Writing Help

I love story telling and narrative. In fact, my username, Erzähler, means story teller in German. Thus, this page is a resource for others on this Site to tell stories more efficiently.

the Throughline

The first most important writing advice I have possibly ever received is always, always, always include the throughline, otherwise you'll become disinterested in the story, or it will end up being forgettable.
A through line is the message you want to tell. The point for the story. Why are you writing this story? The ultimate goal for a writer is to have a reader finish your story and now they look at the world in a new way. It doesn't have to be grandiose, it just has to mean something. This will propel both you through writing it and your reader through reading it.

Plot

Firstly, six basic broad questions to ask yourself about the story, then followed by nine more in-depth questions which will better help to shape your basic plot structure.

First 6 Questions

1#: Who is it about?
2#:What do they want?
3#: Why can't they get it?
4#: What do they do about that?
5#: Why doesn't that work?
6#: How does it end?
These first 6 questions give you a basic plot structure, while these next 9 help you come up with the story itself.

These Next 9 Questions

1#: Write a story about something that's happened to you
This doesn't mean only write about the (most likely) boring occurrences and happenings of your day to day life. Rather, it means pull from experience and then exaggerate or change some aspect(s) of the story to fit what you want to write about.
2#: Write that story from a different point of view
Exactly what I just described. I jumped the gun a bit there.
3#: Create a Ticking Clock
This means to create a limited time for the character or characters to get what they want, because if they had infinite time, then by the law of probability, they would achieve their goal eventually.
4#: Create props or objects
5#: Create a transitional situation
Classically characterized as "And then one day…". Also known as the Inciting Incident. The occurrence that puts your character(s) on the path of the story.
6#: Add a World Event
7#: Add Binary Forces
Create opposition and opposites for things, namely the Characters.
8#: Freytag's Pyramid
Located later in this article, Freytag's Pyramid is a writing structure template, similar to the 3-act structure, though more commonly used for tragedies.
9#: Experiment
And finally, this simply means to throw everything that was said, really in this entire article, out and try something new. Now, it won't always be good. Many times it won't be, but you'll learn what works and what doesn't. Mainly, this is to say " don't limit yourself by these rules".

Character

Standard character format. Basic questions you need to answer and utilize for the characters. Remember, every character should have something to bounce off of, agree on, or some clear point of contemption between your characters. This is especially important for comedy, though is the building blocks of character design for any genre.

1#: What does this character want?
Think less in terms of concrete plot outcomes and more in a general sense of what motivates them. And if they already have what they want, how do they hold onto it?

2#: What is this Character's defining strength?
What is your character good at?

3#: What is Character's defining weakness or flaw?
What keeps them from getting what they want or obstructing them from keeping what they already have?

4#: What is their quirks?
Little irrational weirdnesses that make them human. And make sure they suffer consequences for these weird things. Or perhaps it might make an unlikely friend. For example, in the prequel star wars movies, Anakin is a weird antisocial boy who thinks he's poetic. In reality this is probably just bad acting, but it could have still worked. The issue is that no one ever addresses this and thus Anakin suffers no consequences.

Additional questions to consider are,

What's the maximum amount of time your character can sit still with nothing to do?
How easy is it for your character to laugh?
How do they put themselves to bed at night (reading, singing, thinking)?
How easy is it to earn their trust?
Do they consider laws flexible or immovable?
What triggers nostalgia most often for them? Do they like that feeling?
What were they told to stop/quit most often as a child?
Do they swear? Do they remember their first swear word?
How do they cope with confusion (seek clarification, pretend the know, become angry, etc)?

I love story telling and narrative. In fact, my username, Erzähler, means story teller in German. Thus, this page is a resource for others on this Site to tell stories more efficiently.
Starting with the 3 Act Structure.