Making Your Story “Better”
Let me preface this article: I’ve been preparing for the movie of the year, as so many other geeks are. I have been re-watching Episodes 4-6, the good versions. Why do I say “good versions”? You might remember that these movies have gone through several re-releases over the past 30 years. Some made the story better. Some ruined the movie for fans everywhere. I’m not here going to spell out what made the difference. (The fans know what I’m talking about.) But here’s a question to ponder. As writers, we have the opportunity to make our stories better before our readers ever see them. How can we make certain that a brilliant new idea is leading down the right road? It’s really not complicated. As writers, we need to have an understanding about who our characters really are.
When deciding to change a scene, consider what about your character led to the scene you originally created. If the character said something a certain way, is this how you imagine her? Or if the character decides to try a different action, is it because “this action is cooler”, or is it because “this action is truer to the character”? (Interestingly, any action that is truer to the character actually does become cooler. Whereas doing something for the sake of awesomeness may actually upset your audience. Does that seem strange to anyone else?) Also keep in mind that whatever changes you decide to make may have major repercussions later in your story, as your character draws from a different knowledge base than he would have had initially. If you decide to “make this action cooler” are you prepared for a major overhaul on your plot?
Keep in mind that a subtle change in your character may make different inferences, thus making a character’s growth less or more remarkable. For example, take the cringe-worthy scene in a Mos Eisley Cantina where it was decided that “Han’s such a great guy he couldn’t possibly have shot Greedo first.” (GROAN!) The audience knows that Han comes from a nasty beginning and becomes a really great guy when he shows up to help Luke destroy the death star. And this change was a marvel, one which fans loved! By stopping Han from shooting first, this subtle change robbed Han of the chance to make remarkable character growth. The point? A subtle change in where your character came from may greatly impact where said character is going, and how the audience will feel when he gets there.
This is not to say that changes shouldn’t be made. I have made several. In my most recent work, I was struggling to decide who the villain really was and I reached a very different conclusion than I started with. I knew that for the character in question to make the sort of drastic changes I had planned, I needed to give a solid basis for said change, one which was not presented earlier in the series. (Someday, I may share my alternate plot with you, though I think it would be best to release Conspiracy first, which should take place within the week.) Ultimately, I let the characters direct the action, and I found the results were satisfying.
As a writer, I write much of my work free-hand without a preconceived outline. That being said, an outline can help with some of the planning and can prevent you from going down the wrong road. But there are factors in play over the course of a full draft that may not have occurred to you while writing an outline. If you realize, while writing a draft that you are drawing further and further away from your outline, don’t assume you are doing something wrong. I have come to believe that when a story happens differently than I expected, the character has taken over, and since it is the character’s story, perhaps this is what I want to happen. The same may be true for you. Consider revising the outline based on where your character has gone. You may really like the results.
If you are being 1) truer to your character, definitely consider making the change. Especially is this so if 2) you are willing to do a major overhaul. Your fans may really appreciate this effort, even though they may never know about it.
Another key I have found to making stories better is to listen to my audience and work together. I believe that when we work together all of our stories become better as a result. That said, what keys have you found to making your story better? Please feel free to leave a comment below.
