But when you bring fate and free will into your story, they're not boring at all. In fact, these two elements can make a huge difference in your story. Here's how:
The controversy over fate and free will has been going on for ages. Nobody seems to be sure if there even is such a thing as fate or such a thing as free will. Honestly, the discussion can get extremely technical and extremely boring.
But when you bring fate and free will into your story, they're not boring at all. In fact, these two elements can make a huge difference in your story. Here's how:
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If you asked what were the essential components of a story, you'd probably get these answers:
Characters a Setting a Problem Conflict But there's one more item I'd like to add to the list: What's at stake.
Tropes: those tiresome, overused, stock filler elements--whether they're characters, plot twists, or setting details--that everyone says you shouldn't use. And we all know why: tropes are predictable, they're unoriginal, and we've seen each of them one too many times. Make that ten too many times.
But those little buggers sure have a way of creeping into a story without us writers noticing it. Why? They're expected; we've seen them so many times that we assume that's how the story is supposed to go, and a lot of times we don't even realize it's a trope. So I'm going to have fun bashing some common story cliches and hopefully helping all of us recognize and remove these stale tropes from our writing. I'm starting today with "the aged mentor." Have you ever picked up a book that looked fascinating, but once you started reading it, you immediately lost interest? Let's face it: to have a successful book, you first have to get people's attention and then keep them interested. A flashy cover or intriguing title can do the first job, but even a great story won't keep readers interested unless you follow one important rule.
You probably know by now that to make a story interesting, you need conflict. Lots of it.
You might have heard that one great way to create conflict is to make the main character want something and then make something that's stopping him from getting it. But there's a way to take the conflict one step further: The main character wants two things... and he can only have one of them. You're nearly there, intrepid writers! Only two more days to go!
If you're on schedule, you should be right in the middle of Act III working your way through the Finale. Your hero has emerged from the Dark Night of the Soul, he's faced his demons, and now he's ready for Break Into III. Best of all, you've written three quarters of your story.
If your hero has reached the All Is Lost point in your story, he's ready to enter the Dark Night of the Soul. Your lucky hero gets to be stuck in this section for the next three days of Nanowrimo.
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AuthorA. M. Potter Some other great blogs...
Chasing Daisies Go Teen Writers Helping Writers Become Authors To the Barricade! Life of Lily Archives
November 2017
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