The Heart of Story- new blog series

Heart of Story: Introduction 

I'm going to be posting a series that I call, The Heart of Story, which examines the four elements that create a good story.  This is something I've been working on and actually planned on posting before the "Show, Don't Tell" thing but I think I was jumping ahead of the game. 

I'll expand on each, but the 4 elements that make up the Heart of Story are:

-Character
-Conflict
-Setting
-Resolution

These things all work together to create a story that keeps the reader's attention, makes the book as hard as possible to put down and always leaves them wanting more. 

This is all just a compilation of what I've learned in my studies of writing.  I've become quite the writing geek as I enjoy the topic of writing as much as the subjects that I write about.

This series will be very much open to discussion and debate.

The Heart of Story part I

No two people write the same, but there are some things about writing and storytelling that are universal.  Maybe you already understand all these things and just never really broke them down to their most basic parts before.  Maybe this is new to you.  I don’t think you can tell a good story without the elements we’re about to discuss.  Maybe you didn’t think of them in these terms but they are found in any good story.  If your story seems flat, maybe it’s because it’s lacking one of these key components.

There are four things that I consider the heart of story.  They are basic and easy to understand.

CHARACTER
CONFLICT
SETTING
RESOLUTION

Take interesting and flawed characters, torture them with agonizing conflicts that create tension and force them to change and do it in a believable but fascinating setting.  Tie everything together with a satisfying resolution and you have a great story.
   
Most writers will tell you that character and conflict (also called plot) are the most important aspects of storytelling.  I agree.  My process for story creation is somewhat backward from that belief.
   
I start with the setting/world in which the story takes place.  I get a feel for the atmosphere of this place, then I start to explore it in my mind.  I almost always do this while listening to music.  As I explore this world (world building), I discover who and/or what lives there.  What makes it special, unique, interesting?  Who are the people indigenous to this world?
   
Invariably, I’ll find one type of conflict here among races, classes, sexes, cultures, etc…  The people, conflicts and world all work together to define each other in my mind until this place becomes real to me.  When, or if, all of this develops enough to really excite me then I start to figure out whose story this is.  Who has the biggest or best story to tell?  Who is most affected by the conflicts or has the most to lose?  Who stands out in this world?
   
By the time I’ve answered all these questions and explored the world and its peoples, I usually have a pretty well defined story, or at least a place to start.  Sometimes I know 90% of the story at this point, including how it ends.  Other times I pick my starting point and let my characters tell me their story as I write it.  This is basically the outline vs. discovery argument and every writer is different.  I tend to blend both or switch back and forth.
     
Without fail, I always define the first three elements of the Heart of Story before I even start.  The fourth, Resolution, usually comes later but all the rest falls flat without it.  Look at all the greatest stories ever told and you will see these elements at work.  There are other things that make stories great, such as tension, mystery, romance, humor, etc… but they cannot carry a story without its heart.
   
The Iliad: two great nations at war, legendary heroes, great kings, the most beautiful woman to ever live, influence of the gods, major plot twist, tragedy…  This great story has so much to offer:

• Character 
• Achilles
• Hector
• Paris
• Menelaus
• Agamemnon
• Helen
• Odysseus. 
• Conflicts  
• man vs man
• Man vs. Time (nature)
• Man vs. Himself
• Man vs. Society
• Man vs. Supernatural
• Setting
• 
  The beautiful shores of the Aegean
  
• Troy and her insurmountable walls.
• The battle field 
• Resolution
• The death of Hector—greatest warrior unaided by the gods,
• The Trojan horse--the use of cunning and ingenuity to bring about the fall of a nation,
• The death of Achilles—the flaw in his invulnerability which gave rise to the saying “Achilles heel”.  
  
  

You will find the Heart in every story worth hearing.
 

Next post, I focus on Character.

Listening to:  My Chemical Romance- Welcome to the Black Parade  Love this band. The lyrics of this song and the video are very powerful.  My dad once laid it on me to be a hero to the weak and to be a better man than he, and it's quite a thing to ask of a boy.  But then again, his dad once asked him to kill him so, guess I'm doing okay.