Stories about Stories

Posted in Music, Movies, and other Muses, Writings about Writing by

I like stories, and so stories that are about stories seem doubly cool to me. I decided to analyze three of my favorite “stories within stories” and the different ways that this concept can be handled.

A Tale: “The Tale of the Three Brothers” in Harry Potter

I’ve read various cautionary articles about inserting a “tale” into fiction. Interrupting the flow of the plot for “storytime” can slow the action, take the reader out of the story, and is often a thinly veiled excuse for an unnecessary flashback. While all of these are true, I think there are still ways to use the “tale” inside a story without interrupting the main plot. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows does this very well with the “Tale of the Three Brothers.” One of the main things that makes it work is that this tale is vital to the rest of the main plot of the book. This tale isn’t an excuse for lame backstory or filler for a slow plot—without this little story-within-the-story, Harry wouldn’t learn everything he needs to know about the Deathly Hallows, which is vital to the rest of the story.

Plus, the tale was treated beautifully in the film. Honestly, it’s my favorite part of the movie:

 

Nested Stories and Flashback Tales: The Historian

If you’re not supposed to use tales within a story as an excuse for a flashback, then this book breaks that rule with every single chapter. This book is a bit unique, though, because the entire thing is a flashback within a flashback, and the different time periods of the story mesh perfectly to create the larger plot. I blogged about this book in a post I did about narrators, because all of the flashbacks are told in the first person, but by different people. This book isn’t really a good model for the average writer to follow, even though this author handled the writing style brilliantly. If you want to write a story within a story, it would probably be wiser to stick with a Harry Potter-esque “tale,” or a story about a story, as in the following example.

A Story about a Story: The Princess Bride

Since the book of The Princess Bride is very different from the movie—and probably more people have seen the movie—I’ll focus on the film for my example. The “main plot” of the story is the relationship of a little boy and his grandfather. Very little action happens, but there is character growth as the impatient boy realizes that his old-fashioned grandfather really isn’t as out of touch as he first thinks, and that they both share a love for a good story. The bulk of the movie, of course, is the fairy tale that the grandfather reads to the boy, The Princess Bride. The occasional hops out of the tale, like when the boy complains about the kissing scenes, are just frequent enough to remind the audience that this is a story within a story, but they don’t interfere with the flow of the plot.

Now over to you! Do you have a favorite “story within a story?”

Or a favorite Princess Bride quote? Just because.

How Do You Write?

Posted in Writings about Writing by

When I first started writing stories (back in elementary school, basically as soon as I learned how to read and spell), I of course wrote with pencil and paper. I kept up this method all the way through college, actually. I wrote my first drafts of stories and school papers on notebook paper with a pen (I graduated from a pencil sometime in high school, I think). Then when I typed it, I did some minor editing as I typed, and wound up with a second draft.

This method served me well for many years. Usually the changes and edits I made while typing were small, like a change in word choice, or cutting one line of dialogue. But still, it was a good exercise, and at the very least I wound up with a polished first draft, if not a full-blown second draft.

In my post-college years, I got away from that method – especially once I got a laptop with an up-to-date version of Word. First draft creation occurred with a keyboard, glowing screen, and red or green underlining if I made a spelling or grammatical mistake. After a while, I actually found it difficult to draft a new story with pen and paper.

A couple of years ago I started carrying a notebook everywhere, mostly for just jotting down ideas and notes as they came to me. I’ve written a few blog posts in that notebook, but that’s it when it comes to actual writing.

Then a few weeks ago I started working on a new short story, and I started writing it in my idea-and-blog notebook. I found myself scribbling away page after page, and re-experienced that simple joy of writing by hand. It’s slower than typing (for me, at least – I’m a pretty fast typist). I don’t have spell check or delete, so I have to scratch through things if I write the wrong word. I abbreviate a lot of words because it takes too long to write them out. It’s a little tedious.

But it’s freeing and fun. As I’ve been working on this current story, I’ve been tempted to type up what I’ve written so I can finish on the computer – but I’ve decided against it. I’m going to write this story the old-fashioned way, and then as I type it up I’ll already have a second draft in the works.

How do you write? Does anybody out there still use pen (or pencil) and paper for a first draft? Do you use Word, Scrivener, or some other program? Please share!

Music and Dance and Predictable Plots: Storytelling at its Finest

Posted in Music, Movies, and other Muses, Writings about Writing by

I love a good story. And whenever I find a good story, whether it’s a book, a movie, a comic, or something else, I often try to analyze it to figure out what it was about the story that made it so good. I’d like to think that this practice has helped me as a writer and storyteller – if I know what makes someone else’s story good, then I can incorporate those techniques into my own writing.

One of my favorite examples to study is the 90s sci-fi TV show Babylon 5, which I have blogged about repeatedly. That is one of the best examples of epic fantasy storytelling, which is my first and biggest love when it comes to stories (to both read/watch and to write). But lately I’ve been absorbing a very different kind of storytelling: the musical comedy movies of the 1930s. 

No epic fantasy tales to be found here in these musical slapstick adventures. In fact, most of these films follow the same basic plot structure and feature the same kinds of characters and story elements or tropes. Original they’re not. So what makes them such good stories? 

Side note: most of the movies I’ve been watching are the films of the Marx Brothers, and the films starring the dance team of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. I know there were plenty of dramatic and non-musical movies made in the 30s, but let’s save a discussion of King Kong or Gone with the Wind for another post.

Romance. This is really nothing new, and certainly not exclusive to the comedies of the 30s. But whether romance was a subplot (like in most of the Marx Brothers movies, since none of them played the romantic leads) or the main plot (as in most of Fred and Ginger’s movies), it’s an ever-present idea. Everyone loves a good love story – it’s one of the oldest and most universal storytelling ideas and it stands the test of time.

Music and dancing. Because, you know, these were musicals. Telling a story through music is also an old and universal idea. Music, like stories, has the power to communicate things about life that ordinary methods can’t match. Also, during this time period most Americans were suffering the effects, great or small, of the Great Depression. A story of happy romance and singing and dancing was more than entertainment – it was a needed respite from a crushing reality.

Archetypal character roles. Complex character development was not really big in these old movies. In fact, you always know the role and basic personality of every main character the moment they show up on screen: the dashing bachelor (Fred Astaire), the career gal with no interest in romance (Ginger Rogers), the crotchety but brilliant con man (Groucho Marx), the inept girl-chasers who wind up saving the day (Chico and Harpo Marx), and so forth. Of course this is largely due to the fact that in these movies I’m discussing, the actors had a “screen persona” that they carried throughout their movies. These stories were never intended to be rich, character-driven explorations of the human condition. The lighter elements of the story were the focus, so little time was spent developing complex characters.

Comedic storyline with predictable plot. Frequently the plot in these movies involved some sort of mistaken identity, with predictable hilarity and unrealistic results. I’m not sure why this was such a common idea, but I can see how this sort of plot would provide the audience with a sense of power, because they knew something the characters didn’t. To the average citizen during the Depression who was at the mercy of uncontrollable circumstances, a brief moment of even fictional power could be very appealing.

Certainly not every good story has to have all (or any) of these elements. But it’s fun to see how these basic elements were used over and over to tell predictable stories that we still enjoy 80 years later.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, here is comedy, romance, and dancing all in one package:

A Writing Weekend Getaway

Posted in Travel Writings, Writings about Writing by

This past weekend I treated myself to a mini writer’s retreat. I rented a little cabin through Airbnb (free plug here for the Airbnb site and this cabin in particular). While there’s nothing particularly stressful about my home life, I just wanted to get away for a couple of days, and give myself an excuse to not get distracted by the hundreds of little things that can pop up when you’re sitting at home trying to write.

This little cottage was perfect: cozy and rustic but still had all the amenities (air conditioning and wi-fi being the most important), easy to find but not in the middle of town. Being surrounded by nature is relaxing and inspiring for me. It was refreshing to wake up to a rooster crowing, and take an afternoon stroll down the road and be greeted by a horse at his pasture fence. Even though nothing I’m writing on right now features farmlands or roosters, this sort of environment pus my mind and spirit at ease and therefore lets the creativity rise to the surface.

Here are a few take-aways from my writing weekend:

  • Two nights is not long enough. Next time I decide to take a writer’s retreat (whether by myself, or with a group), it needs to be longer.
  • I didn’t feel guilty about being anti-social. Actually, I spent several hours chatting with my wonderful host (who is also a writer) and had a lovely time. A writer needs to be a keen observer of people, which is hard to do if you’re a hermit. But for just a couple of days it was nice to not put on makeup and not leave the house except to sit in the garden and write.
  • I really need to live in the country, preferably near the mountains. While I don’t want to live so remote that it takes an hour to get to the nearest grocery story, it’s nice to drive down a two-lane road and not see a traffic light—or a traffic jam—for a few miles.

So now I’m back to my regular life, driving through the bustling city and wearing makeup and looking presentable. But I came away from this weekend feeling refreshed, inspired, and with several writing tasks checked off my to-do list. The trip was well worth it and I hope to do it again soon!

My view of the garden when I sat outside to write

My view of the garden when I sat outside to write

The ABCs of Writing

Posted in Writings about Writing by

WA while back I wrote a post featuring the ABCs of Fantasy Writing. For this post, I thought I’d branch out and do some ABCs for writing in general. Feel free to add your own words or ideas for different letters, and let me know in the comments!

A – Amazon. The place where everyone should have their book listed for sale.

B – Books. Duh.

C – Characters. What kind of story would you have without any characters?

D – Dialogue. When writing dialogue, don’t be afraid of using the word “said.”

E – Edit. Every book, regardless of length, genre, or talent of the author, needs a good edit. Probably several. And at least one round of edits done by someone other than the author.

F – Fans. That loyal following who will keep buying your books.

G – Genre. Even though mixing and crossing genres is very popular, most books still should fit into a broad genre like women’s fiction, fantasy, or non-fiction.

H – Hashtags. If you use Twitter (which you should be if you’re an author), then hashtags like #amreading, #amwriting, and #PitchWars can be very useful for getting yourself noticed.

I – Idea. All writing comes from an idea. Inspiration (I could have used that for my “I” word) can come from a picture, a single word, an event, or anything else. Without ideas and inspiration, there’s nothing to write.

J – Journal. Many writers find journaling to be very beneficial. It’s good for brainstorming ideas, documenting feelings and events for potential later use in a book, and just keeping the writing muscle active every day.

K – Keep going. If you’re frustrated with writing, keep going. If you got rejected by agents or publishers, keep going. If you’re stuck, keep going.

L – Love. Let’s face it – writing can be hard, tiring, sometimes thankless work. Most people who write – and especially those who have reached a level of success of some sort – do what they do because they love it.

M – Magazines. Getting stories or articles printed in a magazine – whether a commercial newsstand mag or a literary journal – can be a great way to get started with a writing career.

N – NaNoWriMo. This stands for National Novel Writing Month, in which people spend the month of November writing a full novel. If you’ve never participated in NaNoWriMo, give it a try one year – it’s fun and a good writing exercise, even if you don’t “win” it.

O – Outline. I know there are a lot of pantsers out there who write by the seat of their pants (hence the term “pantser”) and don’t use outlines. There’s nothing wrong with that, but even a rough outline can help keep your story on track. If you’re writing non-fiction, an outline is pretty much a must.

P – Plot. Even literary fiction that is more character-driven has some sort of plot. Nobody wants to read a story in which nothing happens.

Q – Question. To me, this goes along with “idea” and “inspiration.” I think that pretty much every story concept begins with some form of the question “what if?”

R – Reading. This is what we hope that people will do with our books. And as writers, we should be readers, too.

S – Social Media. Every author should have some kind of presence on social media. You don’t have to maintain a profile on every single social media site and join every new one that comes along. Start with a blog and a professional Facebook page. If you’re not using at least a little bit of social media, it will be that much harder to gain a following.

T – Thinking. Writers are thinkers. I often have a whole scene – dialogue and everything – worked out in the head, so then all I have to do when I get home is write it out.

U – Understanding. This is related to thinking, but to me thinking is a more purposeful, active word. Understanding can come with or without prior thinking, and can sometimes be hard to put into words (a frustrating thing for a writer). You can apply the word “understanding” to any part of the writerly journey.

V – Voice. That elusive yet definitive thing that makes your writing uniquely yours.

W – Writing. Duh.

X – Cutting. As in “x” something out. The editing process is frequently more cutting than anything else. That’s where I am with one of my novels – I’m saying goodbye to many passages, bits of dialogue, and whole scenes.

Y – Yay! Okay, sort of a lame word for “y,” but it’s a feeling that’s important to a writer. Celebrate your successes – even if it’s just finishing a scene.

Z – Zeal. Writing is a labor of love, as I pointed out in the letter “L.” But more than just love, I think approaching your writing with zealous excitement can go a long way towards keeping your motivation high.