- Home
- Improving Your Writing Skills & Marketing
- Creative Writers Weave Themes, Arcs, And Resolutions
Creative Writers Weave Themes, Arcs, And Resolutions
- By Deborah Owen
- Published January 6, 2009
- 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.
Creative writing calls for all the talent you can muster If you don't have very much talent, that's just dandy
Creative writing calls for all the
talent you can muster. If you don't have very much talent, that's
just dandy. No one will notice it for a while anyway. Meanwhile, just
lope along with the herd and fake it. And while you're at it, think
up a good story theme. What is a theme? It is what the story is
about, generally speaking.
The climactic scene in the center
is called the plot. Gone With the Wind is a love story from cover to
cover. Moby Dick is a tale of revenge. Pinnocchio is a story of
morals. The Ten Commandments is about righteousness and judgment.
What will your story be about?
Whatever your theme is, every
sentence in the story should point to it somehow. If it is imagery or
scenery, the intent should be to weave it into the theme. For
example, if you are writing a romance story and your opening scene is
filled with snow and Christmas lights, it should be building up to
something that connects with the theme. It should be introducing a
character, or a situation that will tie into the story. If it has no
purpose in the story, delete it.
Everything points to the
theme, and all of it builds to the center plot that will be unfolded
in one huge climactic scene. Everything that the characters say
should be necessary to the story. Yes, some of the dialog may
seemingly relate to something else, but in the scheme of things,
every word must be part of the gluten that glues the whole story
together.
Using the romance theme mentioned a moment ago,
let's suppose you have a scene where two neighbors are gossiping over
the back fence. How could the gossiping scene relate to the romance
theme?
· It could be introducing a new character
·
It could be building the characterization of an existing personality
· It could be shifting the scene to a closer part of the
theme
· It could be the first reference to a new piece of
the puzzle.
One piece of the puzzle builds on the other until
all the pieces mesh together to form the intended picture. A writer
is an artist painting words on a canvas, just waiting for someone to
open the cover and see the picture waiting for them. As with all
paintings, develop it slowly and meticulously.
As you weave
the theme, you will see natural questions emerging, and they must be
answered. These questions are like little roads that lead to an
unnamed destination. The plot builds on these roads until it finally
bursts into the central climax. This process is called arcing. The
first part of the story is "flat", the middle of the story
arcs, and the last part of the story resolves to a "flat"
stage once again.
It resolves with answers to all the
questions that have been raised. The end of the theme ties up all the
loose ends until you have a nice, neat package with nothing left
undone.