Storytelling: Is Knowing Craft Really Necessary?

There are plenty of successful authors of gripping, bestselling novels whose writing, if you look at it in technical terms, is crappy. But having an excellent grasp of grammar does not guarantee a good story, either.

So, does that mean learning the ins and outs of show versus tell and passive versus active writing is a monumental waste of time?

In many cases yes, it is.

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Why Reread A Story You Already Know?

You read a story, you loved the story, you were amazed the things that happened. Then you read it again.

This is true of all types of stories, movies, plays, comics. We go back to the stories we enjoyed the most. Even though we know what happens. Nothing is surprising, and “What happens next?” is a redundant question.

Why? And how can we use this to improve what we write?

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Unknown Outcome Does Not Lead To Unpredictable Story

Readers enjoy the unexpected. Not knowing what’s going to happen is part of the pleasure of hearing a story. But just because you don’t know something doesn’t mean you want to know.

If a man approaches a crossroad where he can turn left or right, you don’t know which way he’s going to choose. But when he does choose, you won’t be surprised. You knew it was going to be one of the two.

So a character going about his business, even though every action he takes is unknown to the reader right up until it is revealed, won’t be engaging purely on the basis of not knowing.

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A to Z Reflections

I usually post twice a week, Mondays and Thursdays. During the A to Z Challenge I posted 26 times in 30 days.  The effect of this was that I received a bump in page views, some new followers, and as severe case of exhaustion.

I had planned to write my posts in advance and then schedule them. The easy life. I managed to do rough outlines of all my posts, but that still meant a rush to get them done on the day of posting. Best laid plans...

So, clearly the A to Z Challenge is a good way to boost blog activity, even if it’s only for a month. Only, I have two blogs. This one, and a Tumblr. I post the same things on both, the only difference is that the Tumblr audience is all cool kids who love Korra, and it wasn’t part of the A to Z Challenge. So how did the two blogs compare over the month of April?

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Can Too Many Pronouns Spoil The Story?

There will be times when you suspect you have too many pronouns in your story. I, I, I or he, she, he, she. And as soon as you become conscious of this problem you will start seeing them everywhere and it will feel like a big problem.

First thing to realise is that it’s not a big problem. Pronouns are part of writing stories, you’re just being hyper-sensitive. A good way to calm yourself down is to pick up a book by a good writer and look through it. You’ll find pronouns packed to the rafters and pouring off the page. It’s normal.

However, there are times when you genuinely need to reduce pronouns, and that’s what this post is going to be about.

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Draft Zero: Where Writing Begins

Whether you’re a dedicated outliner or you wing it with no idea where your story might take you, the first complete draft you produce will have problems.

A lot of the time you will know a section isn't working before you even reach the end of the paragraph. Just not good enough. 

You can stop and fret and worry about how to make it better, or you can keep going.

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You Can’t Just Leave Out The Boring Parts

It would be very convenient if, when people pointed out parts of your story that weren’t very interesting, if you could just cut them out.

Snip-snip, and there you go, perfect book.

Unfortunately, you can’t always do that. 

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Excessive Detail Can Kill Your Story

The difficulty with coming up with a story is that you start with no frame of reference. There’s you and there’s the blank page.

The advantage of writing description is you have a definite place to start. You may use your skill and talent to augment it, but when you describe a mug, you have a pretty good idea what a mug looks like to get you started.

This is why aspiring writers will often bury themselves in long descriptions. Because it’s easier. But that’s also why it’s less impressive, no matter how beautiful the prose. And why you have to police yourself much more rigorously.

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Whose Story Is It?

You have to know whose story you’re telling. This is not something you find out. You have to make the decision and then you have to carry it out.

The key to creating a singular voice in a scene is to work out what the tone it is you’re going for. Tone is established through emotion. This can be within the characters, or it can be within the reader. Or both.

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Video Games Vs. Books

Kids these days have much shorter attention spans.

Kids these days are easily bored.

Kids these days don’t like effort.

All of the above is clearly nonsense. And here’s why.

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