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- How To Develop A Story
How To Develop A Story
- By Deborah Owen
- Published December 8, 2008
- Improving Your Writing Skills & Marketing
Deborah Owen
Ms. Deb, as her students affectionately call her, is the CEO & Founder of Creative Writing Institute, and the former A-1 Writing Academy (now defunct).
"The A-1 Academy was a pilot program built within the virtual walls of a large writer's group," said Deborah. "In the first year we drew 600 students, but I wanted to reach the public. In another year Creative Writing Institute was created. It is a high-quality, low cost writing school with full-time mentors and small classes. Even distressed students and seniors can afford our prices."
Creative Writing Institute now partners with http://bookpleasures.com to bring the best and most up-to-date information available to creative writers everywhere. Check out the new school by Clicking Here.
Developing a story is very simple, but most
people go about it the wrong way. First develop the anti-climax (the
middle of the story). I will demonstrate by writing a new story,
right now, to show you the process. First I will develop the action
scene that the story will be built around. Then it will be easy to
identify the number of characters. The plot will develop naturally as
I go. Let’s see. I need something with high drama and tension.
*thinking
Okay, this story will be about two abused children, a sister, age 9, and her brother, age 5. The enraged stepfather is chasing them through a forest. The children run for their lives, stop for a short rest, and fall backwards into a tiny washed out place in the bank, just behind a tree.
The stepfather races through the forest, cursing and
calling their names. Gasping for air, he sits down and leans against
the tree, not three feet from where they are hiding. The children
hold their breath, fearing he will fall into their hiding place and
discover them. Lots of high tension and drama.
Now that I know the plot, it’s time to write the end of the story:
I ask myself who, what, when, where, why, and how.
That will resolve the story. Where will the children go? What will
happen to them next?
They run to a kind shoe cobbler in a strange village and pant out their story to him. The cobbler alerts the townspeople that a huge, fierce man is coming and that he intends to harm the children. The townspeople hold a hurried meeting and decide to snare the man in a trap. (Describe trap)
The man is caught and put on trial. The people are
merciless. In their eyes, there is no greater crime than abusing
children. In such cases, they feel that ridding the earth of such
vermin is commendable – and these are very commendable people. They
hang him. The children live with the shoe cobbler and his wife. The
End.
Notice that when I decided on the action, (the man chasing the children), the next step of conflict called for answers (resolutions). Now I have to ask myself where the children came from, and how they got in that predicament. Again, I answer the who, what, when, where, why and how.
I haven’t answered the question of where the mother
is yet. She could have run away from the abusive environment. Maybe
the step-father killed her. The lead can be anything. It is limited
only by your imagination.
By choosing the action scene first, and then the ending, I know I need two main characters (oldest child and step-father), and I know the length of the story before I write a word. It will have to be 2,000 words to work that much in.
This is called the DeBowen technique. Even if you’re familiar with story-writing, try it. It’s the newest, hottest thing on the market.