How To Write A Story That Works

Tags

Comedy, how to write, novel writing, romantic comedy, screenwriting, storytelling, TV writing, Writing, writing comedy, writing community, writing tips

Hello Writers, today I’m talking about writing a story that keeps the reader or audience invested, and evokes something to talk about after.

This is important. Many stories are just “meh” and they should have worked but didn’t.
I never want to cut any writers, cast, crew, directors, authors, publishers, or anyone who is working in a creative field down so please know that everything I write about I am only doing so to give you examples of things that didn’t work–and let’s be honest, everyone who worked on these projects knows that they didn’t go the way it was planned–box office & sales is usually a big indicator-not always because some great stories are never huge successes but you know what I mean. Stories that should have worked but didn’t.
ALEX & EMMA – rom-com film from 2003. About a writer who needs to finish a novel in 30 days or he’ll be murdered by loan sharks. The reason it didn’t work was both in the plot and the characters.
THE LOVE PUNCH – rom-com film from 2013. A divorced couple schemes to get back money that was stolen from them. The reason it didn’t work was really in the plotting and how everything just worked out for them, as well as many unbelievable things that happened.
JOEY – comedy television show spin-off of FRIENDS. Joey Tribbiani moves to Los Angeles from New York to pursue his acting career. Why it didn’t work? So many reasons, but the big one is that there was too much of the “wouldn’t it be funny if” and not enough character development and or reasons for anything.
PAN AM – drama television show. This show relied too heavily on nostalgia and not enough on character & plot. It could have been great but fell super flat.

Stories that WORKED and why

WHEN HARRY MET SALLY – rom-com film 1998. Two friends who are complete opposites can’t see what is right in front of them and continue to make mistakes with romantic relationships. Complete opposites who don’t even like each other at the beginning-but every single thing they say is there for a reason. The plot and story arcs progress in a natural manner and everything that happens moves the story forward. Everything, even the famous scene where she pretends to have an orgasm in the diner, that shows who she is, and also that Harry is often wrong about his assumptions about women. When they get together it messes up their friendship which shows us that they really love each other even if they won’t admit it. It’s real and nothing that happens is based on “wouldn’t it be funny if”.
IT’S COMPLICATED – rom-com film 2009 by Nancy Meyers. A divorced couple launch into an affair after their son’s graduation. I don’t know why this doesn’t have a higher score on IMDB because it’s completely brilliant. Here is a story about a couple who already know each other and have been divorced for some time, he is remarried to a younger woman and yet they have an affair. Why it works is because of character. Everything that is done is true to who they are as people. She wants her life back, or so she thinks, and he is having a later than a mid-life crisis with his new young wife wanting to have a baby. He wants to feel normal and she wants to feel desired so they fall back into bed, and comedy happens naturally. The plot also unfolds in a natural progression and there are some very funny scenes that move the story forward.
FRASIER – comedy television show-spin-off of CHEERS. 1993 Frasier moves back to Seattle to start his life over and ends up living with his father. This show works on every level and for a spin-off, it’s quite brilliant. We already knew Frasier but we didn’t know Marty (his father) or Niles (his brother). They could have failed so hard with this one by just having the same Frasier we met at the bar in Boston. High & mighty snob commenting on how everyone is below him, but that would have been boring so the writers introduced us into Frasier’s world with a father who is everything that Frasier thinks he is above. Marty is uncouth, blue-collar, beer drinking, rather watch a game at McGinty’s Pub & eat burgers that cost under $10 whereas Frasier & Niles wouldn’t be caught dead doing anything blue-collar or setting foot in a pub. The comedy writes itself. Every episode is riddled with juxtaposition in the characters. They never do anything just to be funny. Everything they do in every scene is to reach their own goals but their character is what makes it so funny. The show is also rounded out with Frasier’s job as a radio psychologist where Niles has his own practice. The secondary characters of Roz and Daphne bring even more layers into Frasier’s world. We also never meet Nile’s wife but his actions and dialogue make it clear who she is and it’s naturally funny.
DOWNTON ABBEY – drama television series 2010. A chronicle of the lives of the British aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the early twentieth century.Oh Downton why are you so perfect? Character and plot/story arcs that work. From the very first scenes where you have the father of this rich family reading a paper and talking about people they knew on the Titanic and how this would affect their family in a way that would change everything to seeing the servants actions and reactions to the news and getting the day going, we are enticed to watch more. The first thing they got right was opening with a historical event that has a worldwide fascination, even now, 109 years after the sinking. Then they showed us who the characters were through dialogue and actions. There was never anything that told us who they were, they showed us. Through the years things that happened in real life like WW1 showed up and played a huge role on the show and that also came with the unexpected loss of favorite characters and like all great series ended every episode making us crave the next one. What will happen next?? I need to know. They rounded the show with characters who we loved to hate but also cared about like Thomas the footman turned valet turned second Butler turned Butler. The showed us human kindness and how we are all alike even when separated by class.

To craft a story that works you need two things.

Well, you need many but these are the two that you MUST have.

1) Great CHARACTERS-which means, your characters must have their own personality as well as wants and goals in every scene. Everything they do must happen for a reason. If you look at shows like FRIENDS or EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND you see that in every scene the characters’ intentions are for what they want the outcome to be. When you have a juxtaposition of characters’ wants and needs comedy happens. There is no reason to write a bunch of jokes for the purpose of being funny. For dramas, it’s basically the same principle. Take CHICAGO PD and GREY’S ANATOMY. Both are strong ensemble shows with characters who are very distinct and the way they act, speak, and do everything comes from WHO they are and nothing else. AND your character must be the author of their own destiny. Harry got help from his friends in all of the books/movies but it was because of what he did that it happened. (HAPPY POTTER) You can’t have things just work out or have someone else solve the problem or save your characters. In comedy as well, they are the master of their own disaster-always and then they realize some change they need to make, take responsibility and it works out. THE PROPOSAL Margaret realizes that she is doing the wrong thing so she takes action and leaves Andrew at the altar and faces the consequences.
2) Great PLOT/STORY ARCS-this means that your story must move along at a pace that keeps us interested and you must follow the format for what you are writing.Your story doesn’t have to be filled with action. Take DOWNTON ABBEY-it’s a bit slow sometimes but still we can’t look away. Look at SEINFELD or FRIENDS most of which takes place in apartments but we were excited every week to see what happened in their lives. The plotting worked always. When you are writing anything you have to think in terms of beginning, middle, and end. There has to be an end goal and then you must give the story ups and downs. Stories that work in a straight line or everything works out too conveniently fall flat and we stop reading or watching.
I know you can do it!

I recommend the following books to help you.

SAVE THE CAT THE HIDDEN TOOLS OF COMEDYTHE PLOT WHISPERER WRITE YOUR NOVEL FROM THE MIDDLE WIRED FOR STORY

Let’s connect on social media!

Instagram TikTokTwitter Facebook Pinterest

JOIN ME THIS SUMMER in my new course-

MAKE THEM SWOON~writing romantic comedies to fall in love with

CLICK HERE to find out more and sign up

Join my FREE FG group for female writers here

How To Go Deeper With Your Characters

Tags

characters, dialogue, how to write, novel writing, screenwriting, Story, storytelling, Writing, writing characters, writing fiction, writing tips

Hey, Writers! 

Happy Thursday. This week I’m talking about when you get that dreaded feedback that goes something like “I couldn’t connect with the characters” or “she/he wasn’t believable” or “I just didn’t care.” And, there’s more too but you get the point. 

Your story is fine, but the reader, or agent, or editor, just couldn’t connect. 

What do you need to do to fix it? 

If the feedback is that they couldn’t connect or care about the characters, then you need to do more work there. 

Revisions like this can seem impossible and your gut may be saying to just keep sending it out to others until someone likes it. I’ve seen writers do this and after two years the agent who took a chance couldn’t sell the work and then drops them and they are right back where they started. 

I want to save you time and heartache. 

There could be many reasons that this is the feedback you are getting. 

1. Your characters are living on the surface

2. Your dialogue isn’t strong

3. Your characters wants/needs and goals aren’t present 

4. Your plotting and story arcs are nonexistent (yes some character problems go back to storytelling basics)

There are a lot of reasons but let’s start with these because they are the most common.

YOUR CHARACTER LIVES ON THE SURFACE

This means that you haven’t gone deep enough, and hey, I know that it sucks hearing that and it’s like vaguebooking but it’s a real thing. When you aren’t going deep enough it is because you yourself don’t understand the psychology of your characters. 

What? I need that? But, I’m just writing light romance, like a Hallmark movie, she just wants to find a guy. 

Nope, that’s not good enough. You need more. Even in lighter stories, you need a real need, want, and or goals for your protagonist that drive her the entire book. The way she handles these things are because of WHO she is and that goes back to her misbelief about herself and that informs her flaws. 

The best holiday Hallmark movies have this. Trust me. 

EXERCISE-go watch any holiday Hallmark movie that you love and break it all down and you will see that it’s there. Obviously, you can’t know for 100% her misbelief but based on her actions you can make a great guess. 

READ-Wired for Story & Story Genius by Lisa Cron–once you do you will understand what I mean. Every single one of us has some misbelief that was created early in life and while we don’t go around and announce it to the world, “I’ll never be good enough!” our actions SHOW who we are. Maybe we push people away, or maybe we have a need to always get straight As and be perfect?–this is just an example. 

Here’s an example of a great character from television from the 2000s. Logan Echolls from Veronica Mars. When we meet him, he’s kind of a dick right? Well, not really. 

We learn through his actions and dialogue and storytelling throughout the first season (your novel) that his parents are famous actors and never give him any attention and when they do it’s bad. His misbelief (or this is how I see it) is that he will never be good enough and no one will ever really like or love him because if his parents don’t, why would anyone else? So, his character flaw is that he acts like a jerk, all the time. This is his defense to keep himself safe and not get rejected because he knows that will come. Everything he does is based on that misbelief. The writers of that show dug deep! And, you can too! 

WHEN YOUR DIALOGUE IS THE PROBLEM

Ah, dialogue-my favorite tool to show who a character really is. I love it because it’s so powerful but so many writers get it wrong. They focus on being clever, especially in women’s fiction and any movie with a female lead. The trope, trend, overused thing that still happens is that the main female is headstrong and sarcastic. Now, we all can’t be that way can we? No, we can’t. If you have written this in your first draft or second, or third and you are getting feedback that the agent, reader, whomever, can’t connect to her, this is why. 

You have cleverly filled the pages with clever quips and comebacks, usually aimed at her love interest and in weaker writing he takes it! 

Steve Kaplan of Kaplan Comedy talks about this in his comedy workshop and he used an example from a movie with Kate Hudson and Luke Wilson. Kate Hudson’s character insults him over and over and he doesn’t react at all but he keeps flirting and smiling. It’s so true. No guy, no woman, no person would be okay with being insulting all the time, and yet this is used constantly. Look at The Ugly Truth as another example. Katherine Heigel’s character is always insulting Gerad Butler’s character for no reason that makes any sense, it’s really that the writers decided she would be this type of woman for no reason, and he takes it and keeps flirting with her. This is NOT what would happen. 

**BTW you can find Steve Kaplan HERE. I suggest his workshops and books for every writer-whether you are writing comedy or not. 

Back to dialogue. So, you will stop that clever rude girl and witty dialogue now. Phew, now that’s over remember that every single word that comes out of your character’s mouth MUST be said for a reason. Dialogue SHOWS us WHO your character is. Think about the way you react to a situation and what you might say and how your sister or mother does to the same? You all speak differently right? 

In Gilmore Girls, Paris Geller is a BRILLIANT example of this. Everything she says SHOWS US who she is, and all of that goes back to her misbelief about herself. I suggest you watch a few episodes, especially in the early seasons when we are getting to know her. 

Use your dialogue to show us who your characters are and you can’t go wrong. 

YOUR CHARACTER’S MOTIVES ARE MISSING 

You have some characters and a story but why they are in that story is muddled. They don’t have any stakes and so it’s boring, and not relatable at all. Now, everything doesn’t have to be life or death, it can just be internal too-like Bridget Jone’s Diary. Bridget wanted to improve herself and her dating life so pretty much all of her actions were based on this. At first, she makes a list of all the things she will change in the new year, then she decides she wants to date the bad-boy in the office, Daniel Clever, but since that is something superficial and he is a jerk, she still isn’t happy, so she gets a new job, and is still looking for happiness—the entire movie. Her motives are that she wants to be in love and she wants connection but she has the misbelief that it’s her weight because she doesn’t believe she deserves what others have and that’s why it works. Her motives are clear. 

Obviously in Harry Potter his goals are always to fight Voldermort–but are they really? Isn’t Harry a boy who desperately needs a family? Read the first book again and you’ll see that Harry has external and internal wants and needs that are clear. 

The stakes MUST be there. In all the really good Hallmark Holiday movies the main character always has a want that we learn immediately. Usually, it has something to do with a promotion at her job, but it’s always clear. Then something happens that derails that and has her questioning everything in her life, but all her actions are based on reaching that original goal. 

Look at Legally Blonde-Elle Woods wants to get married and at the beginning we learn that she believes she is going to be proposed to by her boyfriend, who instead breaks up with her so he can go to Harvard and be with a serious girl (his words, not mine). Well, Elle decides to follow him to Harvard and show him that she can be the kind of girl he wants. Her entire story is about getting this guy back, until she gets to Harvard and realizes that no matter what she does she’s never going to be good enough for him, so she learns that she can do things for herself instead of for the approval of others. It’s a “chick-flick” as they used to be called but it’s powerful like Bridget Jones is. 

 YOUR PLOTTING & BASIC STORYTELLING ARCS AREN’T WORKING

You want to be different and decide NOT to follow traditional story structure, or you simply don’t know or understand it, and therefore your story is flatlining. This isn’t because you aren’t a good writer or anything but you for some reason forgot about it, or didn’t think about it. Maybe you were focusing on wouldn’t it be cool or funny if scenes and not thinking about the big picture. 

That’s okay, for first drafts. 

You need to follow story structure. You don’t have to have your inciting incident on page 19 in your script or on the second chapter of your book but it does need to be at the beginning because it is the reason for this story. Your story starts with your character’s life being altered in some way. This needs to happen. 

Then you need to continue with traditional plotting and arcs, which I will cover in another blog but basically your story NEEDS these elements. 

Opening-WHO the story is about and WHAT they want or need

Inciting Incident-WHAT happens to set the story into motion 

New World-WHEN the story actually starts moving because of the inciting incident 

Middle-a CLEAR middle with a recommitment or mirror moment scene where your character decides to take some action 

Climax-everything comes to a head

All Is Lost Moment-when the character wants to give up or feels like they have lost whatever it is

Resolve-your character finds a way to come to a solution to her problem or how to live with her new life. 

These things must be there. 

Every scene in your story must move the story forward in these directions. There is no reason to have scenes there just because they are fun to write but don’t serve the story. Look at the strongest movies, books, or TV shows and they all do this! 

When you are super famous you can break the rules, but when you are new, or not a household name, don’t do it. Even when you are famous it can backfire. Story structure works for a reason. 

Ever have that friend who starts telling you a story and they just go on and on and there seems to be no point or they add in details that have nothing to do with what they are telling you? Don’t let that be your book or movie or TV show. 

Okay, my Dears! That is this week’s Story Concierge blog and I hope that you found it helpful. 

XO Stephanie

Please follow me on Instagram and TikTok for daily tips on writing and everything writer & story related 

TIKTOK https://www.tiktok.com/@stephbourbonauthor

INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/stepholivieribourbon/

Join my FREE Facebook group for women writers https://www.facebook.com/groups/StoryConcierge/

Sign up to be on my VIP email list here https://www.stephaniebourbon.com/join-my-email-list