Writing Tip of the Week: Should Your Story Have Rules? – Part Two, Narrative Rules
Last time, we explored establishing certain Technical Rules for your story before you begin writing. Today, we’ll explore another rule worth considering during the early phases of your story’s journey.
Let’s explore the world of…
Narrative Rules
Knowing how your story unfolds and is told before you begin writing can go a long way to ensuring you don’t have to backtrack or start over when things get confusing. Remember, if you’re confused by elements of your story, the reader will be equally confused, if not more.
Timeline:
How long does the story last? A day? A week? A holiday season? Does it span years or decades? Figuring out the basic timeline of events will help you plot your story and determine when essential story elements need to occur.
Also, depending on the length of your story’s timeline, ask yourself if the timeframe you’ve chosen is too short, too long, or fits perfectly with the story you plan to tell.
Story Structure:
Plan out your story and your main character’s arc before you sit down to write. This will save you a great deal of time and prevent you from getting stuck. With a completed outline of the story’s structure, you’ll know where you’re going and should have an idea of how you plan to get to that next major story point.
Additionally, this is a good time to determine how many stories are being told and interwoven into the main narrative. While the main character is the primary focus, are there other characters who will be followed in their subplots that link to the main story? As you craft the overarching structure of your story, this is the ideal time to make those choices and determine where to incorporate these elements.
Know Where You’re Going:
Is this book a standalone, or do you want to write a series? Will each story of the series be its own narrative, or will they be interconnected? Determining this early on can help you as you craft the structure of the first book and plan how much information to reveal about the main character at the start.
What Can and Can’t Happen:
This applies to all genres and is crucial for maintaining consistency throughout your story. If your story is fantasy and contains magic, how powerful is the magic? What types of magic are present in the world of your story? What kind of magic does the main character possess (or eventually acquire)? The villain?
If it’s an action or crime thriller, can anyone die? Is the main character in danger of being killed off, making everyone in the story vulnerable?
If it’s sci-fi, flesh out the worlds you create and decide how each society functions, what technology they have, and what types of problems and conflicts the main character could run into when they arrive at each location. Even if it’s a dystopian society on Earth, deciding what can and can’t happen in that society will help you creatively as your characters navigate their surroundings.
These are a handful of examples, but take the time to consider these aspects of your story before you write. An excellent example of this is the original Star Wars trilogy. Lucas does a fantastic job of immersing us in the world he created, and he provides us with the rules and limitations of The Force, as well as its application for both good and evil.
Lucas sets up the rules for The Force in A New Hope, but then expands on and shows the audience how it’s used in the subsequent two films.
Aside from Star Wars, I recommend watching any movie and examining the story’s established rules. Is there ever a point where the story breaks its own rules?
Next Time…
In the next post, we’ll explore some Character Rules to consider while brainstorming and plotting your story. Happy writing, and I’ll see you next time!
Let’s explore the world of…
Narrative Rules
Knowing how your story unfolds and is told before you begin writing can go a long way to ensuring you don’t have to backtrack or start over when things get confusing. Remember, if you’re confused by elements of your story, the reader will be equally confused, if not more.
Timeline:
How long does the story last? A day? A week? A holiday season? Does it span years or decades? Figuring out the basic timeline of events will help you plot your story and determine when essential story elements need to occur.
Also, depending on the length of your story’s timeline, ask yourself if the timeframe you’ve chosen is too short, too long, or fits perfectly with the story you plan to tell.
Story Structure:
Plan out your story and your main character’s arc before you sit down to write. This will save you a great deal of time and prevent you from getting stuck. With a completed outline of the story’s structure, you’ll know where you’re going and should have an idea of how you plan to get to that next major story point.
Additionally, this is a good time to determine how many stories are being told and interwoven into the main narrative. While the main character is the primary focus, are there other characters who will be followed in their subplots that link to the main story? As you craft the overarching structure of your story, this is the ideal time to make those choices and determine where to incorporate these elements.
Know Where You’re Going:
Is this book a standalone, or do you want to write a series? Will each story of the series be its own narrative, or will they be interconnected? Determining this early on can help you as you craft the structure of the first book and plan how much information to reveal about the main character at the start.
What Can and Can’t Happen:
This applies to all genres and is crucial for maintaining consistency throughout your story. If your story is fantasy and contains magic, how powerful is the magic? What types of magic are present in the world of your story? What kind of magic does the main character possess (or eventually acquire)? The villain?
If it’s an action or crime thriller, can anyone die? Is the main character in danger of being killed off, making everyone in the story vulnerable?
If it’s sci-fi, flesh out the worlds you create and decide how each society functions, what technology they have, and what types of problems and conflicts the main character could run into when they arrive at each location. Even if it’s a dystopian society on Earth, deciding what can and can’t happen in that society will help you creatively as your characters navigate their surroundings.
These are a handful of examples, but take the time to consider these aspects of your story before you write. An excellent example of this is the original Star Wars trilogy. Lucas does a fantastic job of immersing us in the world he created, and he provides us with the rules and limitations of The Force, as well as its application for both good and evil.
Lucas sets up the rules for The Force in A New Hope, but then expands on and shows the audience how it’s used in the subsequent two films.
Aside from Star Wars, I recommend watching any movie and examining the story’s established rules. Is there ever a point where the story breaks its own rules?
Next Time…
In the next post, we’ll explore some Character Rules to consider while brainstorming and plotting your story. Happy writing, and I’ll see you next time!
No comments have been added yet.
