How to write a gripping story?
In 1813, an unmarried woman wrote a novel with the theme of love. For more than two hundred years, it has not only become one of the most popular and insightful marriage and love stories in history. The original book and film and television adaptations have been talked about by readers and audiences. Contemporary writers have also been enthusiastic about imitating this story and creating novels. Never fade. It is Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.
What are the characteristics of such a classic? How are they created? The high-energy writing class of the Perfect Plot Training Camp "How to Write a "Catching" Story" elaborates on the three parts of plot, structure and rhythm, and uses the well-known "Game of Thrones" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" as examples. Scene interpretation reveals the secrets to creating great stories.
The author Paula Mounier is a writer and journalist. Member of the board of directors of the American Mystery Writers Association, and served four terms as president of the New England Chapter of the American Mystery Writers Association. He is good at creating mystery thrillers, science fiction, romance and other types of literary works.
The themes of romance novels are true love, soul mates, and heartbreak; crime novels explore the nature of good and evil; science fiction novels explore the relationship between people and technology... In short, the theme is what the story is about. , what is it about.
A wonderful story is like a symphony, building an unforgettable story through theme variations and rich subplots. Use the bubble chart method to brainstorm and find variations on the theme. Write the word "love" broadly in the big bubble in the center of the chart, and then write the different aspects of love related to love, such as positive and negative, old and new types, into the new bubbles.
The storyline of the famous book "Pride and Prejudice" involves all the love-related themes mentioned above. Lydia and Collins' love affair; Caroline Bingley often made fun of the Bennet family in front of Darcy out of jealousy; Darcy and Bingley's brotherhood, which also affected their relationship with Jane and Elizabeth's emotional direction; Mrs. Bennet's unabashed aristocracy out of maternal love often has the opposite effect on the emotional development of her daughters; Jane's reserve is regarded as cold by Darcy and Caroline Bingley, and Dissuade Mr. Bingley from entering into marriage with her; George Wickham, the son of the Darcy family's steward, committed many bad behaviors due to self-loathing...
Austen's works are like exquisite tapestry, rich in characters. , the plot focuses on the choice of love and marriage, describing the good, evil, beauty and ugliness of human nature, and has become a timeless classic.
Paula said that the best stories plant questions in the reader’s brain and drive them to read until you come up with an answer.
There are three basic types of story questions: overarching questions, which are the questions that drive the main plot; big story questions, which are embedded in every subplot and major scene; and small story questions, which are introduced by each small scene. question.
The author takes "Star Wars" as an example to analyze the story problems in each key plot point.
The story questions are not all about life and death decisions, but they all deeply affect the readers' hearts, and they are unconsciously immersed in the concern of "what will happen next" until the end of the story.
Attractive stories always come and go, with a moderate sense of urgency and rhythm giving readers the motivation to keep turning the pages. Chapter 10 of the book introduces tools for working with rhythm.
1. Reasonable selection of perspective
Perspective can be an effective way to create suspense and is the key to rhythm. There are two main ways to use perspective to keep readers reading: One is a unique perspective. For example, Yu Hua's "The Seventh Day" looks at the world from the perspective of the deceased protagonist.
The other is multiple perspectives. Often used in mystery and thriller novels, this technique lets you know what the villain is doing while the protagonist remains in the dark. This information creates anticipation and anxiety for the protagonist. For example, in "The Silence of the Lambs", the author switches perspectives between FBI agents, serial killers and abductees.
2. Put pressure on the protagonist
A story that attracts people to keep reading requires the protagonist to become an active character. To heat up the story, you can put pressure on the protagonist from the following aspects:
Put pressure on love or sexual relationships;
Put pressure on emotions, keeping the protagonist on an emotional roller coaster;
Let the protagonist fall into confusion ;
Take away what the protagonist needs physically, emotionally, and even spiritually
Place the protagonist in danger. The more dangerous the protagonist is, the more thrilling the reader's journey will be.
3. Escalate conflicts and diversify the types of conflicts
Conflict is the source of drama. There are seven main types of conflicts in the story: people and people, people and nature, people and themselves, people and society, people and technology, people and destiny, and people and the supernatural. The story is well-paced and fully explores and utilizes conflict.
There are two main techniques for escalating conflicts: one is to make the protagonist’s opponent more vicious, smarter, and more difficult to deal with. Another is to add characters who do unexpected things.
4. Use reversal
Reversals that are reasonable and unexpected are always amazing. Such as "Gone Girl".
5. Countdown
To speed up the pace, you can add time elements to the story line, that is, set a countdown for the protagonist to complete the goal. If it cannot be completed within a specific time, there will be terrible consequences event occurs. Such as "Cinderella".
It is worth mentioning that each chapter of the book is accompanied by a "writer's reading list" and "creative practice", which provides effective guidance for story writers who are interested in improving their creative skills.
Novelist James Scott Bell said: The primary meaning of stories is emotional experience. The novel is meant to provide an emotional thrill ride. The creative "techniques" in "How to Write a "Catching" Story" are not only high-performance writing courses for professionals, but also help novel lovers get more pleasure from reading.