How to Structure Stories

At the moment Robyn and I are working on about three stories. We've been complimented recently for our ability to make stories and their characters compelling.

So what's the process we use for constructing a story?

Generally one of us will come up with an idea - usually a character in an interesting situation against a backdrop. The character and the backdrop are usually the easy bit - a person in a place or at a particular moment in time. It's the interesting situation that's usually the inspired bit - the reason for wanting to tell the story.

But most times there's not enough in the initial idea to fill out a story, so where do we go from there?

Well, we know that the character most likely has an issue that needs resolving - and will face a series of obstacles to that resolution. But what will the obstacles be?

When we brainstorm the idea together - usually over a game of pool - we try to think of scenarios that either help or hinder the main character's journey through the story. I like to come up with other characters that will make the story more interesting - in that they are just as compelling but they have agendas at odds with the main character.

This makes the hero's quest more interesting and the resolution hopefully more satisfying.

Plotting should always be character driven. We never plot in a vacuum or try to force a plot onto a character - that way madness lies - and stories that won't work. Besides, letting your characters plot your stories is so much easier. You just need to ask, "What would they do now?" and make note of the answer. And then, "What now?" and keep going until the 'end' of the story.

Finally, when we're convinced we've thought of all the angles on the story - and rejected the ones that don't seem to further the story or act as diversions from the main point - we are ready to begin writing.

Not everyone works this way. Indeed, we don't work this way on all of our stories - just the ones that need expanding. But at some point before the actual writing, the structure of the story should be in place - even if only in its vaguest form.

When it comes to structure I write down headlines that I will later expand into paragraphs or whole sections. The headlines are easy to manage because if I have say 20 or 25, I can juggle them (cutting and pasting on a Word doc) until I have them in the most pleasing order. The order that makes sense of, and enhances the main story idea.

The hardest part is resolving all - or at least most - of the character's agendas in the last part of the story. Now, many writers choose to resolve everything after the climax but this is where I differ I think. Because what I like to do is make the climax of the story the very reason why the character's agendas are resolved.

It's really worthwhile brainstorming a story to make sure this happens. It gives a 'point' to the story in a way that simply relating words cannot.

To me this makes the climax not only exciting and meaningful in the context of the characters - but also more satisfying to a reader. It also means I don't have to waste words after the climax 'winding down' and tying up all those loose threads.

I hope this (very) little explanation of how we structure stories helps you in your own work.

Keep writing!

Rob@easywaytowrite.com
Creating Better Writers
http://easywaytowrite.com

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THIS WEEK'S WRITER'S QUOTE:

"The cat sat on the mat is not a story. The cat sat on the other cat's mat is a story.' John le Carre

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Til next time,

Best regards and keep writing!

Rob Parnell
rob@easywaytowrite.com
Creating Successful Writers
The Easy Way to Write

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