Let the Story Unfold #AuthorToolboxBlogHop

            Writers should not unload all the information about their characters in one place in their stories. Readers do not want to see a who’s who bio for every character lumped together in the story. By the same token, writers should not pile on all the facts of their story world at the beginning of their novels or memoirs either. You know; world history, how devices are used, why things happen, and why it matters to the world at large. Besides being info-dumps, these methods take away the pleasure of reading a story. 

Let the story unfold naturally. Don’t answer all the reader’s questions on the first page or even the first chapter of a novel or memoir. Let the reader care about a person first. The story needs to unfold slowly as Jennie Nash of Author Accelerator tells her coaching clients. Once the reader connects with a character, then the writer can explain how the story world affects this person or family. We are creating a character arc. Characters, especially the protagonist, should change by the end of the story.

But where do you place the important material in the story?

The writer shares the information about his or her characters or the story at large at the time when those characters would be thinking about how things work in their world or thinking about their past because it affects the story present, the forward movement in the story. Many writers know this, but it’s very difficult to do.

At one point in my college memoir, the character of Victoria must face her fear of what opportunity might bring if she wins two prestigious college awards.

In allowing this story section to unfold slowly, Victoria discovers that what she’s afraid of are how her feelings toward her family might change if she is awarded an opportunity to study away from home. This was a dream of Victoria’s when she was younger. Now she feels she might blame her family, as if it could be their fault she can’t study just anywhere. She worries about what regret could do to her psyche. Regret from missed opportunities can be ugly. It makes people bitter. And Victoria does not want to be bitter—especially toward her family.

This forces Victoria to face the fact that she could never leave her family for semesters at a time; never leave her husband with all the work of raising five children and helping their special needs daughter with her education. Realizing her family comes first, Victoria decides to apply for the awards, knowing she would only accept an opportunity that she could use.

This is part of the character arc of Victoria. She will be forever changed from this point in the memoir story. She will not sacrifice her family life to live a college dream of studying away from home. She will find another way to complete her college education with no regret.

Please ask any questions about my college memoir and share any insight you may have in the comments section of Adventures in Writing about how you allow your story to unfold naturally. Thanks so much!

Please note:

I will not be posting on Adventures in Writing in July or August 2020. I am moving and have much to do, especially since I’m still trying to move forward on writing projects. Don’t know if I’ll be able to keep writing during this time, though. Thank you for your understanding.

And thank you for visiting Adventures in Writing. Please follow my blog if you haven’t already and connect with me online. Leave your blog link in the comment so I can be sure to do the same for you. To continue hopping through more amazing blogs or to join our Author Toolbox blog hop, click here. 

Insecure Writers Want to Know: Writers have secrets. Share one or two of your own. Something readers would never know from your work.

Oooo, secrets! Let me think. Something readers would never know from my work. I don’t know if this counts as a secret, but I’m afraid of edges. As in falling off of. Mountain edges. Jumping off cliff edges. Canyons. Water fall edges. Even diving boards count here. Or maybe it’s that I’m afraid one of my five children would fall off said edges because they’re being…well…children. You know. Fooling around when we are close to edges; pushing and shoving each other. 

Gosh! I worried about this each time we set up camp at national or state parks. We’ve camped in deserts, on mountaintops, by canyons, and water falls. Our children insisted the campgrounds have pools, and with those pools came diving boards. And with diving boards came the children’s favorite phrase: “Watch this, Mom!”

I think I closed my eyes each time. But don’t tell the kids. They still think I saw everything.

We were camping at Arches National Park, when I finally succumbed to this fear of edges with my children. I stopped our family hiking expedition completely. I wouldn’t allow the children to go any farther along the narrow orange sandstone arch we needed to cross on this trail. I turned us around. They were not happy.

I also have a terrible fear of wild animal encounters too—especially snakes because you don’t notice them right off. Not until they make a noise or strike! I’ve literally had too many encounters with wildlife in my adventures camping with five children. Out of the seven people in my family, I’m always the one who finds the snakes—and they are always ready to strike. I follow our last child on the trail. And my family is not quiet when we hike, which is why the snake is usually ready to strike by the time I reach him. Of course, I still would rather find them than my children.

So no matter how many YA adventure stories I write where my teenaged protagonists confront wild animals or tumble down cliff sides or mountains, I am terrified until I finish my first draft of the story. I need to be sure I can logically get the teen out of danger before I can revise—or sleep. My protagonists are my children, too!

Please note:

I will not be posting on Adventures in Writing in July or August 2020. I am moving and have much to do, especially since I’m still trying to move forward on writing projects. Don't know if I'll be able to keep writing during this time, though. Thank you for your understanding.

I’ll be interested to see how you’ve tackled this month’s question. It’s great having a topic to share our thoughts on each month. I am extremely thankful for all of you for being my sounding board and advisors in this writing and publishing journey.

Thanks so much for visiting! Please follow Adventures in Writing if you haven’t already and connect with me online. Leave your blog link in your comment so I can be sure to do the same for you.

This post was written for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. We post on the first Wednesday of every month.  To join us, or learn more about the group, click HERE.