STORYCRAFT

During the recent ACFW Conference in Dallas, TX, a few other writers and I started chatting about our strengths and weaknesses in writing. Usually it’s pretty easy to point out weaknesses in ourselves, but strengths? I think for most of us that is a little more difficult.

Which got me thinking….

One of my strengths is ‘storytelling’. You probably don’t want me for a line-edit (grammar is NOT my strength), but as far as seeing the big picture, the story concept, I’m pretty good at that. In fact, one of my favorite things to do with writer friends is brainstorm!

Let’s step back and take a look at S.T.O.R.Y.

Yes, I’m a big fan of acronyms (give me a break, I work as an SLP by day so I’m always trying to think of memory-helps J

The hallmarks of a good story can be summed up into some basic components:

S – Solid characters

                At the heart of every good story is either one…or usually more, strong or powerful characters. The best stories take us on a journey with believable characters who are flawed, wounded, and determined in some way or other. Do you know your main characters? Are they engaging? Does the reader have a reason to like them? To cheer for them? Or at the very least, are your characters interesting enough (even if they’re not good) to draw the reader in a make them want to come along on the journey.

T – Tale

                Is there a story? The best books aren’t about people being thrown together with nothing to do (okay, unless we’re talking about The Great Gatsby ;-) Seriously, what is happening in your story? Have you created a world? Do you have something to tell to bring the reader along? A journey to make with these amazing characters? The next one will help us out with this problem.

O – Objectives

                What are the goals of your characters? What does he want? What drives her? The Bible says ‘without a vision the people perish’, well in many ways the same can happen to your story if your characters don’t have a goal. Many times there is both an internal and external goal.

R – Real Conflict

                What’s going to stop your excellent characters on this amazing journey from reaching their goals? Conflict! And more importantly, conflict takes on many hues. In the best books, there is both internal and external conflict, keeping the tension high and moving the story along at a solid pace.

Y – Your voice

                This is what makes your story….your story. The YOU factor! Your voice, your style, your turn of phrase, and personal storytelling skills. The call you have on your heart for this story. Your humor or drama. Your personal experience and imagination. All of these things are special pieces of your STORY that only YOU can bring! Do you know why you want to write this story? If you don’t know….your characters might not either, and it will show.

If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed by this new info and would like some help, I have a special treat!!

Today I’m going to offer a brainstorming session on StoryCraft to one commenter. Please indicate whether you want to be a part of the drawing or not (and leave your email address).

What it will entail is:

A form you complete on your story

A 15-30 minute chat related to information on the form

And a follow-up email reviewing what was discussed

Share your thoughts! How have you used the elements of STORY to write your own?

             

How I Know I'll Always Be a Romance Writer

If we’re being honest, my role as a writer has looked a little bit different for the last few months. I have two books on submission, a new regular freelance contract for work, and a baby coming in less than a month! (And do I have some amazing guest posters lined up for my maternity leave! Just you wait…)

While I know it’s just a season and I’ll be back once I adjust to the new normal, it’s been humbling being out of my regular writing rhythm. But as my late-night writing sessions have temporarily been replaced with Netflix to conserve brainpower, I’ve realized more than ever that you can take the keyboard away from the romance writer, but you can’t take the romance writer out of the girl.

I realize I’m about to fully expose you to my televisions “tastes”, but there’s no judgment on The Writer’s Alley. This is a shame-free zone. Here’s what I’ve learned about story during my little hiatus:

1. Always be true to the character you’ve created. {TV Example: Joel from Parenthood}

Photo: NBC

The genius writers of Parenthood spent an entire series building this good-natured, supportive, dream husband Joel to his career-driven, type-A, sometimes oddly emotional wife, Julia. But then, in the second to last season, something happened that was so uncharacteristically Joel. It was like he snapped and became unreliable, intolerant, and impatient. This character wasn’t intrinsically Joel.

When a writer introduces conflict that doesn’t fit the character she has spent an entire story building, it feels gimmicky, fabricated for the sake of drama. Friends don’t let friends let their main characters end up like Joel.

2. Don’t make a secondary character more appealing than your hero. {TV Example: Chicago P.D.}

I know this dynamic is a little different in a television franchise than in a single novel, but it’s critical not to make your secondary characters more sympathetic than your main characters. Chicago P.D. set out to make the studly Jay Halstead their “alpha hero”, if you will. But as the first season developed, I found myself way less interested in his storylines than those of a character named Adam Ruzek.

When introducing secondary characters, it’s important to make sure their backstories aren’t more layered, their actions and decisions not more heroic, and that the rightful protagonists’ storylines remain in the forefront as most intriguing.  Friends don’t let friends let their minor characters steal the spotlight.

2b. Don’t let your heroine end up with the wrong love interest. {TV Example: Andy McNally from Rookie Blue}

Image: TVLine.com

Okay, I had no plans to write this addendum, but I’m calling an audible because I can’t not. There are several shows that have done this to me, but I’ll use Rookie Blue as an example. In this police drama I can’t get enough of, the primary heroine Andy McNally was slated to end up with Sam Swarek forever and ever. Only, conflict ensued for the sake of ratings, and the two of them have embarked on an epic roller coaster. Enter Nick Collins, her former soldier partner with enough past to fill his military-issue duffle but enough strength to still be a stand-up human being. Plus a slow burn of chemistry with Andy.

I’ve seen this happen before in novels, too. The heroine is embroiled in conflict with her one true love interest and runs to the confidence of her trusty male best friend, co-worker, or lifelong next door neighbor. And then unsuspecting people like me begin to root for that pairing more than the original. The hero’s crimes against the heroine suddenly seem unforgivable next to the way this other character treats her. And once all is right again in the world of the hero/heroine, part of that reader always wonders if the heroine’s life would have been better. Friends don’t let friends do this to Laurie let their heroines choose the wrong guy.

3. If you stray from the plot too long, you will lose audience interest. {TV Example: Hart of Dixie}

Okay, so apparently this can go both ways. In Hart of Dixie, our heroine Zoe Hart had a great thing going with roguish boy next door, Wade Kinsella. But as with all good TV pairings, conflict happens as they can’t find their happily ever after too prematurely lest the show come to a screeching halt. But the love interest they chose for Zoe after Wade was so different than him, so vanilla in comparison, that viewers spent an entire season wishing they could hit the fast-forward button.

Whether it’s a romance plotline or not, writers have to be very strategic when straying from storylines that are integral to their novels. In the age of Amazon's instant downloads, it’s important to capture readers’ interest and hold it. Friends don’t let friends become a victim of the dreaded Kindle Archive button :)

4. Entice readers with clever, mouthwatering dialogue. {TV Example: Gilmore Girls}

Have you seen this show? I don’t need to say much because dialogue is kind of its trademark. The writers studied their characters, knew them well, and developed them through their dialogue. What they said, how they said it, what cultural references they brought into the mix, the random comparisons their brains would make in a given situation. All of it contributed something to the story.

Gilmore Girls is proof that writers can garner sympathy, build camaraderie, and destroy their readers when their characters suffer -- even in scenarios where the absence of dialogue is more powerful. Friends don’t let friends write generic, unnatural dialogue.

5. End it well {TV Example: Parenthood finale}

I know I used Parenthood as my first example of what not to do, but on the whole, the show was spot-on in my (biased) opinion. And the ending was just phenomenal. I’m not going to give away any spoilers, but what they did right is this: they didn’t pull punches or cut corners, they were strategic about which storylines to spotlight at the end, they wrapped up all of the important loose ends neatly, and they gave satisfying endings that weren’t necessarily happy for everyone, but they were right. Friends don’t let friends write books that leave readers dumbfounded that there’s not another chapter :)

What do you love about your favorite TV shows? How can you translate it to your own writing?

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Laurie Tomlinson is a wife and mom from Tulsa, Oklahoma, who is passionate about intentional living, all things color-coded, and stories of grace in the beautiful mess. Previously a full-time book publicist, she owns a freelance copywriting, editing, and PR consulting business. 

She's a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers and received the Genesis Award in 2013 (Contemporary) and 2014 (Romance). 

Her work is represented by Rachel Kent of Books & Such Literary.

You can connect with Laurie here:

Facebook - AuthorLaurieTomlinson

Twitter - @LaurieTomlinson

Web - www.LaurieTomlinson.com

When Things go South...

Have you ever realized how rare it is for a character in a book to go to the bathroom?

Once in a great while, I stop during a particularly long scene that covers a large period of uninterrupted time and think, "Man, that character must REALLY have to pee!"

If you think it's weird that I notice these things, please realize it isn't often, and that I'm a mother of 4 children, 3 of them potty trained. It's my JOB to notice bathroom habits!

Then what is the reason we don't see characters go to the bathroom (besides the obvious gross factor?)

Because....

IT DOESN'T ADD TO THE STORY!

Unless your scene needs to have a portion take place IN the bathroom (which I actually have read before) there is no need to go there.

Now, this blog post isn't just about not taking your character to the bathroom. Because that would be kinda weird.

It's about the fine line between showing enough of our characters life to immerse the reader and make it realistic without boring them to tears.

It is realistic for our character to go to the bathroom.
It is realistic for our character to burp.
It is realistic for our character to far.... er, pass air through their digestive system.
It may be realistic for our character to file their nails, do their makeup, take a shower, get dressed, do laundry, clean the house, bake cookies, mow the lawn, surf the Internet, watch TV, get a pedicure, pick a piece of food out of their teeth, blow their nose and accidentally get a booger on their shirt.

There are a TON of realistic things our characters do, day in and day out.

But we can't show them all. Otherwise our story will be...

BORING! And gross.

Although we need to show SOME of them, otherwise our story will be...

FAKE!

The key is to show these realistic things in the course of a scene where it ADDS TO OUR STORY. Where it enhances instead of distracts.

If you're in the middle of a discussion between hero and heroine and the heroine suddenly stops and says, "Hold on, I have to go to the bathroom, be right back." Yeah, totally ruins the moment. Although when a girls gotta go, a girls gotta go!

But a scene where a villainous antagonist who is trying to seduce the hero away from the heroine escapes into the restaurant bathroom to collect herself and primps to make sure her dress is showing all the right curves and shoves past someone else coming into the restroom.... it potentially shows her intention, character, and motive through "action" verses telling dialogue.

Or a single heroine who drags out the lawnmower on a Saturday morning only to be accosted by her elderly neighbor who forces her to take custody of the woman's huge fat cat even when heroine HATES animals, then the cat becomes a constant figure throughout the book and shows the woman's loneliness when she resorts to telling her woes to the mammoth feline.

Discussion: What "realistic" scenes do you have in your novel, or have you read in a novel recently?

(Note: this is a repost from a few years ago. And considering I'm reposting because I've been dealing with a daughter who has C Diff... a spore that infests your digestive system and causes some not so pleasant, uh, symptoms... it seemed appropriate!)

Essence of Rising to the Top

I must admit, today's post is a play on words.

Of course we all would like our stories to "rise to the top".

I've listed one scene from several of my favorite books. If you haven't read one or more of these fabulous titles-- take heed, spoiler alert! 

Take this challenge: what do the scenes listed below have in common?

Lord of the Rings Trilogy: Smeagol and the ring fall into the magma

Romeo and Juliet: The death of Juliet

Dune:  The betrayal of Dr. Yueh

Jack and Jill:  Jack breaking his crown

Scarlett Letter: Hester and Pastor Dimmesdale reveal themselves

Frankenstein: The death of Dr. Frankenstein

To Kill a Mockingbird:  Tom Robinson dies

Tom Sawyer:  Aunt Polly discovers Tom alive after his funeral.

Star Wars Episode 5: Luke discovery of his real father

Julius Caesar:  Mark Anthony’s speech, “Friends, Romans, countrymen..”

"Wall of the House of Usher":  The death of Usher

"Cask of Amontillado":  The last brick pushed into place

Cinderella:  The slipper fits

War of the Worlds: People realize the Martians are dying

The Great Race:  The Great Leslie beats the evil count in a sword fight

The Princess Bride:  Reunion between Wesley and Princess Buttercup in the castle.

1984:  The torture scene

The Cat in the Hat:  The fish sees Mom coming home

Quite possibly these are the most memorable scenes from their respective books.   The question is: what makes these scenes memorable?

Answer: A stunning climax. That special scene that stops the heart of the reader. 

Definition of climax: when the conflict of the plot is resolved. The climax of a story is the point where the reader knows who wins the conflict.





Like a mountain peak, the climax is distinct, crystal clear, or, while I'm employing cliches to help, as plain as the nose on your face. The idea of creating the essence of climax is to be memorable, unique, daring, inspiring, unpredictable, or bold. 

To instill a rich essence of climax, I, as the writer, must lead my reader to a pinnacle, or climax in which the journey they’ve embarked through pages can achieve no more. 

Decision is final

Problem resolved

Love is secure

Death

No possibility of change

Satisfied

Even individual books within a series require a point in which the reader can subconsciously say, “I’m at the pinnacle of this story. The rest simply ties loose ends.”

Try this experiment: 

Ask a critique partner what the climax of your WIP is.  

Do they agree with you?  

Does the rising point stand out as clear as the sun in a clear sky?  

Is your climax something a reader could recall weeks later?  

Would an editor pause to slow their racing heart before turning the last pages?

Help your story rise to the top of an editor’s pile.

What can you tweak to give your WIP a memorable pinnacle?