Writing Elements Mix – Is There a Right Balance?

By Karen Cioffi

Writing can be thought of as a recipe, a handful of plot, a quarter cup of setting, a third to a half cup of dialogue, and a half cup of action and forward movement. Then you also need to add just the right amount of theme, character, and style. Stir it all together and bake for several months (might be longer, depending on your oven), and that’s it.

Ah, if it were only that simple.

Today, there are a number of rules to writing that didn’t plague writers years ago when the world was slower and people actually had time to sit and read at a leisurely pace. Writers had the luxury of setting scenes in detail and didn’t have to worry about ‘telling’ too much.

Now, publishers want your story to begin with a BAM. Grab the reader right away, or you’ll lose her. And, it’s important that setting and telling are limited. In addition, don’t forget to magically weave backstory for your characters seamlessly into the mix.

So, what is the right balance of writing elements that will create a successful story?

Well, there really isn’t a pat formula. Each story will call for its own particular amounts of elements, and each publisher will have her own set of rules that the author must adhere to. But there are certain basics that all stories must contain.

The five basic elements of a story are:

Plot: The arrangement of circumstances and/or events in the story, including conflicts and resolution.

Character: Without the main character and supporting characters the plot is useless. It is the character’s struggle to overcome the conflicts or obstacles in his path that gives the plot life.

Setting: This element includes the physical backdrop of the story, the time period and location.

Atmosphere or Tone: The mood, including the setting, characters and their clothing, weather, and other elements within the story, determines the tone of the story.

Style: The author’s way of expressing herself is the style. Sentence structure, diction, choice of words, point of view, imagery, and symbols are all means of conveying a story that is unique to the author.

In regard to the amounts or balance of each element, the objective is to create a story that continually moves forward toward a satisfying conclusion while holding the reader’s attention.

You can have a plot driven story or a character driven story. You can also have a story with a lot of dialogue, but you need to be sure the story is focused, coherent, and engaging.

Often, as you self-edit you won’t be able to see if the elements are just right, You should have your manuscript critiqued and have an editor take a look at it to see if you’re on the mark. And, then after all that, it will be up to the acquistion editor to give the final say on whether you have just the right balance of writing elements for a successful story.

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning author, ghost-writer, and online platform instructor with WOW! Women on Writing. For must-know writing and marketing tips, get free access to The Writing World.

Reprinted from 2012.

Your BIG idea

by Suzanne Cordatos

www.suzannecordatos.blogspot.com

Move over, Katniss. Step aside, Harry Potter. I’ve got an idea for the next great series complete with beloved characters and breath-holding action sure to spawn a trilogy of movies and scads of marketing paraphernalia—or do I? Is my idea BIG enough?

Many writers make New Years' resolutions to write more, so an efficient use of one's time would be to analyze an idea thoughtfully before committing months (and years) to writing it out in the first place. Here’s how to tell if an idea is series-worthy:

Passion for the Project

First and foremost, how passionate are you? A series of books takes a steady commitment of time and energy. At a conference, a series writer once expressed the fond desire to put her cast of characters on an island and blow it up; she was tired of writing the same characters, over and over!

Cast of Characters

Are your characters multi-dimensional? Is Villain purely bad—or have you given Villain a believable back story to explore the genesis of their evil actions? Is Hero reluctant at first? Have you given Hero the space and means in which to grow into the role? Have you populated your cast with interesting characters to interact with Hero and Villain in a variety of settings/plots?

Setting

Is your idea conducive to world-building? Where do your characters live and work? What do they eat? What do they do for fun? What animals/creatures exist in this world? Both fantasy and realistic stories require world-building for a believable backdrop that gives elbow room for Hero and Villain to explore.

Brainstorm 

Brainstorm story ideas quickly. Make a list. Include silly, random ideas:

•   Hero and Villain butt heads on a mountaintop, skiing Bond-style in a chase that has a steamy, wet end in a ski lodge Jacuzzi.
• Villain sneaks behind Hero onto a rocket headed for the international space station which must be diverted from an impending disaster before oxygen runs out. 
• Hero discovers his love interest is related to Villain in an unexpected way, complicating what Hero thought would make an easy demise for Villain.
• Villain finds and destroys the object Hero seeks.

Does your list stop cold? Could you go on and on? With a small list—or with a story focused more on a relationship between a limited cast—perhaps the idea is best served by a short story or novella. If your story ideas seem boundless at the brainstorm stage, perhaps you have the kernel of a good series.

How do you determine what form a new idea should take? Novel? Short story? Article? Series? 

Emotions Are Universal

Emotions Are Universal by Joan Y. Edwards

Put emotions in your story. It makes your characters come alive. One way to make your story have universal appeal is to add the tension of opposing emotions inside your character. We all feel mixed emotions every day. Should we do this? We shouldn’t do that. It’s smart to do this. How could I be so stupid? How could he be so naive? What’s the wisest choice? Do I get a choice? When a character has two or three choices and none of them seem very good, it adds tension. It makes the reader want to turn the page.

You ask me, “What are the main emotions?” Here are three lists of emotions:

Paul Ekman’s Big Six Emotions
Anger
Disgust
Fear
Happiness
Sadness
Surprise

Ekman’s Eleven Other Basic Emotions
Amusement
Contempt
Contentment
Embarrassment
Excitement
Guilt
Pride in achievement
Relief
Satisfaction
Sensory pleasure
Shame

Robert Plutchik's Two Added Emotions (Wikipedia)
Acceptance
Anticipation

Nine Emotions of The Sedona Method by Hale Dwoskin
Acceptance
Anger
Apathy
Courageousness
Fear
Grief
Lust
Peace
Pride

All people experience emotions. Put believable emotions into your story. It will help your story reach out and hook more readers. You want your readers emotionally involved with the characters in the story. If they are emotionally involved, they’ll want to find out what happens to them.

Read this sentence: Jake was disgusted.

You might say the writer put the emotion into the sentence. The word, “disgusted,” is there, but we don’t feel the emotion. Add action, setting, and description of face and body to make the emotion come alive.

Below is dialogue I made up right here on the spot, just for you. See if it showed emotions through the dialogue, action, setting, and description of face and body.

Jake thought as he looked at the men pawing the waitress. “How can they do that?” His heart pounded inside his chest. He remembered his sister talking to him about the man who raped her. She said, “No one tried to stop him.”

Jake immediately left the bar stool. He stood in front of Preston Richards. “Take your two men and leave. Don’t ever come back.”

“You and whose army is going to make me leave,” Preston said as he blew smoke from his cigar into Jake’s face.

Jake’s three bouncers approached. They were six foot five and weighed 300 pounds. Their muscles were larger than Preston’s whole face.

Preston said, “Okay. We’re leaving. But, we’ll be back to get her later. You can count on it.”

Did I show any emotions without actually using the words for the emotions? I think I did. I hope you think I did, too.

If you find you’re using the word for the emotion: he was sad, she was angry, etc. It’s time for a rewrite. What you wrote isn’t wrong. It’s just not complete. It is a hint that you need to show the emotion with other words, similar to what you would do with your body if you were playing charades. You can’t use words in charades, but you can use your body and nearby props. Do that with your writing.

Use the search and find in your word-processing program. Find any plain emotion words and replace them with appropriate action, setting, dialogue, and description.

Keep a journal observing yourself or other people experiencing six emotions from the lists above. As an experiment, put down each emotion and write down visible signs or invisible signs (what’s going on inside the body) of this emotion. Keep this close to your computer so that when you are writing your next scene, you can use these ideas as spring boards to heighten the showing part of your writing.

Here are website links with information about emotions:

1. Swati Chopra Ancient Indian Emotions Nine States of Emotional Empowerment
2. Robert Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotions

3. Great gives text descriptions of body when feeling 6 basic emotions
4. Pamela Berry. Clip Art Guide Great pictures matched with emotions – Free to look, pay to use on websites and in print.

5. Feeling Faces Cards.com and icons
6. Emotion puts expression on faces on Face and Emotion.com
7. Words Describing Feelings on Eqi.org
8. Words Describing Common Negative Feelings on Eqi.org
9. Aristotle’s and Robert Plutchik’s List of Emotions from Wikipedia

Thanks for reading this blog post. Good luck with your writing.

Never Give Up

Joan Y. Edwards

Joan’s Elder Care Guide 4RV Publishing Release Date: June 2015

Website http://www.joanyedwards.com

Blog http://www.joanyedwards.wordpress.com