The Expensive Story
Facets of a story
The Kickoff
Where do you start? Many writers start with notes, outlines, and biographies. Here are some of the things you can focus on:
You can try question form:
Who is/are the main character(s)?
What does the main character want?
Why would people like this character?
What/who is blocking them from what they want externally?
What/who is blocking them internally?
How does the main character solve problems? (Strategy, violence, language, God, magic, material(s)/tools/weapons, help from family/friends, love, willpower, authority, etc.)
Does the main character have help? From whom?
What big conflict starts everything?
What mini-conflicts spawn from that? (Arcs, storylines, challenges, problems, projects, adventures, etc.)
What character relationships can you explore?
Where does the story take place? What is it like?
What are the first three story arcs?
What are the major over-arching themes, topics, and subject matter?
Facets of an issue,chapter, and episode
Miscellaneous Things
Don't
Do
Story/Plot
Characters and Characterization
Dialogue and Speech
Themes
- Plot and storyline
- Dialogue
- Narration
- Characters
- Theme(s)
The Kickoff
Where do you start? Many writers start with notes, outlines, and biographies. Here are some of the things you can focus on:
- The protagonist, antagonist and main characters. (Define personalities and appearances. What do they want? What do they fear? What are their weaknesses and strengths? What can they do?)
- Relationships. (Romantic, family, etc.)
- The setting. (What's the atmosphere or spirit of it? What kind of people live in it? What does it look like? Why is it significant or insignificant?)
- The themes. (What is this going to address and basically be about? What are the basic ideas and tropes behind it?)
- The conflict(s). (Why do they arise? How do they arise? Who's involved? How is it going to be solved, or resolved? What is the protagonist going to do? What is it going to lead to?)
- The end of the story/protagonist. (Get a rough idea.)
- Possible things you can explore, do, or include in the story in order to expand it. (You can make spin-offs, make it longer, or make it denser.)
- Powers, tools, equipment, costumes, paraphernalia, and weapons.
- Relevant/significant organizations, groups, and institutions.
- Research (science, history, etc.)
- Possible loopholes, possible inconsistencies, errors, story weaknesses, and things that you are unclear or uncertain about.
- Names. (Creating and penning names are hard.)
You can try question form:
Who is/are the main character(s)?
What does the main character want?
Why would people like this character?
What/who is blocking them from what they want externally?
What/who is blocking them internally?
How does the main character solve problems? (Strategy, violence, language, God, magic, material(s)/tools/weapons, help from family/friends, love, willpower, authority, etc.)
Does the main character have help? From whom?
What big conflict starts everything?
What mini-conflicts spawn from that? (Arcs, storylines, challenges, problems, projects, adventures, etc.)
What character relationships can you explore?
Where does the story take place? What is it like?
What are the first three story arcs?
What are the major over-arching themes, topics, and subject matter?
Facets of an issue,chapter, and episode
- Pacing/Development
- Characterization
- Attention grabbers, both at the beginning and end
- Internal conflict and external conflict
Miscellaneous Things
- No matter what genre it is make it feel like an adventure, because you're exploring someone or something.
- Break the unbreakable. Fix the fragile.
- Make every line and page count.
- Try to always have a sense of depression/sorrow throughout your story. (High stakes, delicate situations/people, fear, failure, loss, collateral damage, weaknesses, etc.)
- Do not have things you do not need. Take out lines, dialogue, characters, pages, and stories that you do not need. Ask yourself: Does this person need to say this? Does this need to happen? Do they need to have a conversation? Do I have to wait until I do this? Why is this page useful? How does this character contribute to the story and main character(s)? Does the reader need to know this?
- If you read Japanese comic books, then reader American ones; and vice-verse. If you read science fiction novels, then read romance ones. If you read horror and science fiction comic books, then read superhero ones. Do you get the idea? Balance it all out. These things contribute to your imagination and creativity.
- Creating, producing, and selling a good piece takes more than just knowing many things about stories, but you need: Sharpness, since you will need to do things like change pitches and aspects of your story, or make up something as you go. Organization because you need to know what you're doing and where everything is. Patience because you may not get results exactly how you want them or when you expect them. Persistence and resilience, because you can't stop trying to succeed and write. Boldness because you will have to go up against norms and try new things. Creativity because you can't make any of your pieces sell without it. (Maybe; LOL) Consummation of literature, art, nature and media because they'll give you new ideas.
- The more you read and view creations the more you will understand what you can do with a story. It will curve your knowledge and therefore curve your imagination.
- Integrate theme(s), plot, and character(s). What are the main characters and protagonist trying to accomplish to do? How does that drive the plot forward? How does it all relate to the theme? Does the character represent a force, side, or thing inside of the theme? As the plot develops what do we learn about the characters and the theme? What does the villain represent? What does the villain's action represent (within the theme), and how does what they represent affect the main characters/protagonist? YOU HAVE ALL THESE CHARACTERS, PLOT DEVICES, ACTIONS, AND WORDS, but what are you ultimately trying to portray/express/say through or with your story?
- Silent films, silent games, silent comics. Let the visuals, sounds, space, and feelings do their work. Introduce something(s) that can't be written, articulate, or dictated. You can do more or less of this depending on the medium.
- Some writers just have bad taste/vision. Always remember to keep the audience in mind, the audience you would like to garner, and logic. Never forget the value of compelling people emotionally.
- Some things aren't very good by themselves. Sometimes you may want to add it into another story. It can be a character or subplot. Recycle and save things.
- It is not always what, but how. It's all about presentation. Do not worry if an idea is too unbelievable, but make it believable. Make it real. Make it serious, make it matter. It's about drama, loss, conflicts, relationships, risks, dialogue, and valuable interactions between characters.
- Don't show a thing and say, 'This is really awesome!' Make it awesome, write it awesomely. Don't force things on them, but educate them and show them.
- Some people have these seemingly really silly concepts that turn out to be really good and serious movies. They have unbelievable-like/ridiculous characters. There may be a story with only one or two characters, but it can be still compelling. They'll make a story about a seemingly insignificant thing, but they turn it into something more with good dialogue and interesting characters. There's much more to narratives than sex, cursing, violence, cast size, fancy art, and special effects. They're not necessarily dramas, tragedies, action, fantasy adventures, or horror. (Examples: Don Jon, Gravity, The Double, short stories, short films, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, The World's End, Moonrise Kingdom, Life of Pi, 50/50, Attack the Block, Breaking Bad, War Horse, Going By The Book, Cast Away, Holy Motors, Safety Not Guaranteed.)
Don't
- Do not drown the story in flashbacks.
- Do not juggle too many characters [at one time].
- Do not make something bad or devastating happen to a character that the audience doesn't care about. Make sure the audience cares.
- Do not make things blatantly random. Don't throw in [too] random things, or too many.
- Do not make the story predictable.
- Do not make the story too slow or fast paced.
- Do not allow any plot-holes.
- Do not make twists that are too large or far-fetched. The reader might feel cheated or betrayed.
- Do not focus on things, or people, that you won't explore or add any depth/dimensions to. Cut everything that's useless and doesn't contribute anything to the story.
- Do not let characters act out of their character. They have to be perfect at being themselves.
- Do not prolong the beginning or end.
- Do not let ending(s) be too subtle.
- Do not let any of the main or support characters be one dimensional or have cliche personalities.
- Do not make characters get too close too fast.
- Do not make changes too soon or drastic, but they should be at a nice gradual pace. Always stick to the theme(s) and the tone(s), though. Make transitions smooth, and therefore you'll be making the pacing better.
- Do not go from extreme highs to extreme lows too quickly; and vice-verse.
- Do not make the whole piece/work/product monotone (dark, sunny, serious, silly, etc). You may have to lighten it up, add a few [more] jokes in, add intensity, or make things more conflicting.
- Do not make the main character know something the reader doesn't if you're writing a mystery. Do not fool the reader. If a main character figures something out the reader should know why and how. If you don't want the reader to know something, then make sure that the reader is aware of that. If that is the case, make the reader itch for the revealing.
- Do not make a story that is action-driven, or drowned with action. Do not make the story too bombastic. Don't forget about humanness, relationships, emotion, weaknesses, twists, intricacy, failures, and realities.
- Do not make the villain a 'broken record.'
Do
Story/Plot
- Make a complex story that seems simple, or at least with very simple underlying principles/ideas/themes.
- Everything has to seem/be natural and relevant. Everything that happens has to make sense to the audience.
- Give the setting character and make it interesting, unless it being plain/bland is part of the story. Maybe it would be more so about the character and what's going on inside of them or what they're trying to change.
- Use cliches at the right place, time, and for the right people; especially lines, dialogue and phrases. Use cliches as a seasoning or sugar. Just sprinkle it on the food so it can compliment the dish. Do not dump it. Use a few cliche devices or elements in the plotting/story.
- Make the conflicts throughout the story get larger and larger, so you build up to one big conclusion. The story should get progressively better, heavier, and more interesting. Make the stakes higher and higher; basically make things more risky or dangerous. Maybe add more characters and variables in the mix. Maybe make the main character(s) increasingly care about more things or people. Try using cliffhangers that do not only have short-term effects, but long-term ones. When someone dies you can make sure that their death affects many different things/people. You can also make separate conflicts combine with each other to make one seemingly larger important event/conflict. Another option is when a (large) struggle or conflict is happening try having mini-conflicts/struggles, or just one more, inside of it. It'll make it appear larger and it'll make whatever happens have more consequences. Do not add too many, though. Try just one or a few within it.
- Story basically comes down to a struggle, or struggles; it's about some type of struggle. Make the strugglers interesting/attractive, and then progress/develop the story logically/well. (Struggle = Conflict)
- Make the internal conflict last throughout the whole story and make the external conflicts something the reader is waiting to happen/end, but is having fun along the way. Give the character an overall goal; things within himself to deter him, and things outside to stop him.
- Achieve balance. Don't have scenes and large amounts of time that are very narrow so that they explore a single facet of the world or main character's personality. Reveal more and more about the character through their interactions, actions, relationships, and thoughts. You can explore something about the character through an arc/event, but you don't want to be too single-minded or dedicate too much time/attention to one thing as if you're blocking everything out. You shouldn't have a story split up like food. You should explore the main characters, and other main things, throughout every part of the story.
- An arc/conflict has to seem worth the information/insight you are giving the reader. Reward readers justly.
- Implement comedy. If the story is very serious then use a lot of serious humor. Serious humor is when you add little funny things and comments among serious scenes. They're not extremely funny or designed to make you laugh, but they make you smirk or smile. They're funny, but not very. If you add a lot of little things like that, it'll make the story a little lighter. They're things that make you laugh, but keep things moving. You don't stop with the story or an introduction of the character.
- Stick with an overall linear story-line all the way to the end. You can have branches but you have to bring the story back or leave those branches to explore later. If you branch out, bring it right back. If you keep going out in another direction it won't be good. Keep it mostly linear.
- Dwell in the issue, arc, or chapter. Just focus on making that one interesting, but have at least a rough idea of where you're going [afterward].
- Make transitions smooth, and therefore you'll be making the pacing better. Don't go from extreme highs to extreme lows too quickly (at least make it make sense), and vice-verse.
- Make things go together and connect. Install patterns, symbolism and implied underlying reasons. Use figurative things/concepts and foreshadowing. (For example, a certain character may interact a certain way or respond a certain way to another character. One villain or person may bring out the worst, and another one may bring out the best. An environment may reflect something within a character. A villain may personify something within the main character, like a fear. The main character escaping somewhere may symbolize a character's growth internally. A character fighting crime may do so because they find home more dangerous or scarier. A fight may show a character's growth, so the character will come to some type of revelation or epiphany. A character may symbolize a force or greater power. Even though characters may not like each other, they need each other and ultimately benefit one another. A team coming together may symbolize equality and world peace. An external and internal conflict may be the same thing.)
- Raise questions with events/actions/things and then answer them, or at least most of them. Make the reader wonder, and then satisfy their inquiries.
- Always look for what hasn't been explored or revealed. Look for places, ideas, feelings, organizations, and characters inside the book that hasn't been explored. Example(s): What is the history behind the place that they are in? Are there possibly people that aren't far away from them (in space and time) that they can definitely come into contact with; perhaps from another community or village? Are there any associates of their friends that the reader should know about? Should they know something about their friend? Can their parents' job start to have a larger impact on their life at home? Can they meet new neighbors? Can you create a new villain that attacks them in a new way (mental vs. spiritual vs. physical)? Can the character go through a new phase in life (go to school, leave school, mid-life crisis, Peter Pan complex, lose a parent, get a girlfriend, lose a girlfriend, betrayed)? Introduce reality; death, loss, surprises, embarrassment, slavery, failure, meanness.
- Try to always bring something in the past back into play throughout the story whether it's the main characters past, the settings, or another characters. The past should always influence the future even if it's something that's preset. When you introduce a group, organization, or person make sure that they have some future significance, or they help with the story later on. Have subplot(s)! Don't use past as crutch, though. ESTABLISH NEW THINGS. Make things seem as important or more important than the old. Who cares about what happened 20 issues ago? Make new developments and things evolve, while you're expanding on things already etsbalished.
- Direct the reader to think something is going to happen, but don't make it happen (exactly) or at least make it happen a little differently. Surprise the reader but don't stab the reader in the back. When all is good make something bad happen. When all is bad make something good happen. When all is funny make something serious happen, and when all is serious make something funny happen. Make room for subtlety and surprises. Do not let the story stagnate. Things cannot go too good for too long. In a chapter, issue, arc, or episode, something has to be getting progressively worse or progressively better. Once things get better then things have to get bad, once things get bad then things have to start getting better [somewhat].
- Sometimes it's not little things that matter, but big things. Set in place big events that stand out. The size of something that happens to main characters (even the antagonist) can have a large impact on the entire skeleton/tone of the story. It can ripple throughout. Why not make something shocking happen in the middle of the story/title that dramatically changes the course? Why not have one very huge thing/development that happens at each quarter of the story? Maybe at the end of each season or middle of each volume?
- Introduce the conflict or a problem as soon as possible. Avoid too much rising action, suspense, and build up.
- It's not so much about having definite things. It's about possibilities. Just keep the primary character(s), and perhaps the theme(s). Just keep the overall feel and the foundational ideas. You can rewrite things! It doesn't mean that things can't go from bright to dark, but you just can't forget about the things you have already established.
- I don't think it's so much about things being in a natural/traditional order. I think you just need a captivating beginning and a cliffhanger for the end. I think when you look back at the piece you should be able to summarize it and have one collected/congruent piece, a manifesto that can be clearly understood by the reader. After reading it the reader be able to say in their head, 'Oh, this is getting serious!' 'Man, his life was horrifying!' ' Man, I think this guy is going to die next chapter,' or 'I can't wait to see what happens/appears next chapter!'
- Ask questions like, 'How has this progressed from here to here? Is it substantial?' 'Is this page adding a dimension to the story?' 'Did I progress after this issue?' 'Am pulling the reader along with me after this volume to a totally new place?'
Characters and Characterization
- Make the main character the most interesting/appealing person out of everyone throughout the story.
- Make readers able to like, relate to, or sympathize with each character.
- Make the readers be able to relate to the characters, but make them unique/creative/original at the same time. Make them normal but not normal.
- Explain thoroughly who the main character is, what they're about, and what [kind of] setting he inhabits AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
- Make support characters a mystery and interesting, not just the main character(s). Make the reader want to know more about all support characters.
- Make the main character part of something(s) that is bigger than himself in the established world whether it's a thing, place, or person, so he can get into and interact with things, places, and people that are bigger than himself. Like Batman owning Wayne Industries, or Spiderman working for Osbourne's corporation. A person can have rich/powerful family. It's easy to expand the plot/story-line that way. The main character should be the most important person/thing to the reader, though.
- All relationships should add more depth to the characters, especially the main ones.
- Introduce characters to the reader before you totally add them into the the story. Let the reader know them first, or at least know something.
- Give the main character something(s) that he can't let go of no matter what. That thing/person can change, but he/she must always have something.
- Make the reader root for the main character. Every character that appeals to the main one should also be appealing to the reader.
- Give the villain(s) serious problems, emotions, and values.
- If and when something bad/tragic happens to a character, rub it in. Torture them, kind of.
- Make the story driven by the main character(s). Make it be about what they have, had, want, need, love, hate, like, dislike, fear, enjoy, dream, and value. You may have many things going on but in the end it's about the evolution, digression and/or change of the main character(s). Never make the drug deal, explosion, or economic depression more important than the main character(s). These things have to at least be tied to what the main character(s) wants or is trying to do.
- Introducing characters to simply continue story is dangerous. Develop characters and groups already established. Have big overarching villains, villains that grow. Have over-arching plot(s). Have sub-plot that build up. Have the story be linear, as if they're following a rabbit down a hole continually. Minimize cast and main characters. Apply the principle of progression/development. Know when and when not to develop characters/groups. Don't shoot all your bullets out at once, but satisfy people and pay them off for the attention they've invested into your story. Some people introduce characters unnecessarily and develop main characters too soon, when they have so much they can work with and develop already.
- Only do bad things to a character if you're going to use those things as momentum to push the character to a certain place. The momentum and the place you're sending the character should be proportionate.
Dialogue and Speech
- Good dialogue: moves toward something (builds up), doesn't reveal too much, reveals more to the reader about the characters who are talking (personality, goals, and history), leaves out boring stuff, includes gestures/actions, seems like a realistic conversation mostly, makes the characters truly interact with each other instead of just talking because the writer makes them (make it natural), does not have characters talking for too long, makes each character different, and advances the story.
- Make lines/dialogue that readers can and would like to quote, say, or repeat, themselves. Make cool lines. Think of things kids could say, something that would look good on a banner, or something that can be painted on a wall. Try to sprinkle those.
- You and/or other people may need to read your dialogue screenplay/theater form to see if the dialogue is truly good or not. You may need to sit back in order to think and see if your dialogue is natural/realistic. Try trial-and-error, and then ask yourself, 'Is this piece of dialogue appropriate?'
- Use subtext and use it well! Don't include too much, but use it! Subtext are messages the reader can receive/perceive through facial expressions, demeanor, gestures, pauses, silence, and actions. Within dialogue the consumer should be able to sense/feel/notice/observe the conflict or indifference. It shouldn't be just about the words, but everything in between.
- The manner in which a character speaks is extremely important. The manner depends on the size of the sentence and tone. An unintelligible person would speak with short and rough sentences while a smart person would use longer sentences with polite or scientific terms.
- Every line of dialogue should be a response or requesting/demanding a response whether it's to/for another piece of dialogue, movement, event, or action.
- Be careful where you place dialogue. Actions and speech do not usually go with each other. It will probably be difficult or weird for the reader if you have too much speech going on during the action because they have to process both of those things in their head at the same time. The reader usually processes the action(s) faster so it seems as if the speech is lagging behind. You can use dialogue in moments/scenes where it is natural to the story/characters/situation, though. What you may want to do is take a break from the speech or conversation to show/allow an action no matter how small the action is. Write a strong action that means or shows something. Conversations are never flawlessly verbal anyway. Many things happen during the course of conversations.
Themes
- I like big themes and subjects: death, sin/imperfection/mistakes (it can be specific), redemption, illness(es), absence of feeling (numbness), loneliness, exploration, discovery, revenge, God, unmet expectations, truth, justice, racism, unrequited love, heartbreak, nature's value, friendship, hatred, birth, depression, kindness, survival, Platonic love, moralism, corruption, betrayal, hard/tough love, fear, change/rebirth, growth/maturity, separation, hidden beauty, free moral agency, good vs. evil.
- How to ensure depth? Emotion and sentimality is great. But you can make sure it has a good or interesting themes. Are you asking the reader any questions? Are you trying to make the reader figure out things, or put pieces together?Are you making her/him think? Is it bringing up topics where you have to decide where you stand in reference to it, as a reader? Some examples of themes/subjects/areas are: morals, politics, controversies, religion, science, philosophy, culture, history, and education.
- Some stories are created for the sake of a theme. Don't do that. It'll be too simple and/or bland. Make it nuanced, intricate, and expansive/expanding. Don't underestimate the value of relationships and mythos.
- Be creative. Creativity is the weird, new, fused, different, strange, unpredictable, twisted, edgy, minority, abnormal, controversial, daring, surprising, forgotten, paradoxical, comprehensive, and quirky.
- Make villains with interesting objectives.
- Make settings that are weird, strange, and/or different, but not creepy unless you're writing something horrifying, dark, or psychological.
- Make characters do things you wouldn't expect from normal/average people, and also ones with quirky habits.
- Make the conflicts specific to that character. Don't make it something that can just happen to anyone [else]. AT least make it happening to them something special/unique.
- Contradictions, oxymorons, and paradoxes can be interesting. (Contradictions such as villains with good intentions, heroes who use questionable methods, good characters who look bad or have dark/creepy features, bad people who look good or have cute/nice/innocent features, heroes with big egos, weak heroes, lawyers that commit crimes, heroes who make mistakes, child assassins, an imperfect family that's perceived to be perfect, a lone traveling child, and pacifist crime fighters.)
- Create a mysterious history with secrets that are revealed at the most inconvenient and awkward times.
- Make the main character(s) have unusual/unique goals.
- Unlikely collaborations and partnerships.
- Make each character have a unique appearance, power/ability, weapon and paraphernalia, and/or demeanor.