Category Archives: My writing journey
Time to rock the summer…
So, this is really sort of an update to what’s been going on, where my writing career might be leading, and what you can expect from me this summer…since I’ve been Mr. Bad-blogger and not posting very often or very personal.
At the end of may I finally finished a four year journey to complete a Master’s degree in Theology. I’m not quite done yet, though. With so many electives and leveling classes, I came up just twelve credit hours short of a full double-master’s. So I’ll soon be picking up those last classes (part-time per my wife’s orders) to finish up a Master’s degree in Biblical Studies. After that…maybe PhD. I haven’d decided yet. Still praying about that one. Meanwhile, I’m still settling in to my new role as a full-time pastor. We have a fledgling website, which I’ll soon be building to awesomeness here – http://mageescreek.org. The FB page is a little better maintained at http://facebook.com/mageescreek.
What about the writing? There’s so much going on, things I want to do, that it’s hard to know where to begin working, much less know where to start telling you.
Story Building Mastery 11 – Advanced Complexities
Advanced Complexities
So, you’ve made it this far, huh? You’ve taken all the basics of story building (The Tri-Core Substructure, the Five Act Structure, Genre, Genotype, Character Development), you’ve carefully designed your story (Five Stage Plot, The Hero’s Journey, Micro Stories, Episodic Reduction), but that’s not enough for you. You want some tricks and tools to make your story unique…to make it stand out. Most importantly, you don’t really want your reader to figure out what you’re up to. You want to grab the reader by the nose, lead them through your complex, masterful, story weaving, and deliver a climax that will leave them breathless. You want your story to be unforgettable.
Welcome to the club.
Here are a few common tricks and tools you can use to twist your story exactly the way you want. You’ve probably thought of a few of these things, but for the best effect you should make sure they are implemented properly. Each item has some peculiarities you should remember, otherwise your efforts may fall flat or go unnoticed by the reader.
Story Building Mastery 10 – Episodic Reduction
Episodic Reduction
If you read the previous article on Micro Stories, then grasping the concept of Episodic Reduction should be very simple. It also helps to remember the Five Stage Plot, though not necessarily required.
What is Episodic Reduction? It is the reduction of the overall plot into self-contained episodes. Each episode becomes essentially a micro story, exhibiting the various sections of story development common to an entire story. In other words, each episode has exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement, per the Five Act Structure. But, the resolution of each episode should lead directly into the next episode. Episodes should build on each other and often reflect the Five Stage Plot that I mentioned above. Yet at the same time, each episode builds upon the overarching plot.
Let’s outline this a bit to better explain, using the Five Stage Plot as a template.
Stop telling me to compromise on my dream!
**WARNING** The following blog is a vent session. If you’re allergic to venting or have the propensity to consider any public vent session as “whining,” then please do not read. I don’t want to hear you whining about my venting. Thank you.
Being an author is a fickle ambition. It is full of ups and downs…mostly downs, because it’s never exactly what one might expect after breaking the glass-ceiling of publication. And every time I get a glimpse at just how hopeless the career seems, it never fails that people come out of the wood-work to tell me to “remember why I started writing” or “remember who I’m writing for” or “it’s not about being successful, it’s about doing what God tells you to do.”
For those who have told me that at one point or another, allow me to respond in this way: Stop telling me to compromise on my dream!
And you shouldn’t compromise either.
Story Building Mastery 9 – Micro Stories
Micro Stories
What is a micro story? It’s a story within the story. This is more common with epics than it is with smaller, self-contained stories, but can still be used effectively when done right. The first and most important point in considering putting this into your story, is that micro stories must always work for the greater story. That is why this is so high up on the complexity list, because the foundational story must be firmly established. Each micro story should reflect or add to the foundational story, otherwise it just becomes a spin-off (self-contained unrelated stories grown out of the original). You don’t want spin-off stories, because they detract and distract from the point of the foundational story. Let micro stories work together to create a weaved tale with one common end goal.
There are two major types of micro stories. POV stories and story-arcs. Some writers may equivicate the two into one definition, preferring to call them all “story-arcs.” But I think there’s an important distinction to be made.
