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| To write a good Horror/Scary story, first write a good story. |
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Most of the work I have been doing for the Horror/Scary Newsletter has had to do with the elements of horror (duh!). Beginning with this issue, I’d like to get into something more basic: the elements of story.
I am a Storyteller, and am frequently called upon to do Storytelling sessions in our area. Because there seems to be such a large demand for this skill and such a short supply, I have been working with the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders in our local elementary school to try to teach them how to be Storytellers.
Since remembering the story is a large part of being able to tell the story, I have been focusing on that element this year. Beyond remembering, however, this is also a good way to structure a story to be written, so I am going to try to convey this information here, as well. My daughters always said “You’re a better Storyteller than you are a Storywriter, but I will try now to share my experiences in this area by putting the information down on paper, so to speak.
The first lesson I teach the children is in the beginning was the word. Not `words', but word. So it is in writing or telling a story. The first thing we need to write or tell a story is the core of the story, a one or two word synopisis of what we want to get across. ” Romeo and Juliet“: tragic love (ditto ”Titanic”, “Star Wars III” and a host of others) ”Old Yeller”, “Where the Red Fern Grows”, “Red Badge of Courage” etc.: coming of age. I know, there could be a lot of other breakdowns of these stories as well, but we’ll get to that later.
Now. Once we have decided what the seed of our story will be, we need a vehicle that will propel the story. This vehicle is genre.
When we look at genere, we come to realize there can be a number of genre within each story. This is demonstrated very clearly when we create an item here on Writing.com. The genre section to be filled out when we post our work offers three genres that can be used to describe the work. It is the author’s task, then, to decide which genre to emphasize and which to use as support channels.
Once the seed and the slant of the story have been set in our minds we need to define what is important in the story and which of the story elements will carry the central theme forward. Is it Character? Is it Setting? Is it Action? Is it all three?
In ”The Legend of Zorror”, for instance, the character and the setting are primarily immaterial to the plot and the story. Set in England during the Crusades rather than California after the withdrawal of the French, it could be the story of ”Robin Hood”. Set in the Southern States of the United States in the times of slavery it could be the story of Harriet Tubman. Set in India prior to the powerful Civil Rights/Separation movement it could be the story of Gandhi. Set in the United States during the Civil Rights movement it could be Dr. Martin Luther King.
What is common and necessary to all of those stories is the action: an individual working against a corrupt and/or unacceptable social system through means that are effective but unacceptable to the society involved in general and the system involved in particular.
A one word synopis of this? Change.
Recapping the information above, to write a good story we need to
1. Decide on the core of the story
2. Decide on the slant of the story, or genre
3. Decide which of the tools---character, action, or setting---we will use
a. Decide which of these tools is the primary tool
b. Decide which of the other tools, if any, will support the primary
c. Decide how all of these tools wil be used
Going on with some examples of how these tools fit together, if the action is the primary tool, what characters are needed to support/carry out this action? What setting(s) will define/facilitate the character and/or action?
If character is the primary tool, what actions define or motivate the character? What settings facilitate the definitions?
It isn't usual for a setting to be a primary tool, but it certainly can be. How do the character(s) then reflect the setting? How do the actions of these characters develop the setting?
These are only some examples of how these tools can be used. We will go into the uses individually in later Newsletters.
With all of the above elements fixed in our minds we need to further define what is important in these tools. In other words, the descriptions.
Does Zorro’s exact height matter? Does it matter whether Robin Hood had blue eyes or brown eyes? Does Harriet Tubman’s age matter? Does Ghandi’s ability in math matter? Does the color of Dr.King's suit matter? These things can be added to stretch out the story or to further develop the character, but they can be left out and not effect the story itself.
Zorro’s swordsmanship however, does matter. Robin Hood’s ability with various weapons matters. Harriet Tubman’s race very much matters. Ghandi’s social status and charisma matters, as does Dr. King's.
What matters and is necessary then, is whatever defines the character, action, or setting and supports them in their task of shaping the story to fit the genre.
And that's a wrap for this issue. In the next issue we will concentrate further on genere: why it is important, how to choose it, and how to work with it.
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Most of the time less is better. Here a few examples of how effective `less' can be when writing Horror.
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Horror/Scary: April 05, 2006 Issue [#960]
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