Tools for Story Building (repost)

One of the most helpful things you can do to make your story better is to build to the story. Now, this does not mean going out in your backyard and building the whole story world. I think everyone would agree that’s a little extreme. Your friends would think you were crazy and your parents would lose their backyard. No, story building is something you do on paper and in your mind. “How do I do this?” you might ask. I’m about to give you a few tips that should help you out with building your story.

"How do I do this?"

First off, you want to let the Word of God fill your story. That doesn’t mean it has to be allegorical or you must have references to every Biblical truth. An example of this could be from the opening scene of Sherwood Pictures movie ‘Courageous’. The overarching theme in the movie is Biblical fatherhood and that’s shown right off in the opening scene. A father is at a gas station filling up his truck. He notices that there’s a smudge on the windshield so after checking in the back, goes to get something to clean it up. Unknown to the viewers at that point, his baby is in the backseat. Suddenly, a gangster runs up, jumps in the truck and starts to drive away. The father (Nathan Hayes) throws himself part-way through the window. It progresses until the bad guy finally can’t hold on to the wheel anymore and runs into a tree. Nathan was holding on to the wheel this whole time and jumped off the truck when it struck the tree. The gangster runs and gets into his accomplice’s car while Nathan painfully limps toward his truck. Two women had seen the last encounter and called 911. They tried to stop him from going towards the truck, but he refused. He reaches it an opens the door, at which point the viewers are shown his screaming baby. This scene right off shows the Biblical example of fatherhood without telling us Bible verses. It shows us that a father is supposed to be willing to lay down his life for his family, not tells us.

"Let the Word of God fill your story."

Another thing that I’ve found helpful is to start your story keeping the ending in mind. If you have no clue what your ending is, it’s going to be obvious to your readers. The characters need to be working towards something. It sometimes helps to write the ending first. “But I don’t have just one solid ending in mind!” you say. That’s fine! Sit down and think of all the possible endings your story could have, good and bad. Then, just write them all. They don’t have to be long or perfect, but it helps (believe me—I know!) to get the ending down. The story then sort of keeps you in line, because you already have things written. Writing things down helps so much.

Characters are obviously a very important part to your story. No one would want to read your story if it weren’t for the awesome, colorful characters you have, right? One of the things that makes characters interesting to the readers is the depth. Create backstories for your characters. It doesn’t necessarily have to be told in your story, but as you figure out their past you’ll be able to figure out their personality. It will make it easier for you to learn how they react to different things, what their passions are and what their dreams are. Characters also have to be different from each other. For example, the protagonist and the anatagonist obviously can’t act the same, talk the same and like the same things. There’s got to be an obvious difference (other than the fact that they’re fighting against each other) between your characters.

Claudius, a page in medieval times, walks up to his page friend Damian. After Damian acknowledges him he says, “Hey dude. How’s it going?” Confusion starts to muddle your brain. This is a medieval story…they aren’t supposed to talk that way! Yet another thing that helps your story is research. I can’t say this enough, so I’ll say it again—Research the time period you’re writing in! All of us are guilty of not researching enough sometimes, but even though we may not enjoy it, it’s a necessary part of writing. It will help you out in writing and make it easier, so that you’re not constantly worrying about breaking rules. You know the rules, so you won’t (hopefully) break them. Simple as that.

"They aren't supposed to talk that way!"

God gave you this wonderful talent for writing—use it to glorify Him. Pray that He’ll give you ideas to use in your novel that will glorify Him and show His truth and His glory to a dying world.

Writing...even when you don't feel like it.

I know the feeling all too well. I get my coffee, a glass of water and get nice and comfortable on the couch. Occasionally I’ll even sit at the table too. All psyched up, I open my computer and click on the document for my novel. Instantly, all excitement fades. It’s replaced by something akin to dread. The words on the screen start to look like either a foreign language or something a five-year old scribbled. This usually results in me acquiring a cause of the ‘author blues’ or placing my head in my hands and convincing myself that I’m a horrible writer and the scourge of the author world.

Okay, maybe that’s a bit extreme.

All writers suffer from writer’s block and the author blues at some point in their life. Both of the things I tend to automatically do are obviously not what one should do in this situation. But what DO you do?

I was reading an article about horse training lately (yes, this relates to writing, I promise). Our pony sometimes refuses to go forward, instead planting his feet in one spot and staying there. Something I read by a famous trainer said this, “Sometimes a horse will refuse to go forward because they’re trying to tell you something. They’re trying to say, ‘hey, I need a refresher on the basics!’. They could also be warning you that the next step will be explosive…and not in a good way.” 

If you feel like you can’t (or refuse to) move forward, then go back and look at the basics. I don’t mean go back to your first grade English curriculum and start from square 1. Look at the big picture of your writing—your outline or overview. Read it out loud, get some input from others, act it out. Do whatever you need to do to make it real to you. I’ve found that if I start talking to someone about troubles I’m having with my story, they tend to have some advice and I’m able to see the bigger picture. Sometimes you’re just so close to your story that you can’t see anything else. Instead of zooming in and focusing on just a certain chapter or scene, go back to the outline and figure out your plot holes. It may seem basic, but it really goes a long way.

Schedule your writing time and stick to it. Make an appointment with yourself and honor it just as you would a dentist appointment, a get-together or a lunch. You’re a writer. Writers write, so you need to make time for it every day.

Write something completely off-the-wall crazy. I’m working on a short story right now about someone with a phobia of lampshades. The idea came from my sleep deprived, running-on-coffee-and-sugar self a few nights ago while talking to a friend. I was incredibly loopy and out of it and couldn’t focus on anything serious (like my novel). Any kind of writing is useful, whether it be something nutty like I did or a blog post or a letter to someone. Just get the creative juices flowing. Writing is like any other skill. You have to practice to get better at it. It doesn’t just develop overnight.

My last tip is to avoid beating yourself up. It doesn’t help you at all, even though it seems that it may get you more motivated. In my experiences (and those of a few author friends), it does exactly the opposite—it harms you. One of the biggest things that stops anyone from progressing in a creative field is fear. The fear of rejection. The fear of being laughed at. The fear of not being good enough. Don’t dwell on those things. Actually, what would be really good is to chop the fears to pieces, burn the pieces to ash, and then dump the ash in a river somewhere. 

Remember, the author is always the harshest critic of their own work. Throw your fears out the window and keep pressing on. You’ll get better if you keep practicing. So, write.