Creative Writing: The Inner Workings of a Good Story

Creative Writing

The Inner Workings Of A Good Story

Now, as I said in the previous blog, there is no wrong way to write your story, because it's your story.  But, there are a few things that must be explained, should you wish to make your story interesting and readable.




1. Know your setting


Now, whether you are making fan-fiction or an original piece, one rule must be observed when writing:  Know your settings.  When a character in a particular place, what does he/she see?  Is there grass?  How tall is that grass?  What time of the year is it?  What is the weather like on that day?  Is it daytime, or in the middle of the night?  Little details like this may not seem important, but they can make the best story in the world turn into bottom-of-the-bin refuse.  In order to know your character's surroundings, put yourself in their shoes... if they are wearing any, that is.  Walk around outside, and look around.  Take in the sights, sounds, and emotions that you felt, then when you are finished experiencing nature, go write what you felt.  That will be your practice for generating believable settings in your book.  If your audience experiences everything your character experiences, it will be much easier for them to empathize with the character at that place and in that moment in the character's life.




2. Elaborating:  How much is too much?


It's important to describe your characters, and how they typically dress, but there is such a thing as too much detail.  So, when does it become too much?


Usually, an acceptable description of a person would go like this:


A young black man walked into the bar that day.  His attire wasn't what one would call normal, however.  His khaki pants and flannel shirt, with it's short sleeves, buttoned up to the top, exposed thin arms, the likes of which one would normally find in photos of anorexic people, but this young man was far from anorexic.  His pants were too short, though it became apparent that this was on purpose, because we all noticed that he was wearing suspenders to hold his pants up.  On his face were black, thick-rimmed glasses, the kind that looked as though they should have been part of a Halloween costume.


See there?  I just described Steve Urkel.  This is what a well-constructed paragraph, with just the right kind of details, can do.  Now, notice that I used comparative language, such as "the kind that looked as though they should have been part of a Halloween costume."
This is called a simile, and they should be your best friend from here on out.  The better someone understands how ridiculous Urkel's glasses are, the more prone to laughter that someone would be if you're writing about Steve Urkel.


Now...


On the other side of this is what too much detail is.  Imagine you're talking to someone about ice cream.  The person who you're talking to begins to ramble, telling you the history of ice cream, what it's made from, how they make it, and how children in China benefit from it, and then goes off on a complete and utterly irrelevant tangent.


Annoyingly boring, isn't it?  That is what too much detail is.  When readers pick up your book, they don't want to be put to sleep with you telling them so much that they forget what the story was about.  It's a sure-fire way to make sure your book becomes fireplace fodder.




3.  Plot:  What is your story about?


It's always important to inform your readers early on what they are in for.  Will this book be full of action, adventure, mystery or intrigue?  If you let them know up front with proper exposition, and the right set-up, then this will be an easy thing to establish.


When I was writing "Chronicles", I knew I wanted it to be a jack-of-all-trades novel, but with a serious story to it.  In the opening, my character is introduced as an arrogant little boy, but when trouble strikes, he puts on his hat, and bravely steps out into the storm to confront the source of the trouble, which is a giant, squid-like monster.  Upon realizing that he can't use fire magic (which is the spell he was most proficient with), he begins to get creative, and find another way to fight the huge creature.


Right then and there, you get the message:  It's an action-adventure-fantasy novel.  It's all in the little details.




4. Make spell-check your BEST FRIEND!


Their's nothing I hate more than to strain my eyes trying to read something that looks like someone posted it in such a rage that they forgot to check their spelling or their grammar.


ALSO...


The average reader despises the use of internet shorthand, so, another thing you must master is use of full thoughts and words.  To help you improve, I would suggest joining a Literate Role Play forum site, and train yourself to NOT use shorthand.  Also, it helps to improve your story-telling ability when you assume your role, and are serious about said role.


Thank you for reading.  I will post more eventually.  If there are any questions or suggestions regarding anything on this blog, please comment below.

Introduction to Creative Writing

Hi there!

In this Blog, I hope to answer some crucial questions that amateur writers may have about writing original fiction.  A lot of amateurs think you have to be as good as J.K. Rowling, or Tolkien, Christopher Paolini to come up with amazing, breathtaking, reality warping works of fiction.  Wrong!

All you have to have to be the next (insert your favorite author here) is to understand a few simple things:

1. Setting:  Where does this story take place?
Is it in downtown L.A., or upstate New York, or on a little farm in Kansas?  Or, perhaps it's not even on this planet!  For all we know, your world involves a race of blue people on Alpha Centauri far in the future!  Everything is location, location, location in the world of books.

2. People:  Who are your characters?
What do they do?  Are they human, or otherwise?  Are they good, or evil?  This will help your readers understand WHO your heroes and villains are, why they are who they are/have become, and what they care about.

3. Plot:  What is happening, has happened, and will happen in this story?
Nothing is more grinding on my patience than an amateur story where the writer doesn't seem to know what he wants to happen in his story.  I'm guilty of confusing myself, sometimes, but I go back and rewrite whatever does not makes sense so that my story will be the most likely thing people will read.  Make it interesting... AFTER the rough draft.  That's where the awesomeness of the whole process comes into play.

4. Have the patience of Jesus:  When writing, just relax, and let it come.
A common mistake that a lot of young writers make is expecting to sit down and start writing, and it will magically happen or be perfect.  Sorry to burst your bubble, Mary Sue, but writing takes a lot of planning, so while your waiting, I suggest opening a tablet (made of paper), and start jotting down character notes, world notes, character back stories, and just anything that comes to mind.  You are going to have the patience of Jesus to pull off the world's greatest novel.

At this point, you may wonder: What are the cliches to avoid?

Stephen King once said that there was no such thing as a bad story.  I'm here to say that there is no such thing as a cliche to avoid, despite what a lot of so-called "experts" will tell you.  A cliche is nothing more than an easy way to advance the story, and how you modify that cliche determines how many people drop your book in spite, or how many take it home with them.  Sure, some are still going to roll their eyes at your book, but only because they feel that they can do better, and that's fine--competition is what you need as a writer.
More than cliches, avoid spelling errors.  Those stick out like a drop of blood on a white linen towel.
I will discuss this in detail in my third blog on this subject.

Let's look at cliches like this:  

As with movies, books also have a sort of "Stock Footage" that is available for everyone to use.  That is what cliches are.  They are mental stock footage ripe for use.  HOW you use them is more important than the fact that you used a cliche.  Don't let anyone tell you that cliches are the most hated thing in the world, because I have written the most cliched piece known to man, and people reading it absolutely adored it.  Why?  I did something that fantasy purists tend to not do:  Make the characters easier to identify with.

This is all the information I can come up with at this point, but if you have anything you wish to add, be my guest.