Story Structure, Character Structure

The past two weeks I've taken off from writing and planning book two in the Lizzie Peterson saga. In part that's because I just needed a break from editing, in part because I was deep into writing several articles for my day job as a writer and editor, and in part because I'm doing some serious research into story structure. Oh, and into publishing, but that's a different post.

I've been studying Larry Brooks' book, Story Engineering: Mastering the 6 Core Competencies of Successful Writing. You can see the cover to the right.

Larry has some very inventive ideas about what makes up a story, character, theme, conflict, concept, and structure. It's got me thinking and rethinking and thinking some more. That's the danger with doing too much research into how to craft stories!   ;-)

So, combine this with Dan Wells' presentation at BYU's LTUE symposium two years ago, and you have two very nice approaches to the craft of story. Add Katherine Farmer's research on characters (no direct link to her, but a summary at my friend, Matt Tandy's blog), and you have several key concepts to consider when writing.

What I like about Larry's book, especially when I incorporate my own ideas and others' on story, is that it has the potential to make writing much, much more efficient, powerful, and engaging on all levels.

I'm naturally gifted at plot and dialogue, but I struggle a bit with character (except strong female characters, interestingly enough) and theme.

Now, I'm beginning to see how to see, delve into, and craft an entire world story before I even begin to type it. It's a fascinating journey.

So, if you are interested in really improving your craft, I recommend studying (not reading) Larry's book, watching Dan's presentation a few times, and finding someone who can share with you Katherine's methods (I don't want to give too much because she's writing a book on it and that might preempt her. But if you want to get together sometime, I can teach you what I know.)

What you need to understand is that story is structure, as Tracy Hickman and so many have told me. I've blundered my way through enough free writing and enough outlines to story that still lacked something that I've realized there is a deep, compelling need for a story to work on multiple levels.

The master writer, the truly gifted writer, I believe, is gifted not because she just intrinsically knows all this, but because she learns the craft so deeply that she can apply it and exercise it and manipulate it in the creation of the story. And that means fewer revisions, better stories that people want to read, and greater success as a writer.

That's a fantastic goal.