What to do with Your Story Idea: Developing a Structure (Lauricia, Writing Life)

A few months ago I began a series addressing the question that I receive the most: What do I do with my story idea. In the first installments of this multi-part answer, I talked about writing down everything you know about the idea and beginning a social media presence. Today, I’m going to discuss how to proceed with the writing.

To be clear, there is never a time when you should stop writing. The ideal is to work on your story and your marketing in tandem, so that they balance each other. This will help you fend off the marketing burnout that all of us experience at one point or another.

If you are new to this series, or would like a recap of the full answer, here are the steps in brief:

1. Write down everything you know about the story idea. Keep writing until you can’t think of anything to add. (Read entire post here.)

2. When you’re not writing, work on your social media platform.  Develop your on-line presence authentically, in a way that is genuine. (Read entire post here.)

3. Go back to your idea. Organize everything you wrote in step one into something with structure and shape. Turn that collection of ideas into a plan and begin your first draft.

4. Start a website. A blog is good because it gives readers a taste of your writing, but if you feel that you can’t commit to a blog, then you need to have a website at the very least.

5. Edit your first draft. Complete this step as often as necessary.

6. Start an e-mail list.

7. Enlist alpha readers who will give you story feedback.

8. Once your book is as polished as you can get it, enlist someone else to edit it.

9. Decide how you want to publish (indie or traditional) and study the process. Learning the necessary details will save you a lot of time and, potentially, a lot of money in the long run.

10. Start the next story!

Presuming you’ve done step one and are working on step two, it’s time to return to your original idea and begin to give it some structure. The most common structure, and a great place to start, is the Three Act Structure. The name comes from Aristotle’s Poetics, in which he discusses how every story must have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Fast forward a few thousand years and incorporate the advent and growth of the movie industry, and you have a story structure that is built around Act I: the introduction and development phase; Act II: the conflict and struggle phase; and Act II: the achievement and resolution phase.

If you are anything like me, at this point you’re thinking you don’t want your writing to be formulaic. You’re concerned that your writing won’t stand out, or that it will lack a spark of life if you follow a common method. I wrestled with this for years until I thought about it from the perspective of architecture. If you’ve ever seen a house being built, you know that nothing can be accomplished until the foundation is laid and the frame is in place. So, too, with writing. Rather than being a formula, the Three Act Structure is the framework. What you build around it is up to you, and can be as original and inventive as you like.

I had originally planned to go into a discussion about the Three Act Structure here, but I’m already coming to the end of my word count, and there are innumerable resources out there to help with this, so I’ll list some of my favorites for you to explore:

 

Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass

Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell

The One Year Adventure Novel by Daniel Schwabauer. (Specifically for teens) I cannot recommend this resource highly enough. It is a one-year writing curriculum that ends with a chance of publication, so if you are a teen who desires to write speculative fiction, there is no better option to pursue.

Of course, there are many more good resources out there, and I’m always looking to improve my craft, so are there any that you recommend? I’d love to hear about them in the comments.

Personal Notes: Blows and Cushions (Lizzie)

I decided to take a creative writing class this summer. I get a free class each semester since I work at a university, and I thought this particular class might be helpful. It was, sorta, but, overall, it's not something I'd recommend everyone rush out to take. You can learn the same stuff through books and conferences. Speaking of, like going to a conference, the class has inspired me to be more serious and dedicated to my calling to write.

But in some ways, the class is depressing. So much of what's read and talked about either involves depressing subjects or dark subjects (some inappropriate ones too, but this was kept down since there was an early college student in the class). The other students in the class seem to prefer morbid and dark stories to uplifting ones. There's an idea in literary circles, it seems, that writing must be "true to life" and that means dark and depressing. Thus, having a happily-ever-after and humor preclude a work from being truly great; it's tripe for the common reader and not true art. I may be exaggerating, but that's how it felt one day last week.

We were assigned to start a short story and then discuss our ideas with the class in a brainstorming session. Out of eight students, I was the only one with a relatively happy story. There was an unsuccessful hunt for an abducted nine-year-old, a tragic teen romance a la The Fault in Our Stars, a dystopian were affection was banned (no brave hero or heroine set things right), and so on. No happy endings or ultimate triumph (the kidnapper, I think was caught, but the girl was still died). After presenting my fairytale-type story, I initially received silence and then questions about it, including whether I'd write a story without a happy ending. Um, no. Light-hearted adventures with romance are my brand. I like to read and watch them, and I want to create those stories for all the other people like me who read them. The stories aren't all rainbows and daisies, but, overall, I hope they bring joy and light. I'm not caving to a dark literary world's "better" type of story.

After class that day, I met with the professor for feedback on the start of a novel I've been working on for a long time. He tore it apart. Nothing made sense, I was obsessed with umbrellas and gender roles, and so on. He was really nice about it, don't get me wrong. He meant well, but most of it wasn't helpful. When I signed up for the class, I wanted help to improve my writing in the sense of making it more lyrical and beautiful. He didn't speak to that at all. He just didn't get the story and doesn't care for my style, I think. Not dark and literary enough, I guess, or something. After thirty minutes of this, I excused myself to go back to work. When I got back to my office, I found the old critiques I had on that novel. There were several and they were mostly positive. They liked the voice, they liked the characters, they liked the story world. It made sense to them, those people likely to read my genre. Also, that very morning (perfect timing), I found out my submission to the Fellowship of Fantasy: Tales of Ever After was accepted (yay!).

Have you ever read scriptures and heard devotions on a similar theme in a short time frame and wondered if God was trying to tell you something? Well, I went through several days of being bombarded with the theme of not giving up on doing good. Then, I encountered this trial in class as well as a continuing silence about several proposals I'd sent out, and some other disheartening things that challenged my "high" ideals. I wasn't (I hope) about to give up on writing or compromise my ideals, but the reminder to not give up doing good was very encouraging. I am doing good then and shouldn't be swayed by those challenges.

I hope you'll do the same. Not everyone is going to like your work. It's tough, especially when one of the nay-sayers has a PhD in a writing discipline, but you must decide who you write for and that will help determine who you should listen to. Keep on doing whatever good things you're doing and not grow tired. You're needed.