by Joe Bunting |
Pixar tells perfect stories. Teams of writers spend years writing them, rewriting them, and rewriting them again. They are perfectionists of story.
That’s why I was so excited when my friend Brandon Clements sent me this amazing list of storytelling rules from the writers at Pixar. I picked out this one that provides a simple, interesting story structure:
#4: Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.
Sounds like a good place to start!
by Joe Bunting |
Of the twenty best short stories in the 2011 Best American Short Stories, half of them involved a character dying.
Think about your favorites novels or films? How many of them involve a death?
Of the thirteen books nominated to the 2011 Booker Prize longlist, every single one involved the theme of death.
by Joe Bunting |
“In some ways suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice,” said Victor Frankl.
Every story requires pain and suffering. If the protagonist doesn’t experience pain, he won’t change. “Pain develops character. If you have a story where someone learns through joy, the audience won’t buy it,” said Donald Miller at his Storyline conference.
Joy is great. Your story should incorporate some joy. But the Great Teacher is pain.
by Andrea Cumbo |
Ted Gup gave me lots of great writing advice when I was in his creative nonfiction class in grad school. Write through to the end; don’t edit as you go. Don’t talk about what you’re writing because that steals the life from it. Be careful about parroting yourself.
But by far the best wisdom he ever shared with me was this, “Look for the story behind the story.”
by Joe Bunting |
A few years ago, the memoirist Donald Miller was approached to turn his book Blue Like Jazz into a movie. (Have you seen it yet, by the way? I heard it’s pretty good.) As he started to work with the producers to turn his book, which is essentially the story of his life, into a movie, he was surprised when they said they’d have to cut sections because it wasn’t interesting.
His life wasn’t interesting? His life wouldn’t make a good story?
by Guest Blogger |
Trying to start a short story or novel can be difficult, but providing a satisfying ending is just as hard, if not harder.
Recently, I submitted a flash fiction story hoping to get it published. Two days later, the editor replied telling me how much he liked how the story. Unfortunately, he said, the ending didn’t provide enough answers. “Make the end worthwhile”, he said in his last sentence, “and I’ll publish it.”
How many of you struggled in writing a satisfying end for your story? I know I did. After reading that email, I quickly edited my story. I revised and revised and created different versions on how the story ended. Eventually I came up with one that I found satisfying. This time, the story got accepted!
This experience taught me one thing: Writers have to finish strong.
