Hey there! We’re so happy to have you here on Living The Blogging Life and look forward to making blogging easier and fun for everyone! It’s D here and today I’m going to be talking about how you can make your stories seem more structured and captivating!
A disclaimer as usual, I am not a professional writer. The ideas mentioned below are purely my take on story writing and those that I love seeing in stories! With that said, let’s get on with it now!
#1 Figures of Speech
Paying close attention to the figures of speech can prove to be a gem in the long run! Common figures of speech include irony, adjectives, metaphors, alliteration, simile and even pun etc. Famous stories are not successful only because of their genre, plot or storyline. A lot of that fame lies in the execution of the story, use of language and presentation. And using a wide array of figures of speech can give your written work a polished air and professional sound, not to mention the structurally sound execution.
#2 Imagery
I mentioned this in the first part as Show more, Say Less. Imagery is of the utmost importance in storytelling. Showing your reader exactly what’s happening rather than just telling them can keep them captivated and wanting to read more. Rich imagery is often brought about by brilliant and well chosen adjectives and a keen attention to detail which requires imagination to an extent.
#3 Structure
Quoting Wikipedia, “Narrative structure is about story and plot: the content of a story and the form used to tell the story. Story refers to the dramatic action as it might be described in chronological order. Plot refers to how the story is told. Story is about trying to determine the key conflicts, main characters, setting and events. Plot is about how, and at what stages, the key conflicts are set up and resolved”. Narratives are of various kinds which you can read more about here.
An unsteady structure or uncertain foundations can make a story sound poor and boring. A sound structure includes a solid introduction to the events, a body revolving around them and a conclusion either bringing them together or dispersing them further providing a setting for a potential sequel.
A good story always includes a dramatic event or a sense of drama. Exaggeration and being dramatic are very different and they often appear to be confused together. Exaggeration is presenting a rather regular event in a highly unbelievable manner while dramatic is making everything seem more theatrical with the use of words and tones.
#4 Drama
Multiple Povs (Point of views) are not a requisite of storytelling and they’re not found in a lot of books. Telling a story from multiple perspectives is tricky but done well, it can also make the book almost close to perfection. Multiple perspectives give the reader a rich and comprehensive idea of what is happening and makes for a thrilling read as the reader is now required to analyse the book’s events from multiple perspectives. Some say you know a book is wonderful when you love the villain as much as the hero. Multiple povs add that sweet element of confusion that keeps the reader questioning everything. A few books that portray this flawlessly is Dracula by Bram Stoker, most of Dan Brown’s books and a few Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan seem to do it well.
#5 Character Growth
Another major aspect of storytelling is a well defined character and their gradual growth throughout the story. Bringing your character to the same position they were at the beginning as conclusion is not a very good way to end a story. Make sure your characters have learned something, have seen eye opening incidents and have experienced unique events. Give them physical, mental and even spiritual growths, make sure their core remains the same but at the end of the story, they’ve grown a lot from when they started.
And that was all for this post! Check out the Art Of Writing #1 here!
Are you a storywriter? What techniques do you use to write effective and well structured stories? Thank you so much for reading!
D is a teen blogger @ Random Specific Thoughts who loves reading, drawing and anything Science. She adores poetry and enjoys writing essays and creative non-fiction as well!
Living the Blogging Life 
I took a class on writing fiction at UJ (more on that later in my blog, it was in the spring of 1998). It was the first time I had to share my writing with people who didn’t know me and didn’t have the same world view as me, and let’s just say it was eye-opening… but good, in the long run. I learned a lot from that class, even though it had nothing to do with my mathematics degree.
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That sounds like an interesting topic for a class. Looking forward to reading about your experience!
I agree. Sharing one’s work with people they don’t know can be terrifying at first. But as you said, it does end up useful in the long run as we recieve critiques from all perspectives. It’s cool you have a degree in Mathematics!!
Thank you for taking the time to read and share your experience!
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This was a small class, maybe 20-25 students. The first few weeks, we had a lot of small writing exercises to focus on various aspects, like plot, setting, characters, and such. Then we had to write an actual short story and make a copy for everyone in the class; we read a few stories for each class session and critiqued them with the author listening. (After that, we had a second story that we shared with just a small group, and then at the end of the class we had to revise our first story, but we didn’t share it again.)
It didn’t feel terrifying at first. I was excited to share my writing with the class. But as I heard people’s critiques and read the comments they wrote on my story, it became clear that key parts of what I wrote were misinterpreted and misunderstood by the people in the class who did not know me and did not come from my kind of background.
An interesting side note: there was one guy in that class who I knew from JCF, and he understood me better than most. In his comments, he mentioned that he really liked one of the characters (I think her name in the story was Allison), and that he would probably want to be friends with someone like Allison. At the time, he did not know my friend whom Allison was based on, but the following school year that girl and this guy’s roommate started dating, and I believe they ended up married. I don’t know if he ever knew that she was the real-life Allison.
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That sounds like quite a structured curriculum. I’m glad you didn’t find it terrifying like I did (for blogging). I suppose the experience varies from person to person!
Yes, that happens quite a lot, even with quotes too. As readers, we tend to use our own interpretation rather than considering what the author wanted to focus on. But I agree that having a little knowledge of the writer’s background would definitely add another dimension while reading their work.
Wow, that’s indeed interesting!
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I still have the story somewhere on this computer; I will post it in its entirety when I get to that part of my story. It’ll probably be a few years off, though.
Sometimes I wonder that same kind of thing for my blog itself. Do other people see my stories the same way I see them? Am I completely missing the point of my own memories?
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That’s great to know! Can’t wait to read it! A few years does sound a long wait though 😂
From what I’ve read, it comes across as a journal of sorts where you explain your life in those times chronologically. I find it interesting to read stories such as those because that’s the only way I can get to know how life was in those days. I’m afraid I can’t answer that last question. Like Maggie said in one of her posts, maybe reading your posts from a reader’s perspective might help you in figuring that out.
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Yes, pretty much… that’s what I’m going for, a middle-aged Gen-Xer telling stories about his university years. When I first started the blog two years ago, I thought it would mostly be funny stories, but I realized quickly that the memories I have of those times and my writing style lend themselves more to coming-of-age stories. And as you said, I’m trying to depict accurately what life was like during those times (which is not too much of a stretch for me, since my blog is mostly based on true stories). That is why I go into detail about things like how different the Internet was back when it was first becoming mainstream and the TV and music of that time period (which is why I include a song with each post – mostly just to set the mood, but there was one episode where the song was blatant foreshadowing, I don’t know if anyone ever caught that). I’m glad my stories help you picture life in my time. 🙂
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Wondeful tips D! I’m trying to perfect my blogging voice, so my biggest thing is trying to sound personal.
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Thank you, Diamond! Yes, it feels a little weird at first 😂 but I think you’re doing a wonderful job at Build A Bears!!👏✨
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This was very detailed and helpful as well!! 😍I have to write some short novella type books as assignments, so this is def going to be great help!😊 Thank you so much D!!❤
Love, Amy
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I’m so happy you found it helpful!! That sounds exciting! My pleasure, Amy! Thank you for taking the time to read!❤️
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