Your Story Needs Something (Fall in Love with Writing Craft)
But how do you figure out what it is?
Undogmatic writing advice and encouragement from an unconventional romance author. If you’re in need of instruction and inspiration for your writing, read on. Upgrade to paid for classes and access to a friendly, vibrant writing community. And if you like what you read, drop a heart or share it with friends.
Housekeeping before we begin
Craft Posts
This is the return of craft posts which I hope intend to do weekly. They will release on either Tuesday or Thursday. And the how-to portions of them will be paywalled. If you’re not yet a paid subscriber, hit that little button below.
Coaching
If your story needs something, as mentioned below, but you can’t quite figure out what it is, I have room in my roster for one new client. Hit reply to this email to discuss.
OOH
And, beloved paid subscribers, don’t forget Open Office Hours tomorrow, Wednesday, February 4, at 11 AM Pacific. We have one leftover topic from last week and I know there will be more.
Need Something
When my granddaughter Olivia was a toddler, just learning to talk, she used to suddenly stop what she was doing, say, “need something,” and stagger in a babyish sort of way to the kitchen. When Livie said “need something” she always meant food, so it was easy to satisfy her.
Alas, it is often not so easy for writers.
Often, when I’m reading a manuscript, whether privately or in a workshop setting, I come across a story that feels like it needs something. The story as it stands feels claustrophobic, too contained, too focused on only one thing.
Sometimes a claustrophobic story is a good thing. If you’re writing a gothic, for example. Or perhaps a domestic or locked-room thriller. But most of the time, this sense of containment drags the reader down, and dare I say it, even bores her. It’s too one-note.
This is when I will tell you that, just like Livie, the story needs something. You need to open up all the windows and let some air in. The characters need to breathe. The story needs to breathe.
But how?
Sometimes the answer can be quite opaque. You know it needs something, but what? And how do you identify that what? These are the kinds of thorny writer problems that can stop you for days–or weeks.
But “needing something,” doesn’t have to stop you in your tracks. Rather than let it do that, apply the cold light of writerly analysis to it, or at least as analytical as it gets around here (this being the province of a dedicated right-brain, ENFP, process-oriented writer).
Most often you’ll be asking yourself what is needed for a scene or character, but you can also apply some of these ideas to the big picture. You could try asking the following:
