[-writing fiction -]

Are your stories missing the mark?
This article may help you to understand what isn’t there that needs to be.

by contributor, Russ Kremer

Many of the stories we read, including most of the good ones, follow a fairly simple formula, one that’s easy to learn — but difficult to master! We see it so often we don’t always recognize it, but many otherwise fine stories suffer by ignoring it. All we need to do is introduce a character with a goal, or some event that needs resolution. Then, build up the suspense to the climax, which is when the goal is met or avoided, or the event takes place or not. As simple as this is, executing it is another matter entirely.

The most frequently missed element is conflict. Ideally, the main character should be in conflict on every page, and the reader needs to feel it. This doesn’t mean we all have to write action thrillers. Romeo and Juliet, The Odyssey, To Kill a Mockingbird all use this formula. What they avoid - and what is common in early drafts - is passivity, characters waiting around not doing anything.

It’s almost impossible to get to the conflict too quickly.

I notice in my own writing that too often it takes me several unnecessary chapters, or in the case of a short story, paragraphs, to warm up and get to the point. The reader has nothing invested in the characters or the world I’m describing when she picks up my story, and the first thing I need to do is capture her interest. I spend far too long on set-up, and the backstory of someone the reader doesn’t care about yet is boring.

When I look over my first drafts I see long stretches where nothing happens. Oh, sure, I’m describing things, but most of them have nothing to do with the character’s journey, or with resolving the dilemma I should have introduced in the beginning. It should be easy to start off by saying Ann wants to move, that Bill wants to marry Sue, that a peaceful town is threatened with fire, then write the story where we follow along and see what happens. But it isn’t as easy as it seems.

If someone in your story has a secret, and she’s asked “What’s new?” there’s tension and conflict. Will she reveal her secret or won’t she? If she has no secret and is asked the same question, there’s little to engage the reader, nothing at stake. When there’s nothing at stake, nothing that depends on the outcome, the “What’s new?” question should be removed. Nothing is answered, nothing is revealed, nothing is added.

Writers love words, descriptions, their characters. Readers have no such immediate reactions, but they want them. They want to love or hate your characters, but they need a reason. They want to see them in action, doing things, making decisions, taking the initiative. It is not always enjoyable to read about someone waiting for something to happen, for something to respond to. Sure, that’s a big part of life, but it rarely translates to a good story.

Just as bad, is when the conflict is introduced, but then ignored. We did not hear anything about Juliet’s shopping excursions before her dates with Romeo (although I’d imagine she and he both were concerned about their appearance). It may have been interesting, may have contained some great descriptions, but it wouldn’t have added anything necessary to the story. It would not have advanced the plot, and that’s another common error. If a scene can be removed without having to re-write huge chunks of the story, it isn’t necessary.

Readers are being asked to spend their precious spare time in the world we’ve created. If dawdle along, refusing to get to and stick to the point, they’ll spend their time elsewhere. If, however, the beginning is gripping, the characters are growing, the plot is advancing, they just might keep reading to see what happens next or even, how the conflict is finally resolved.

© 2005 - 2007 Russ Kremer all rights reserved

Check out another of Russ’s writing articles, Necessary Things.

About the author: Russ lives and writes in LA. He has had several works of short fiction and non-fiction published. He is a yearly participant and winner of NaNoWriMo where he’s well-known by newbies as a guy who knows a lot about writing. He began the “older, but not the official, NaNoEdMo website” - a group for all year ’round editing support, writerly exchanges and feedback which can be found at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nanoedmo/. His website: half-dozen.net. His blog: crenallated flotsam

Originally published in the July 2005 issue of The Practically Creative Quarterly, theme: space and spaces