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Young Writers Society


A Guide to Developing a 'Story'



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Thu Nov 13, 2014 10:41 pm
KatGirl says...



I couldn't think of a better title. My apologies. xD

PART I: Characters

Since I've read 'The Infernal Devices' by Cassandra Clare, I realized something that I hadn't done much of before when using characters. I didn't even think once about how much people actually move, use hand gestures, laugh, cry, etc. Yes, I'd add in some, but not too much.
You want to be subtle with your characters but also make them very thorough and in-depth. I'd suggest giving small hints or flashbacks if you're trying to show something that happened in a character's past, but not state it. Stating something is going to make your reader loose interest; it's basically like spoiling your own book to them. For example,: 'He was eager'. That is what you don't want to do. Expressing your character's feelings is much better. 'He was practically bouncing off the walls in excitement'.

True, you don't have to spend a million years on your book, but you want to explain these things:

1. What they are doing
2. Any hand gestures/emotions
3. What are they talking about, and how are they expressing their feelings?
4. What is their background? How does it affect your character?
5. Appearance is a top priority!

PART II: Unexpected plot twists

Plot twists are imperative in your literature, (more specifically in Fantasy or Science Fiction) it makes the reader desperate to read more. A plot twist is mind blowing if you use it the right way. If it's obvious earlier in the book, people are already going to know. You have to give subtle hints, but barely any at all. You explain what had happened before to cause such a plot twist, and you drag and drag out the scene and you ignore that plot twist for awhile.
Then, when you feel that it is the right time to use it, use it. You don't want to do it so quickly that your readers are confused. They have to get used to this scene/character/whatever it is. Let's say that somebody's brother in a book was under the work of some person planning to take over the world. They acted all innocent when they were around their sister/brother, so much that you didn't even expect it. It was just BOOM, in your face. You could also do a double plot twist, where they end up all regretting of it, but than you could also 'delete' that character. By delete, I mean that whoever they were working with them was just using them and they died or ran away or something. Than your reader also feels horrible about it, but is annoyed that the character did that. If you're able to pull of a double plot twist, high-five to you.

PART III: Reader's attachment to characters

You want your reader to become connected to the characters in your book--like some of the books out there that actually make people cry because they got so attached to a character and than something sad happened to them. You can do this by adding a complicated background to a character, yet they're so nice and caring and whatever and your reader REALLY, REALLY doesn't want it to happen to them, but they're so in-depth reading it that they must read more.
Example:

In the Infernal Devices, Cassandra Clare gives an example of a twisted character. (Sorry for all these Infernal Devices examples. I can't help it.)

Jem must take yin fen everyday because he can't live without it; even though it is slowly killing him. A demon did actually curse him and killed his parents. He was a really nice character in the book, kind and forgiving, {in which the scenes he was in expressed nice emotion and feeling to his character}. The Magister (a guy who plans to overrule the world with his automaton army.) and buys all the yin fen and blocks the shipment of any more. Unfortunately, Jem is unable to survive without it.

Point is, you have to make your reader express emotion about the characters. If they don't feel attached with them, they don't care what happens to them.

PART IIII- DESCRIPTION & DETAILS

You must have excellent word choice in your story to describe a scene. Without it, the reader can't picture what is happening, what something looks like, etc. If, lets say, you put this in your book: 'He looked at the water' {bad example}
'He gazed at the azure ocean as it lapped against the shore' {good example}
Yet you don't want to do too many details--than it makes the sentence awkward. The perfect amount here and there is a good mix for your story. With consistent exceptional or horrible word choice, your story isn't going to sound as good if it doesn't have mixed word choice.

Over expressive description: 'He gazed at the alluring azure ocean as it lapped against the shoreline; his thoughts consuming him'

I suppose that it'd be okay in some circumstances, but if you think it's too much description, delete at least one of the descriptive words.
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Sat Dec 13, 2014 9:26 am
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steampowered says...



Thanks for the tips KatGirl! I never really thought much about in-depth characters until I starting reading Cassandra Clare's books either - now I've spent a full year working on the same set of story characters to completely "flesh them out." I get so emotionally attached to characters - I simply had to read to the end of Infernal Devices to find out the outcome, even though I was terrified of losing one of my favourites.
As for word choice, I completely agree. I find it really annoying when (published) authors overdescribe, or don't describe at all...
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