Story Sensei

This article is a collection of the Deep Point of View blog post series. Deep Point of View, part one The point of going deeper in your limited third person point of view is to stick the reader in your character’s skin. This will often result in a more powerful emotional experience for your reader. There are some tips to follow that pull the reader deeper into the character’s point of view. Often a judicious word choice does the trick for you without changing the text. These things will work to pull the reader into the story world and experience the story through the character’s eyes, in the character’s body. It usually gives more intensity to the reading flow. Eliminate emotion words. Many times, when a writer names an emotion, it distances the reader from the character. For example: Anxiety trembled in her stomach. Anger coursed through her. She shivered as fear tiptoed down her spine. It’s not that it’s wrong to name the emotion—in fact, sometimes it makes the

This article originally appeared as a 12-part blog post series. Many beginning writers are confused about the concept of point of view. I’m hoping this series of blog posts will help you out. After I finish the series, I’ll condense it into one blog post article. What is point of view? It’s the type of narration of a story. For the purposes of a writer, it’s easiest to think of it as the eyes through which your reader sees the scene. There is third person, second person, and first person point of view. First person is told from the character as the narrator. I’ll be covering that later. Second person is not used often. It’s the type of narration where the character is referred to using personal pronouns, which serves to make the reader into the character. I remember this type of narration in the Choose Your Own Adventure books. Third person is most often used. In third person, the characters are distinct from the storyteller, who is essentially the author. Most readers

What in the world are "pantsers" and "plotters"? There seems to be lots of discussion on the web about the two different writing styles, "pantsers" and "plotters." There are "pantsers" who write off the seat of their pants--they have the important aspects of the plot in their minds, and they write to see how the story unfolds. They are also known as “fly into the mist” writers. Then there are "plotters" (sometimes affectionately termed “plodders”) who outline everything beforehand so they know what they need to accomplish in their chapters as they write. Some people are a little bit of both. Ultimately, whichever writing style you choose is based on your personality and preference. When I first started writing, I was a "pantser". But as I wrote more, I experimented with "plotting" and discovered that style enabled me to write my personal best. Plotting became a painful but necessary process for me

I love martial arts movies and action flicks. So naturally I'd write action scenes. I discovered that it takes a slightly different writing style. These are some of the things I learned, although this list isn't exhaustive by any means. Action-Reaction A fight scene is always Action-Reaction. He punches, she staggers back. She kicks, he blocks and swings a fist at her. Watch out for putting your reaction before your action: She staggered back when he slammed his fist into her shoulder. The rule of thumb is to have each action-reaction have its own paragraph, although that’s not always possible. Sometimes the sentences are too short for their own paragraphs and can be combined. It’s up to the writer how to format it: He swung a roundhouse punch. She bent backward and felt his knuckles swish past her nose. versus: He swung a roundhouse punch. She bent backward and felt his knuckles swish past her nose. Short sentences = fast reading flow Use short sentences and phrases to make re

This article came out of the contests I've judged. These are some of the common things I see in most entries when it comes to hooks, description and backstory. Starting with description--pros and cons. There are two camps about starting a scene with description: 1) Most historical writers and some sci-fi/fantasy writers like the whole idea of the novel like a movie camera, panning into the scene and describing the setting in detail to place the reader there before anything starts to happen. 2) Most suspense/mystery writers tend to start with action, and to give details of the surroundings and what's happening through subtle hints in the dialogue or narrative. Each method can be done poorly. If you spend too much time setting the scene or if you don't do it well enough, an editor won't get past the first page because it's too boring--nothing going on. On the other hand, if you land the reader in the middle of action but don't do a good enough job orienting the re

As a writer, I admit I'm not raring to go at that keyboard 24/7. These are things I do when I don't have the motivation to write for whatever reason--laziness, stress, antsy-ness, boredom. In no particular order: Small chunks —Tell yourself, I’ll just write for fifteen minutes. It might be an excruciating fifteen minutes, but it’ll be fifteen minutes more than you had before. Then take a break, get distracted, go crazy. Sit and Pray —Sit in front of that computer and quiet yourself. Remember your desire to serve God with your writing. Ask God for help to motivate yourself to start typing. Snacks —Since we’re all careful about our health, go easy on this one, but sometimes your brain can speed up while you sit and munch on snacks, or sip your favorite tea or coffee. Comfort —Take a moment to notice your comfort level at your writing station. Back or neck pains? Room temperature too hot or too cold? Too noisy or too quiet? Bad smells? Too dark or too bright? Adjust accordingly. I

Dwight Swain's classic book Techniques of the Selling Writer was one of the best writing craft books I read when I first started learning how to write. It was written in 1982, so the language is a bit dated, but the techniques he gives are still excellent and applicable today. Several of my friends mentioned how hard it is to read his prose (which is rather rambling, I'll be the first to admit) so I wrote a series of articles based on his book. These articles were originally published in RubyZine , a Christian e-zine for teen girls. I hope these techniques from Swain will help other beginning writers form a solid foundation for their skills to build on. 1-Emotions and the Writer 2-Choosing Understandable Words 3-Choose Vibrant Words 4-The Larger Picture: Character, Setting, Story 5-The Smallest Picture: MRUs 6-Scene and Sequel: Scene 7-Scene and Sequel: Sequel 8-General Story Structure and Strategy For Your Novel 9-Your 50-Word Elevator Pitch 10-Beginni

Feeling and emotion is the basis for every good story. Think about it. The stories you remember are not the intellectually-stimulating ones, but the ones that made your heart race or your eyes tear up. Your job as a writer is to make your reader feel emotion. But it's very hard to make your readers care if you don't feel for you write about. You will write your best pieces when you care about the topic or the characters. Now, don't go overboard and start preaching. Readers are turned off by writers on their soapboxes. But do write about what interests you. Find a topic, theme, character or plot that makes you excited. Do certain song lyrics make you cry? Was there an intriguing event in yesterday's news? Do you have a character talking in your head? Technical skills: A good writer writes with emotion, but EDITS with solid technical skills. You don't want to be misunderstood or to turn out a piece that doesn't accurately reflect what you're fee

Once you find a topic to write about—something that inspires you, something that you feel strongly about—how do you convey it? Let's get down to the nuts and bolts: WORDS. YOU NEED TO CHOOSE WORDS THAT ARE BOTH UNDERSTANDABLE AND VIBRANT. Understanding: You're a writer, the choice of words is yours. Start with the Who, What, Where, When, Why and How. Be specific. Not "a sad girl," but "a suicidal 14-year-old soccer player." Not "a sunny neighborhood," but "a tree-less suburb of monotonous cookie-cutter development homes." Arrange your words with care. "Meet," "kiss," "argue," "make up" conveys a typical boy-meets-girl love story. But "kiss," "make up," "argue," "meet," conveys a couple who breaks up, and one of them meets someone new. Words and phrases should be ordered Action--Reaction, Action--Reaction. Words have specific cultural connotations. A

YOU NEED TO CHOOSE WORDS THAT ARE BOTH UNDERSTANDABLE AND VIBRANT. Vibrant: Your description should include all five senses--sight, smell, taste, touch, sound. This will bring your reader into the story, help them to experience what the character is experiencing. This will create the atmosphere, this will make the reader forget the real world for the fictional one. Use specific nouns and adjectives. Not "a sad girl," but "a suicidal 14-year-old soccer player." Not "a sunny neighborhood," but "a tree-less suburb of monotonous cookie-cutter development homes." Use active verbs. A few rules of thumb for verbs: 1) "To be" verbs are weak. "She was on the stage" versus "she quaked on the stage," or "she sparkled on the stage." 2) "Had" is jarring to the reader. Joy remembered the time she had gone to the grocery store and had picked up a few sodas, but then Johnny had driven up in his moto

The Larger Picture and the Smallest Picture, part 1 The Larger Picture: an Overview of Character, Setting, Story Let's look at the big picture. Each story has a few basic components. Focal Character: The focal character or Protagonist has something to lose or gain, something at stake. The reader cares about what happens to her, what choices she makes, what results from those decisions. Setting: The reader experiences each scene through a viewpoint person's senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, smell, AND emotion. This creates richness, color, realism and mood in your setting. Viewpoint character is not necessarily the focal character. For example, the heroine (focal character) is Betty, with an abusive past. The viewpoint character is her friend Lisa, visiting Betty's parents' home for the first time: Lisa gaped at the tall columns flanking the double front doors, as white as sand on a tropical beach, reflecting the bright sunlight. Color burst from the fl

The Larger Picture and the Smaller Picture, part 2 The Smallest Picture: Motivation Reaction Units Now let's look at the smallest picture in your story: the Motivation Reaction unit. Events in your story can be broken down into a cause, followed by an effect. A "motivating stimulus" followed by a "character reaction." Motivation: 1) Pick your motivating stimulus carefully. It should be significant to the character--her personality and/or goal will influence what she notices around her. It should also be pertinent for the plotline--your reader will assume every stimulus is important for the story. 2) The stimulus should require your character's immediate action. Reaction: 1) It should be a reactive feeling, a chosen action, and/or specific words spoken. Not all reactions need to include all three (feeling, action, speech), but at the very least, your character's actions and/or speech should indicate her reactive feeling. Emotion is key.

The basic structure of a story consists of a Scene, followed by a Sequel. A Scene is a real-time unit of conflict. A Sequel is the transition period that links two Scenes. A Scene moves your story forward by changing your character’s situation. A Scene has three parts: 1) Goal Your character should enter the Scene wanting something specific and concrete . The character’s goal should be short-range and urgent for that moment in time. It could be a material object-- Man enters shop to buy a watch . It could be something immaterial but still specific-- Man enters shop to ask shopgirl on a date , or Man enters shop to kill the man who stole his car. It could also be a goal to resist some force-- Man enters shop to prevent rival from dating his girl. No meandering motivations. Your character should want the goal badly enough that he’ll fight for it. If your character doesn’t care about his goal, your reader won’t. Keep the point of view consistent. Also, the point of view ch

The basic structure of a story consists of a Scene, followed by a Sequel. A Scene is a real-time unit of conflict. A Sequel is the transition period that links two Scenes. A Sequel controls the story’s tempo by slowing things down after the conflict in the previous Scene. It’s a primarily emotional segment. You can skip or compress time rather than laying out action blow-by-blow. A Sequel has three parts: 1) Reaction Show the character’s state of affairs and state of mind after the Disaster of the previous Scene. Disaster: John is thrown out of the shop by his rival, in front of Mary. Reaction: John cycles from embarrassment to insecurity to despair to anger. Also show other characters’ responses to the Disaster. Reaction: John’s buddy Mike says he’s a big fat loser. Flashback should never go in a Scene because it will slow the pace and drop tension, but a Sequel is the perfect place to show your character’s background, what has molded him into the person he is. Reac

As writers, we all want to write a story that hooks a reader and drives them to keep turning the pages. There's no magic formula, but there are some aspects of story structure that can help a writer craft a compelling story rhythm and pace. In a story, Change creates danger, which creates fear, which creates tension. And that hooks your reader. Readers are satisfied in a story where a protagonist's behavior causes the outcome. He is thrust into danger. He strives to overcome and proves to the reader whether he deserves to win or lose. The end is the result of his own choices, his own actions. He takes the consequences or reaps the victory of his decisions. Character strategy: A story is change, both internal and external. Events change (external). The character changes (internal). Your character has to do something . A character who just reacts to external events is boring. Your character should desire to get from point A to point B, and makes certain decisions to get

The 50-word elevator pitch: Basic story elements and a two-sentence novel summary Writing a 50-word summary is good to help you condense your thoughts and themes for your novel. This summary can be used when you pitch to editors or agents, and it can also be used in a query letter to an editor or agent. Swain gives this excellent method to come up with a 2-sentence (or 50-word) summary of your novel. This can be done before you write it or afterward, whichever works best for your writing style. This is similar to steps 1 and 2 of Randy Ingermanson's Snowflake method : https://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/articles/snowflake-method/ Each novel typically has five basic story elements: Character --Your protagonist or focal character. You can sometimes have two protagonists, but even then, often the story of one character is slightly more dominant than the other. Situation --The troubling situation your character is stuck in that forces him to act. Objective --What y