Different Ways to Tell Your Story

I have been thinking a lot about the writing process, but I haven’t ever made a list or truly thought about different ways to tell the story itself. This is the style, the voice, the angle, the narration of the story. I’m thinking about this in the hope of making the story more unique and fun to write, while also being more fun to read because it’s a breath of fresh air – amidst the cut and copy linear style of one main character going through the motions in a story. If you, too, are looking to add some spice to your story, this post is for you!

Here are just some of my ideas for how to write your story in a potentially different way:

A funny voiceAn unreliable narrator Non-linear / out of chronological orderMultiple P.O.V. – and they’re different agesStart with the endHave a child main character but it’s an adult novel so the themes and tone is still adult From the villain’s perspective From the anti-hero’s perspective Told from the perspective of a pet or an inanimate object of significanceFlicking between real and imaginary /fantasyPlay with magical realism so no one knows what’s trueMain character dies halfway through and the P.O.V. switchesTell the reader that a character dies at the endPerspective of a ghost Use no punctuation throughout (like Ali Smith has done before) Play with typography (how the text is presented on the page) Write the same chapter but from another character’s perspectiveSomeone’s thoughts and recalling of events while in a coma Written in journal entries Written in letters to someoneWritten in slang or text format Snippets of poetry or prose (especially if the main character is a creative type) Draw images to go along with itWritten in all dialogue for the first draftUse a different language – maybe make up your own language

Basically, when you have your idea ready, ask yourself which angle you could come from to make it a little more interesting to tell and read. There’s not just one way to tell a story, and actually, it could be very fun and pivotal for your story to tell it from an unexpected point of view. Why not try it out?!

Happy writing! Enjoy the process by spicing things up, where possible!

Sincerely,

S. xx