From Idea to Story: Part Three

Other Elements

By now, I hope you will have an idea for your story and some sense of your protagonist. Now let’s get into more specific detail about some of the other essentials.

Protagonist vs Narrator

A lot of people assume that these are one and the same, and in some cases, that’s true. David Copperfield is narrated by the titular hero, and it’s unquestionably his story. But Nick Carraway tells the story of The Great Gatsby, though it’s Gatsby himself who is the protagonist.

Also keep in mind that the protagonist isn’t necessarily a hero or heroine. Tom Ridley in the Patricia Highsmith books is an anti-hero. Likewise Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye. The protagonist is the main character and others revolve around him.

Who is telling your story?

What are your options?

The protagonist is narrating the story him- or herself.An observer is narrating the story.The story is told by a series of different people — see Wuthering Heights, for example.The story is being told in the third person, but limiting the point of view to one or two characters.The story is being told in the third person, and all the characters and their thoughts are treated equally.

This decision sounds like an easy one, but in fact it can have a big impact on how the story works. For instance, if you have a larger than life character at the centre how will they come across if they are telling their own story? The Sherlock Holmes stories are almost all narrated by Doctor Watson, a great admirer of the detective, and Watson thinks nothing of revealing Holmes as a quintessential hero. That could come across as repellent, though, were Holmes to tell his own stories.*

If the protagonist isn’t a participant in some important scenes you have to be able to explain how they know about those events. It can make for awkward narration if it turns into I was told this by X, who heard it from Y. It can be done, but it can make for a very confusing story if you’re not careful.

A story with many pivotal characters rather than just one may work best if the story is told in the third person. The Lord of the Rings, for instance, is able to switch from Frodo to Aragorn to Gandalf and it all sounds authentic.

Another thing to keep in mind is you could have an unreliable narrator. This is the person telling the story whose narration is suspect. It could be that they are lying about events or one character in particular; they don’t know all the facts; or they have some psychological impairment that colours their point of view. There are some excellent examples in literature. Check out this article for a summary of some of the best.

Tense

Most novels and short stories are written in the past tense, but there are exceptions. Recently, I read Stig Abell’s debut novel, Death Under a Little Sky, and was disconcerted to find it was written in the present tense. It’s an odd choice, but he made it work. Writers who choose this approach feel it lends immediacy to their story. Perhaps they’re right, but a lot of people have an aversion to books written this way. Do what works for you, but be prepared for some grumbling. Also, you might want to read a couple of books written this way just to see if it feels natural to you.

Tone

Often, writers don’t think about this until they’re well into the writing of the book, so don’t worry if you don’t really know yet.

What do I mean by tone? Think of it this way: your son is in trouble because he did something silly but not dangerous — knocked the cake you had just baked onto the floor, or called the grouchy neighbour a meathead. You have to talk to your son, so what is your approach? Amused? Stern? Resigned.

Mark Twain is quoted as saying, “Comedy is tragedy plus time.” Do you believe that’s true? Have you ever read the Darwin Awards? This is a category of bizarre deaths. Tragic, of course, to the loved ones of the victim, but the objective observer might have difficulty withholding a chuckle.

If your story is set in the midst of tragic circumstances, then a matter-of-fact or somber tone might be best. However, if your approach is to tell about something that happened several years earlier, a wry humour might work well.

Other characters

We have talked at some length about the protagonist, now it’s time to think about the other characters.

This is your story, so who are the others who surround the protagonist? What are their characteristics? How do you distinguish them from one another? Do they each have some feature than sets them apart? A birthmark, a specific perfume, a speech impediment? What do they contribute to the story? This can be tricky. Some new writers approach the other characters as little more than pieces on a chessboard. It’s important to make the ‘support’ characters as real as possible.

Also, don’t expect to know who every character is before you start writing, unless the story requires a limited number of characters. Certain murder mysteries often have a limited number of suspects. Also, stories set in vessel of some kind — Stagecoach, Lifeboat, and Alien are films that fit this category, too.

Next week, we will look at putting everything together in the first draft, and how to allow for changes without stopping your writing.

Beginnings

I’m not talking about your opening sentence or paragraph. Yes, they’re important, but what’s more important is knowing where in the story you should begin.

“Begin at the beginning,” the King said, very gravely, “and go on till you come to the end: then stop.” 

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

The king’s advice in Alice in Wonderland sounds very, uh, sound. What could possibly be better? Well, modern writers often prefer to begin in medias res. Say what? It means in the middle of things. Both of these approaches have their advantages and there are strong advocates for each in the writing camp. A story that begins at the beginning lends a clarity to the tale. You don’t — generally — need flashbacks or any of the explanations that the in medias res approach requires. Then again, starting in the middle of the action captures the attention of the reader right away, and can make a story seem more dynamic.

Some writers also like to start the story at the end, and then go back to the beginning.

As with everything else to do with your story, the choice is up to you. There is no right or wrong approach, though I would caution you against starting with a character’s morning routine and taking us through every moment of their ablutions and dressing unless there is something very odd about it. An alien putting on his hat and trying to cover his antennae, for instance, might make an interesting change.

Major moments

We’ll discuss this in greater detail next week, but for now I would say you should have an idea about the major incidents in the story. Have an idea where the peaks are, and also the valleys. Ideally, your plot should look like a distant mountain range, lots of rises and falls, some sharp. others less so. One thing you don’t want is a flat line. That usually suggests the patient is dead, and you don’t want that for your story, do you?

Don’t worry if you haven’t got every detail figured out before you start your first draft. They will evolve as you write. Just knowing a few will suffice for the moment.

Endings

You don’t have to know every detail of the ending, but the more you do know, the less frustration you will feel when you reach that point. The ending may be happy, sad, hopeful, despairing, or some weird combination of all. Think about your characters and what you want for them. At the very least, you need to keep it in mind as you’re writing. After all, if you don’t know where you’re heading, how will you know when you get there?

Finally, next week we’ll start putting all those pieces together and focus on writing that first draft. See you then.

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