What a plot is and what a story is can be sometimes confusing. If you think they are the same… They are not. A plot is the outline of your story. The story is everything included.
I will illustrate the difference by asking you to visualize two pictures…
1. Visualize a skeleton.
Then
2. Visualize a body.
The skeleton is your plot. It’s the outline of your story. It won’t be visible when we flesh it out but it will still be there, holding your story together.
The body is your story. It’s everything, which our story will contain, including the plot. The story is the plot fleshed out.
What does it mean to ‘flesh it out?’
Let me show you.
I’ll take a brief plot…
A man meets a woman and they fall in love. They encounter great difficulties because their family are against the relationship.
This is the outline of the story.
Now we are going to flesh it out and make it into a story. Fleshing it out means adding things to make this basic plot into a story. To do this we will add the rest of the ingredients such as…
Setting – Where will our story take place
Dialogue – What will be said and by whom
Characters – How many characters will our story contain? Who are they? What is their role?
Problems – What and how many problems will the couple encounter
Goal – What is the couple’s goal?
Conflict – What is the conflict?
Climax – How is the conflict going to come to its peak?
Ending – Will their love win in the end?
And anything else I’ll need in my story
Once we have written up all these ingredients, this will be our plot fleshed out into a story.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Can Your Theme Be Proved In Your Story?
Your theme has to be something you can prove in your story - It doesn’t have to be a universal truth. This means that your theme doesn’t have to be something that happens in real life all the time (providing our logic can accept it, in order for us to believe it).
Whatever story you choose to write, be it a contemporary or a story which requires elements of fantasy such as in horror, science fiction etc… the events of that story have to appear logical.
What is not logical and consequently not believable is…
A character that has no knowledge of computers and overnight becomes a computer whiz
A car that goes over a cliff, bursts into flames and the character manages to escape unscratched
Etc
These are not believable because they can’t and don’t happen in real life and our logic doesn’t accept them.
Your theme will be believed when you prove it (providing of course you can.) Let’s see how you can do that.
We’ll start with a theme…
“Hard work leads to success.’
Our story is about a character whose goal is to reach a managerial position within the company that he works. For the reader to see how the character will reach his goal I will show him…
Working hard
Working long hours
Using his initiative
Being responsible
And all those qualities, in the end, will secure him the promotion he has been aiming for.
So my theme here will be proved that ‘Hard work leads to success’ because my character succeeds in the end.
>From the examples I have given so far, you may have noticed that my stories end on a happy note. Yours don’t have to. The ending will depend on the story you are writing and how you, the writer, prefers to end it.
I could have done the reverse with this theme. I could have said,
“Hard work doesn’t lead to success.”
My story will be the same but in the end I will have the character missing out on the promotion. Both themes will be proved because I have proved them in my story.
Any theme can work in a story providing you can prove it.
Have you proved your theme?
Whatever story you choose to write, be it a contemporary or a story which requires elements of fantasy such as in horror, science fiction etc… the events of that story have to appear logical.
What is not logical and consequently not believable is…
A character that has no knowledge of computers and overnight becomes a computer whiz
A car that goes over a cliff, bursts into flames and the character manages to escape unscratched
Etc
These are not believable because they can’t and don’t happen in real life and our logic doesn’t accept them.
Your theme will be believed when you prove it (providing of course you can.) Let’s see how you can do that.
We’ll start with a theme…
“Hard work leads to success.’
Our story is about a character whose goal is to reach a managerial position within the company that he works. For the reader to see how the character will reach his goal I will show him…
Working hard
Working long hours
Using his initiative
Being responsible
And all those qualities, in the end, will secure him the promotion he has been aiming for.
So my theme here will be proved that ‘Hard work leads to success’ because my character succeeds in the end.
>From the examples I have given so far, you may have noticed that my stories end on a happy note. Yours don’t have to. The ending will depend on the story you are writing and how you, the writer, prefers to end it.
I could have done the reverse with this theme. I could have said,
“Hard work doesn’t lead to success.”
My story will be the same but in the end I will have the character missing out on the promotion. Both themes will be proved because I have proved them in my story.
Any theme can work in a story providing you can prove it.
Have you proved your theme?
Documenting Everything: Your Journal is Your Logbook
Sailors had it for years. Great explorers had it as well. If you go on an expedition to an ancient Aztec mound, more than likely the archaeologist will have one too - so, why shouldn't you own one?
No, I'm not speaking of the scurvy that plagued the sailors! No, I'm not speaking of the Loch Ness Monster or Bigfoot, whom explorers claimed to have seen in snowy Manitoba winters. Nor am I speaking of a lost city, which was never truly lost, but simply buried under mounds of earth and recently dug up by an archaeologist.
I'm speaking of journals. Journals? Yes! Keeping a journal can be just as much of an adventure as sailing the high seas, exploring unknown Canadian wilderness or digging in the dirt to find buried treasure.
Journals have been a source of reflection for centuries. My suggestion is to look at your writing career as if you're an explorer analyzing new-found land; an archaeologist digging up new artifacts and renaming them and so on...
How can you do this? Well, view your journal as a logbook and document your daily happenings. Here is a suggested format for keeping your captain's log.
Divide your journal entries into sections: Date, Weather, Mood, Events and Freewrite
1. Date: This is the obvious one (for some people). Write the month, day and the year. Also write which day of the week it is (i.e., December 17, 2001; Monday).
2. Weather: Make note of the temperature outside. Is it 100 degrees? Or perhaps it's only 20 degrees? Is it raining and 35 degrees? Snowing and 110 degrees? Raining cats and dogs? (Don't step in a poodle....)
3. Mood: What's going on in your head? Did you just get off the phone with your ex-lover who ruined your day and sank you into the depths of depression? Write about it. Did you manage to pull off some wondrous passive-aggressive revenge against said ex-lover? Write about that too and how it made you feel.
4. Events: Here's where things get a bit complicated - for some. You have to do your homework. Watch television, read the newspaper and write a few lines about what's going on in your city, state, country or the world in general.
5. Freewrite: Here's your chance to shine. Since we're all writers, we should leave a section for freewriting. Allow yourself some space to simply write aimlessly without direction. But, here's the challenge - try to limit yourself to a certain number of lines.
When you keep these entries for a week, two weeks or a longer period of time, it can be extremely beneficial. Comparing and contrasting the Mondays or Tuesdays could be a surprising learning experience.
Many times I've written stories and wanted to "know" what 78 degrees felt like, so I went to my journal and found an entry, read my mood descriptions and weather descriptions and was easily informed from my own documentation.
Keep in mind, a good writer documents everything - whether it be on paper or just in the mind's filing cabinet. But, to keep things in order, try to keep your documentation on paper - or at least saved to disk.
No, I'm not speaking of the scurvy that plagued the sailors! No, I'm not speaking of the Loch Ness Monster or Bigfoot, whom explorers claimed to have seen in snowy Manitoba winters. Nor am I speaking of a lost city, which was never truly lost, but simply buried under mounds of earth and recently dug up by an archaeologist.
I'm speaking of journals. Journals? Yes! Keeping a journal can be just as much of an adventure as sailing the high seas, exploring unknown Canadian wilderness or digging in the dirt to find buried treasure.
Journals have been a source of reflection for centuries. My suggestion is to look at your writing career as if you're an explorer analyzing new-found land; an archaeologist digging up new artifacts and renaming them and so on...
How can you do this? Well, view your journal as a logbook and document your daily happenings. Here is a suggested format for keeping your captain's log.
Divide your journal entries into sections: Date, Weather, Mood, Events and Freewrite
1. Date: This is the obvious one (for some people). Write the month, day and the year. Also write which day of the week it is (i.e., December 17, 2001; Monday).
2. Weather: Make note of the temperature outside. Is it 100 degrees? Or perhaps it's only 20 degrees? Is it raining and 35 degrees? Snowing and 110 degrees? Raining cats and dogs? (Don't step in a poodle....)
3. Mood: What's going on in your head? Did you just get off the phone with your ex-lover who ruined your day and sank you into the depths of depression? Write about it. Did you manage to pull off some wondrous passive-aggressive revenge against said ex-lover? Write about that too and how it made you feel.
4. Events: Here's where things get a bit complicated - for some. You have to do your homework. Watch television, read the newspaper and write a few lines about what's going on in your city, state, country or the world in general.
5. Freewrite: Here's your chance to shine. Since we're all writers, we should leave a section for freewriting. Allow yourself some space to simply write aimlessly without direction. But, here's the challenge - try to limit yourself to a certain number of lines.
When you keep these entries for a week, two weeks or a longer period of time, it can be extremely beneficial. Comparing and contrasting the Mondays or Tuesdays could be a surprising learning experience.
Many times I've written stories and wanted to "know" what 78 degrees felt like, so I went to my journal and found an entry, read my mood descriptions and weather descriptions and was easily informed from my own documentation.
Keep in mind, a good writer documents everything - whether it be on paper or just in the mind's filing cabinet. But, to keep things in order, try to keep your documentation on paper - or at least saved to disk.
Learning to Question your Elephant Child: Who, What, Where, When and Why
Having problems writing? I don't know why. San Francisco Chronicle columnist Jon Carroll writes up to five columns a week. After all, if he can write five columns, you should be able to write a five-lined poem-but that does not seem to be the case.
How does he do it? Carroll claimed to recite lines from Rudyard Kipling's "The Elephant Child":
"I have six humble serving men
They taught me all I knew
Their names are what
And where and when
And why and how and who."
I'm more than sure that two incentives for Jon Carroll are 1.) Creating deadlines and 2.) His salary! Yes, we writers DO get paid every now and then!
Basing my philosophies on those few lines of Kipling's "The Elephant Child", my advice is to "Simply Ask Questions". Rummage through some old work (whether it be poetry, nonfiction, or fiction) that you've written and use the following techniques to enhance your skills. And, then, ask yourself the follow questions.
WHAT is the underlying theme?
Try to come up with a single-word or phrase to describe your story. Perhaps one reason your story has not been effective in the past is that you have too many intertwining stories. This, in turn, can cause confusion for the reader. So, ask yourself, "What is my story about?" And, give yourself answers such as: Desolation, Lost Hope, Self-Confidence, Racism, Attained Dreams, etc. If you can KISS (keep it simple stupid), then your readers won't MISS your point.
As practice, read some of the great contemporary writers and ask yourself the same question-"What is the underlying theme?" Describe the book in one word or one phrase, instead of using a high school book-report technique.
WHERE does your story or poem take place?Knowing the setting can allow you to be a bit more descriptive with your work. Does your poem or prose take place in Alaska? Florida? China? Yugoslavia? Hawaii? Kentucky? Each of these places is, perhaps, equal opposites of the next. To know your setting you have two choices-- 1.) Be a good researcher; collect pictures and read as much as you can about the location, or 2.) Take a road trip! Nothing can be grander than to spend your weekend visiting unknown territories.
WHEN did the events take place in which you are writing?If you're doing factual reporting-this is especially a MUST-DO. For instance, if you read a news article a reader wants to know when Ms. Johnson's house was burglarized. Did it happen June 20, 2001? June 20, 1984? Did the events take place when it was winter with ten inches of snow? Or, better still, did the events take place at Virginia Beach mid-August?
WHY did the events take place?Is there a conflict within your character? A lot of times character's (and real people too) have problems only because their conscious is "eating them away". Is this the case? If so, why does your character feel so guilty that he made such decisions? Perhaps the events that take place are only cause-effect. Most always people cause their own mental downfall and breakdown. Always know why your characters complete every task and why the events take place.
How did the events happen?Too often people will say, "I had a car wreck today…" But, do they leave it at that? No, no, no. You must always tell how the events happened. Were you driving in the incorrect lane, but still feel it's not your fault? Did you skid uncontrollably on a patch of ice? Maybe, you wanted to avoid the slow-moving tortoise that crossed your lane? If other characters are involved, it's important to get their perspective in dialogue. Maybe they feel the events happened differently.
Who did the events happen to?Who your events happen to is one of the main focuses. You have to choose your characters carefully. Why? Well, it would change a story completely if you wrote of a 68-year old cheerleader. Your work would be a different story if the character were an autistic adult. How would the events change if, let's say, the main character was indeed the Elephant Child, child of the deceased Elephant Man? Be creative with your characters and allow their personalities to work well for you when creating your piece.
Sometimes writers can use techniques that allow them to disregard some of these steps. Oh, Really? -You question. Yes. For instance, a writer may know the intentions of a character, a location-but you may not want to put it in print. My suggestion is that you KNOW all the answers to the above questions to make the work have more substance. By knowing all the answers you can create images, people, and scenarios by using symbols and customs of a particular area.
How does he do it? Carroll claimed to recite lines from Rudyard Kipling's "The Elephant Child":
"I have six humble serving men
They taught me all I knew
Their names are what
And where and when
And why and how and who."
I'm more than sure that two incentives for Jon Carroll are 1.) Creating deadlines and 2.) His salary! Yes, we writers DO get paid every now and then!
Basing my philosophies on those few lines of Kipling's "The Elephant Child", my advice is to "Simply Ask Questions". Rummage through some old work (whether it be poetry, nonfiction, or fiction) that you've written and use the following techniques to enhance your skills. And, then, ask yourself the follow questions.
WHAT is the underlying theme?
Try to come up with a single-word or phrase to describe your story. Perhaps one reason your story has not been effective in the past is that you have too many intertwining stories. This, in turn, can cause confusion for the reader. So, ask yourself, "What is my story about?" And, give yourself answers such as: Desolation, Lost Hope, Self-Confidence, Racism, Attained Dreams, etc. If you can KISS (keep it simple stupid), then your readers won't MISS your point.
As practice, read some of the great contemporary writers and ask yourself the same question-"What is the underlying theme?" Describe the book in one word or one phrase, instead of using a high school book-report technique.
WHERE does your story or poem take place?Knowing the setting can allow you to be a bit more descriptive with your work. Does your poem or prose take place in Alaska? Florida? China? Yugoslavia? Hawaii? Kentucky? Each of these places is, perhaps, equal opposites of the next. To know your setting you have two choices-- 1.) Be a good researcher; collect pictures and read as much as you can about the location, or 2.) Take a road trip! Nothing can be grander than to spend your weekend visiting unknown territories.
WHEN did the events take place in which you are writing?If you're doing factual reporting-this is especially a MUST-DO. For instance, if you read a news article a reader wants to know when Ms. Johnson's house was burglarized. Did it happen June 20, 2001? June 20, 1984? Did the events take place when it was winter with ten inches of snow? Or, better still, did the events take place at Virginia Beach mid-August?
WHY did the events take place?Is there a conflict within your character? A lot of times character's (and real people too) have problems only because their conscious is "eating them away". Is this the case? If so, why does your character feel so guilty that he made such decisions? Perhaps the events that take place are only cause-effect. Most always people cause their own mental downfall and breakdown. Always know why your characters complete every task and why the events take place.
How did the events happen?Too often people will say, "I had a car wreck today…" But, do they leave it at that? No, no, no. You must always tell how the events happened. Were you driving in the incorrect lane, but still feel it's not your fault? Did you skid uncontrollably on a patch of ice? Maybe, you wanted to avoid the slow-moving tortoise that crossed your lane? If other characters are involved, it's important to get their perspective in dialogue. Maybe they feel the events happened differently.
Who did the events happen to?Who your events happen to is one of the main focuses. You have to choose your characters carefully. Why? Well, it would change a story completely if you wrote of a 68-year old cheerleader. Your work would be a different story if the character were an autistic adult. How would the events change if, let's say, the main character was indeed the Elephant Child, child of the deceased Elephant Man? Be creative with your characters and allow their personalities to work well for you when creating your piece.
Sometimes writers can use techniques that allow them to disregard some of these steps. Oh, Really? -You question. Yes. For instance, a writer may know the intentions of a character, a location-but you may not want to put it in print. My suggestion is that you KNOW all the answers to the above questions to make the work have more substance. By knowing all the answers you can create images, people, and scenarios by using symbols and customs of a particular area.
Can Your Theme Be Proved In Your Story?
Your theme has to be something you can prove in your story - It doesn’t have to be a universal truth. This means that your theme doesn’t have to be something that happens in real life all the time (providing our logic can accept it, in order for us to believe it).
Whatever story you choose to write, be it a contemporary or a story which requires elements of fantasy such as in horror, science fiction etc… the events of that story have to appear logical.
What is not logical and consequently not believable is…
A character that has no knowledge of computers and overnight becomes a computer whiz
A car that goes over a cliff, bursts into flames and the character manages to escape unscratched
Etc
These are not believable because they can’t and don’t happen in real life and our logic doesn’t accept them.
Your theme will be believed when you prove it (providing of course you can.) Let’s see how you can do that.
We’ll start with a theme…
“Hard work leads to success.’
Our story is about a character whose goal is to reach a managerial position within the company that he works. For the reader to see how the character will reach his goal I will show him…
Working hard
Working long hours
Using his initiative
Being responsible
And all those qualities, in the end, will secure him the promotion he has been aiming for.
So my theme here will be proved that ‘Hard work leads to success’ because my character succeeds in the end.
>From the examples I have given so far, you may have noticed that my stories end on a happy note. Yours don’t have to. The ending will depend on the story you are writing and how you, the writer, prefers to end it.
I could have done the reverse with this theme. I could have said,
“Hard work doesn’t lead to success.”
My story will be the same but in the end I will have the character missing out on the promotion. Both themes will be proved because I have proved them in my story.
Any theme can work in a story providing you can prove it.
Have you proved your theme?
Whatever story you choose to write, be it a contemporary or a story which requires elements of fantasy such as in horror, science fiction etc… the events of that story have to appear logical.
What is not logical and consequently not believable is…
A character that has no knowledge of computers and overnight becomes a computer whiz
A car that goes over a cliff, bursts into flames and the character manages to escape unscratched
Etc
These are not believable because they can’t and don’t happen in real life and our logic doesn’t accept them.
Your theme will be believed when you prove it (providing of course you can.) Let’s see how you can do that.
We’ll start with a theme…
“Hard work leads to success.’
Our story is about a character whose goal is to reach a managerial position within the company that he works. For the reader to see how the character will reach his goal I will show him…
Working hard
Working long hours
Using his initiative
Being responsible
And all those qualities, in the end, will secure him the promotion he has been aiming for.
So my theme here will be proved that ‘Hard work leads to success’ because my character succeeds in the end.
>From the examples I have given so far, you may have noticed that my stories end on a happy note. Yours don’t have to. The ending will depend on the story you are writing and how you, the writer, prefers to end it.
I could have done the reverse with this theme. I could have said,
“Hard work doesn’t lead to success.”
My story will be the same but in the end I will have the character missing out on the promotion. Both themes will be proved because I have proved them in my story.
Any theme can work in a story providing you can prove it.
Have you proved your theme?
Does Your Theme Contain Character, Conflict, Resolution?
Creative Writing Tips –
For a theme to work and the story, which will revolve around the theme, it has to contain three things…
Character
Conflict
Resolution
What’s the reason for this?
If your theme doesn’t contain these three essential elements, then you won’t be writing a proper short story. It might turn out to be an essay instead.
Because without…
1) Characters
You can’t achieve emotional depth. Readers become engrossed in stories because of the characters in them. They either become the character (sympathize), or read about an interesting person (empathize).
Emotional depth is achieved when readers use their imagination and senses and/or experiences to live the story through the characters.
2) Conflict
Your story will be boring. Why? Without conflict, something to stir things up, nothing happens. And a story, in which nothing happens, is one not worth writing about.
Your characters don’t lead carefree lives. Well, not in the instance you are writing about them. In that part of their lives they are faced with a problem. They want something and can’t get it because of the conflict, which is preventing them to do so.
And it’s that conflict and the struggle the characters has to undergo that keeps us readers interested and in suspense. Will the character succeed or won’t he? And when is this all going to happen? And how is it all going to happen?
3) Resolution
Something that starts has to finish, one way or another.
Once you have created great characters, which the reader will come to care about, and you have placed them in conflict, that conflict at the end of your story has to be resolved. The characters will achieve their goals or they won’t.
That doesn’t matter.
You can end your story as you please and as it suits your story – but you have to end it. Ending the story means resolving the conflict.
Does your theme contain character, conflict, resolution?
For a theme to work and the story, which will revolve around the theme, it has to contain three things…
Character
Conflict
Resolution
What’s the reason for this?
If your theme doesn’t contain these three essential elements, then you won’t be writing a proper short story. It might turn out to be an essay instead.
Because without…
1) Characters
You can’t achieve emotional depth. Readers become engrossed in stories because of the characters in them. They either become the character (sympathize), or read about an interesting person (empathize).
Emotional depth is achieved when readers use their imagination and senses and/or experiences to live the story through the characters.
2) Conflict
Your story will be boring. Why? Without conflict, something to stir things up, nothing happens. And a story, in which nothing happens, is one not worth writing about.
Your characters don’t lead carefree lives. Well, not in the instance you are writing about them. In that part of their lives they are faced with a problem. They want something and can’t get it because of the conflict, which is preventing them to do so.
And it’s that conflict and the struggle the characters has to undergo that keeps us readers interested and in suspense. Will the character succeed or won’t he? And when is this all going to happen? And how is it all going to happen?
3) Resolution
Something that starts has to finish, one way or another.
Once you have created great characters, which the reader will come to care about, and you have placed them in conflict, that conflict at the end of your story has to be resolved. The characters will achieve their goals or they won’t.
That doesn’t matter.
You can end your story as you please and as it suits your story – but you have to end it. Ending the story means resolving the conflict.
Does your theme contain character, conflict, resolution?
Have You Tested Your Plot?
Creative Writing Tips –
Our plotting stage is our testing area.
Everything in the plot should be tested for its effectiveness before we put in into our stories. If you believe something in your plot could be better, make it better.
Figuring everything out in your plot will save you time rewriting later.
So how do you test your plot?
Start with everything that has gone into it.
For example...
Are the events interesting?
Does your plot contain problems for the character to solve?
Have you given your character a goal?
Is the conflict strong?
Is the resolution of the conflict interesting?
Is the character interesting?
Is the setting of the story interesting?
Will the incident or situation be interesting to your readers?
Etc
Make a list of what your plot contains. Comb through it carefully and tick off each item. If you find that some things need to be worked on some more, work on them.
I know to some this might be tedious work, but…
“Every one-minute you spend in planning will save you at least three minutes in execution.” Crawford Greenwald
Our plotting stage is our testing area.
Everything in the plot should be tested for its effectiveness before we put in into our stories. If you believe something in your plot could be better, make it better.
Figuring everything out in your plot will save you time rewriting later.
So how do you test your plot?
Start with everything that has gone into it.
For example...
Are the events interesting?
Does your plot contain problems for the character to solve?
Have you given your character a goal?
Is the conflict strong?
Is the resolution of the conflict interesting?
Is the character interesting?
Is the setting of the story interesting?
Will the incident or situation be interesting to your readers?
Etc
Make a list of what your plot contains. Comb through it carefully and tick off each item. If you find that some things need to be worked on some more, work on them.
I know to some this might be tedious work, but…
“Every one-minute you spend in planning will save you at least three minutes in execution.” Crawford Greenwald
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