem.

A Panster's Guide to Plotting Your Premise

Last week, my pastor said something that really stuck with me. "Don't eat your seeds."

Matthew 13:3-9 says that Jesus, "told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.”


Many of us have a tendency to take the seeds God has given us and eat them, or save them, or hide them, rather than investing them in good soil. Even if they do get planted, they may get thrown along the wayside or cast into the scorching sun.

Not only are these "seeds" relevant to our personal spiritual walks, but they're also relevant to our writing.

God has given each of us concepts, creativity, and dreams that function as seeds for our stories. Ever get a brilliant idea just before you sleep into the realm of sleep each night? That's a seed. Keep a notepad (or your phone) on your nightstand and write it down. Same goes for inspiration that strikes you at the oddest times. I can't tell you how many random "notes" I've made to myself on my phone while sitting in church or the line at the mall.

Sometimes we get lackadaisical about what God's telling us. I don't know about you, but if I wake up in the middle of the night with an idea, more times than not, I'm going to go back to sleep and assume the idea will still be there in the morning. Thing is, sometimes it isn't. 

The seeds God has given us for our books are precious and ought to be treated with care. We shouldn't toss them around so carelessly if we truly want them to take root and become fruitful.

So the question is, how do we plant these seeds?


Little anecdote from my own writing journey. I was trained to write by a bunch of brilliant postmodernists. I was taught that over planning and plotting could stifle creativity and keep a story from taking on new directions and depths that come through writing. I think there's certainly some wisdom to this approach. After all, you don't want your book to become formulaic, and you don't want to reject new ideas just because they come in the "editing" rather than the "plotting" stage.  Some of the best ideas and poignant moments aren't discovered until the book is almost complete and you've really come to know your characters in a deep way.

However, using this approach as an overarching strategy presents a problem--a very big one--that I soon discovered as I "panstered" my way through four books. And the problem is this. Writing is frustrating, and too much responsibility falls on editing's shoulders.

You need a premise, a seed, a core idea to drive every scene and every character in your story. Now, this seed can be developed. It should take on roots and leaves and flower throughout the course of your writing. But don't make things harder on yourself by looking for the seeds only after you've finished your book. Doing so leads to so much unnecessary editing!

Think of the books you've read that have really stuck with you or touched you in an emotional way. Most likely, they presented a concept or demonstration of character growth that was both vibrant and relatable, and you saw a bit of yourself in the character's journey. That didn't happen by mistake. That happened because an author was willing to invest for thought into cultivating seeds before planting them.

Now, I'm not saying you have to plot out your whole novel. I still have enough "pantster" in me to tremble a little when I think of a task so daunting, and I know that personally, my writing would end up stifled if I put too many restrictions on it. 

But I do want to challenge you today to take time mulling over and praying over the seeds--the core concepts of your story--and ask God where He wants to plant them. If you know the major questions and themes driving your story--where your characters are going to fail and succeed, what they're going to fear, their dreams, etc.--then you can craft each scene, symbol, and supporting character accordingly. Not only will this make editing easier, but your first draft will also be a lot less painful to write, knowing each scene is already infused with purpose and meaning.





I want to hear from you all! Are you usually a pantster or a plotter? How can both camps approach the process of planning their premise (albeit a little differently)?

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Ashley Clark writes romance with southern grace. She's dreamed of being a writer ever since the thumbprint-cookie-days of library story hour. Ashley has an M.A. in English and enjoys teaching literature courses at her local university. She's an active member of ACFW and runs their newcomer's loop. When she's not writing, Ashley's usually busy rescuing stray animals and finding charming new towns. You can find Ashley on her personal blog, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. She is represented by Karen Solem.

Applying the Moral Premise to your story

In my last blog post, I shared with you the one ingredient common to every commercially successful story.

If you’re not up to speed with the rest of us, take a minute and go read the post here. I promise we’ll wait. J

Back again? Great. So now you know that for your story to experience commercial success – for it to resonate with a broad audience – it must be built upon the foundation of a Moral Premise. You also have an understanding of what the Moral Premise is, how it differs from the concept of a theme, and how the Moment of Grace becomes a pivot point between the protagonist’s pursuit of vice and his pursuit of virtue.

This week, we’ll be looking at how to apply the principle of the Moral Premise to our stories. Dr Stan Williams, the brilliant author of The Moral Premise: Harnessing Virtue and Vice for Box Office Success, breaks down the process into 8 straightforward steps.

1. Determine the controlling virtue.

What do you want your story to really be about? And how do you go about narrowing down all the possibilities to one key idea? Do you just close your eyes, poke your finger at a list of virtues and see where it lands, then run with it?

No. Because if you choose a value which means little to you, your story will flounder in the shallows. Your audience will sense your lack of passion.  Dr Williams explains this so eloquently I’ll quote him directly:

“A controlling virtue… is a value that you, the writer, must hold in the highest esteem. It is something you are passionate about getting more of; something that gets you out of bed in the morning to write about. It has to be a value that connects with your view of humanity on every level. It is something that is eternally true, and hopefully of importance to most, if not every member of society… your audience.”

2. Determine the controlling vice

The controlling vice must be directly oppositional to the controlling virtue. For example – greed vs. generosity, or love vs. hatred.

Williams then shakes things up by advising writers to allocate vices to the protagonist, and virtues to the villain.

Yep, that’s right. Kinda the opposite of what you might expect, huh? But he has a point. In order to avoid cardboard cut-out characters, our villains need to have a sympathetic side, while our heroes need flaws to overcome so we can relate to them and see them grow throughout the story.

3. Determine the Moral Premise.

Let’s brush up on the structure again.

(Vice) leads to (defeat); but

(virtue) leads to (success).

Here, Dr Williams lets us in on another pointer. He suggests thinking of the defeat and success elements as the physical/ external goals of the protagonist, while the vice and virtue components sum up the characters’ psychological or internal goals.

Are you beginning to see the power of this tool? Nail this step, and you’ll have a structure that embodies the internal and external story arcs, conflict, and resolution of your novel.

4. Determine the (story’s) genre

Williams rightly points out that the writer’s choice of genre creates certain inherent expectations, which will predetermine much of your story’s structure.

You’re writing romance? It’s a given that the guy and gal will end up together. If you fail to deliver on this for your readers, you’ll lose their trust. If you’re writing women’s fiction, on the other hand, you have a bit more wiggle room. Women’s fiction authors like to do unexpected things such as killing off the male lead halfway through the book. (Insert evil laugh here.)

Whatever your genre, knowing its accepted parameters will help you define the structure of your book.

5. Determine the protagonist’s physical goal

You already know what your story is really about. (See Step 1.) Now you need to relate this to the physical goal of the story so that the external action becomes a metaphor for the internal truth of the tale.

Often, the physical goal (the hook) is what you begin with – the original spark of an idea for a book – and the internal truth follows as you learn more about your characters. Whichever order you develop these in, it’s essential that the two are related in order to convey the Moral Premise in a powerful and consistent way.

6. Determine the protagonist’s physical obstacles

That is, the things that prevent him or her from achieving the physical goal. Often, this will be an antagonist whose goals oppose those of the MC.

7. Determine the major dramatic beats

This step involves creating character arcs for each character in your story, each of which must embody the same Moral Premise in differing ways. The essential rule here? KEEP IT ABOUT ONE THING.

Williams iterates, “If the physical goals of the various characters do not refer implicitly to the Moral Premise, then you are writing two different (stories). Stop. Fix it. A successful (story) is about only one thing, like a well-constructed sentence or paragraph. Each sentence in a paragraph supports the topic sentence. If it doesn’t, get rid of it, use it in a different paragraph, or a different (story).”

8. Sequence the dramatic beats

Here’s where you take the information you’ve worked out about your characters – their goals, virtues and vices – and structure them into a plot: a sequence of events that will propel your protagonist to the climax.

Williams delves into great detail at this step, with extremely helpful structural advice. Such detail is beyond the scope of this article. Want to know more? You’ll need to buy his book! I highly recommend it.

Did you find this breakdown helpful? My lightbulb moment was when Dr Williams says that if our characters’ goals don’t refer implicitly to the Moral Premise, we’re writing two different stories. Uh – GUILTY! To be totally honest, I’ve probably been writing four different stories! I’m so happy to finally be able to pinpoint the main structural flaw of my novel! Anyone else have a lightbulb moment…? J

Image by chaiwat, courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

Karen Schravemade lives in Australia. When she's not chasing after two small boys or gazing at her brand-new baby girl, she spends her spare minutes daydreaming about the intricate lives of characters who don't actually exist. Find her on her website, on Twitter or getting creative over at her mummy blog.

The Moral Premise – Part 1

In his groundbreaking work, The Moral Premise: Harnessing Virtue and Vice for Box Office Success, Dr Stan Williams makes a bold claim that we storytellers would do well to heed.

The claim is this: that EVERY commercially successful story (be it a movie or novel) has at its heart a true and consistent Moral Premise.

Without this crucial element, Williams argues, your story is destined to fail.

Dunno about you, but this tickles my curiosity. I don’t want my story to fail. We pour so much time and energy into our books. We want them to do well.

Furthermore, Williams says, knowing the Moral Premise of your story will give you focus and energy as you write, and significantly decrease the amount of time you need to spend rewriting.   

Let’s take a poll. Hands up who dreams of being told you have to scratch 60% of your work and start again, because you really only “found” the heart of the story in the last third of your book? Not me. The thought makes me shudder. You got a theory that helps me avoid massive, soul-destroying rewrites? I’m sold.

With all this in mind, I’ve recently begun to read through The Moral Premise. My novel is in need of structural help. I couldn’t go past the bold claims made by Dr Williams’ book. So far, I’ve found myself nodding and taking notes at ferocious speed.

So… what IS the “Moral Premise”?

Most of us would be familiar with the concept of a “theme” – the underlying truth of our story. The thing that sums up what our story is REALLY about.

But according to Williams, the theme is only half of a true Moral Premise. A theme such as “Love conquers all” tells us where our characters will end up (love will conquer), but not where they’ve come from or what obstacles they’ve had to overcome to get there. As such, a traditional understanding of theme fails to describe the CONFLICT of the story.

And what is a story without conflict?

Williams structures his Moral Premise this way:

(Vice) leads to (defeat), but

(Virtue) leads to (success).

Let’s look at an example together. To make things easy, I’ll choose a movie most of us have probably seen – Finding Nemo. In this animated film, Marlin is a clownfish living in the Great Barrier Reef. When tragedy leaves him a widower, with only one remaining son – Nemo – his protective instincts kick into overdrive. He’d do anything to keep Nemo from harm, but in the process he’s smothering his son. Then Nemo is taken by divers, and Marlin has to navigate an entire ocean to find his son and bring him home.

Throughout the movie, the quest to find Nemo is the external story, but the “real” story is about Marlin overcoming his fears for his son. This is seen clearly at the climax, when Nemo and Marlin are finally reunited against all odds. Within moments, however, a school of nearby fish are caught in a net, and Nemo insists he knows how to save them. Marlin has to face his worst fear – the possibility of losing his son yet again – and choose to release Nemo to swim back into danger.

The Moral Premise of the story could be expressed like this:

Overprotective anxiety leads to losing those we love, but

Releasing those we love leads to finding them again.

Do you think, just maybe, some parents might be able to identify with this?

In this way, a simple cartoon about fish transcends its genre with a universal message. And in the process – no coincidences here – becomes a runaway blockbuster success.

Unity of Purpose

Once you understand the Moral Premise of your story, you can write with “unity of purpose”. In other words, the book should clearly be about ONE thing. Note how even the title of Finding Nemo serves to reinforce its Moral Premise.

Here’s where things get really interesting for me. Williams argues that every main character, not just the protagonist, should struggle with the same Moral Premise in different ways – even, if need be, from opposing ends of the scale. Contrast Marlin’s obsessive anxiety with the character of Dory – a fish so laid-back she can’t remember anything for more than five seconds.

Not only that, but every scene should serve to reinforce the Moral Premise. Page by page, each scene gives psychological “evidence” that points toward the author’s final verdict, proving the Moral Premise to be true. Failure to CONSISTENTLY apply the Moral Premise across all characters and scenes, Williams contends, is a set-up for commercial failure as well. And he has the research to prove it.

The Moment of Grace

Williams describes this point – halfway through the story – as the fulcrum on which the tale turns. Before this midpoint, the protagonist lives out the negative side of the Moral Premise. At the Moment of Grace, the Moral Premise is made very clear, and perhaps for the first time, we see what the movie is “really” about. The character is given a choice to continue on the path they’ve begun – the path of vice, leading to defeat – or to begin pursuing virtue.

Unless you’re writing a tragedy, the protagonist should choose the latter path. This doesn’t mean things are all smooth sailing from then on. Oh, no. The obstacles continue to mount, leading to the climax, but ultimately (if the character has learned his/ her lesson) the final pay-off is success.

In Finding Nemo, the Moment of Grace is when Marlin and Dory are swallowed by a whale. Marlin hangs on desperately to avoid being washed deeper into the whale’s stomach. Meanwhile, Dory is “communicating” with their host, and informs Marlin of the whale’s message – “You just have to let go!” This, of course, confounds Marlin.

“How do you know something bad’s not going to happen?” he shouts at Dory.

Her breezy and honest answer? “I don’t!”

Marlin finally lets go, and the whale shoots the two out of his blowhole and into the air. The whale has transported them safely into Sydney Harbour. Marlin’s moment of literally “letting go” is a metaphor for the deeper meaning of the story – the moment he realizes his need to let go of his fears for his son.

What’s next?

Well, that’s where I’m up to so far in the book. I’ve finished Part I. In Part II, Dr Williams promises to explain step-by-step how to apply the Moral Premise to our own story structure. That’s what I plan to unpack here at the Alley in my next blog post. Stay tuned! And meanwhile, why not pick up your own copy from Amazon? Find it here.

Are you familiar with the Moral Premise? Who’s read the book? Let’s make this hands-on – it’s always the best way to learn. I’d like us to have a go at developing a Moral Premise together for a book most of us will have read – Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. Have at it! I don’t have a “right” answer, so don’t be afraid to weigh in with your ideas! I’m with you – learning as I go. J

Karen Schravemade lives in Australia. When she's not chasing after two small boys or gazing at her brand-new baby girl, she spends her spare minutes daydreaming about the intricate lives of characters who don't actually exist. Find her on her website, on Twitter or getting creative over at her mummy blog.

What's Up the Street For Next Week?

It’s another fabulous weekend here at The Writers Alley – with a few more shots of God’s colorful quiltwork of creation. Isn’t God’s artwork great! He blends the most amazing colors together to make unique and beautiful combinations. Here are some pics I took this weekend. Wow! I'm amazed at the beauty in every season.

Do you have a favorite color? Or a blend of colors?

And it’s a day to announce our winner too! Jennifer Swindt is the winner of Nancy Moser’s novel, Masquerade. (Please note – I will mail out all books for winners from October on Saturday, Oct 30)

Today the special book giveaway is Wanda E. Brunstetters’ newest book, Betsy’s Return. Leave a comment to be placed in the drawing.

Congrats!!

We have a fun-filled week planned for you!

Let’s take a look:

Monday – Pepper talks about how she Writes in the Nooks and Crannies of life.

Tuesday – Sherrinda covers…er…The Evolution of Book Covers

Wednesday – Mary spins a posts about Captivating Words

Thursday – Join Casey with her part two of Building Your Tribe Before Publication???


Friday – Fun Friday with Krista. What does she have in store? Stop by and find out about Romancing the blog- the wonderful heroine.

Saturday – Author Camy Tang joins us to give tips on How To Get An Agent


SIDEWALK TALK

Find out more information about how Krista’s little one, Annabelle, did with her very big surgery on Thursday by checking out her blog.

Remember, it’s Seekerville’s big birthday party this month and you have one more week to get your name in the drawing for a Kindle. Don’t forget to stop by for your chance to win!

Did you know that our very own Sarah Forgrave writes articles for the ezine Ungrind. To check out more about it visit the website at http://www.ungrind.org/articles-by-sarah-forgrave.html

And questions about The Moral Premise mentioned in Siri Mitchell’s interview yesterday? Well, you can visit the blog of screenwriter Dr. Stan Williams and find out. http://moralpremise.blogspot.com/

Also there was a FABULOUS post on Seekerville recently by Dr. Williams – you can check that link out at http://seekerville.blogspot.com/2010/10/seekerville-welcomes-dr-stanley.html



NEWSTAND

What’s going on with the Shopkeepers’ blogs this week?

Author Vickie McDonough is Casey's special author on Operation Encourage An Author.

Join Mary as she steps into the Red Sea with Moses and the Israelites on her blog.

Sarah chat about the joys of parenthood with her post Turning Your Toddler Into a Helper, Part 2 on her personal blog, Every Woman's Journey

Pepper continues her series Seasons Change – Fall Into Love with authors Melanie Dickerson, Myra Johnson, and Jamie Carie. Stop by and join in on the fun at Words Seasoned With Salt.

Happy October! Enjoy the colors of your world!