I received my Oprah Magazine today and eagerly read the articles on how to write a good story. Snore, snore, snore, how much longer is this article. I read several books on how to tell a great story, though most of the advice is blah, blah, blah, what does this have to do with me.
I think the probelms with writer's advice is too much analyzing. Example: ballet or if you are not as cultured, a rock concert. If you analyze with paper and pencil all the steps these dancers do, you will find the same steps being repeated in various orders and in altering directions (left foot, right foot). At the end of your analysis paper, you might realized you had not enjoyed the ballet, or concert, as well as if you simply just watched the flow of movement.
I can tell you the ingredients of a good story, and I'm not even a professional writer.
1: Must have catchy title. I have no idea what The Catcher in the Rye is about, but I can tell you J.D. Salinger wrote it. That is a catchy title.
2. Must have flow from one idea to another, or flow scene to scene without jumping around and confusing the reader. This is why I hate mysteries from the all the jumping around without much connection between scenes, they mainly connect person to person.
3. Learn to think backwards. Start with deciding how the story ends or the purpose of the story. Then decide on the means and motivation the hero, or villian, will use to get to the ending. Lastly think up a cathcy introduction full of drama and wonder to lure the reader into the story.
4. Decribe things with verbs and emotions more than adjectives and adverbs. Rushed in a panic sounds better than Ran swiftly with achy feet. Reading about every object that sits in a room or everything a person is wearing is quite boring.
5. Write what you know. After all, the most popular stories are the ones where the reader can say, This could be me and what would I have done. Why do think Harry potter is so popular?
Post later. Bye!
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