I’m a very gut feeling kind of writer. What I mean is, I rely a lot on my instincts when putting scenes together. Since, by nature, I’m a very visual person, I imagine that I’m watching the movie version of my story. I see the opening credits roll and see the establishing shot, the camera pans, and we get our first glimpse of the protagonist. (This may seem like an exaggeration, but in fact this is exactly how I write, even down to hearing the background music for each scene.) Since I’m “watching” my story as I write, it’s just a matter of describing what I see accurately so that the readers can “watch” along with me. And once I finish writing that scene, I ask myself, “In this movie version of my story, what would be the next logical scene?” I find that this sort of intuitive writing method usually results in a satisfying story.
In other words, I’m not a meticulous plotter. Although I do use outlines for parts of the story, and to get the action going again when I hit a wall, I feel that perfecting and polishing all the elements before putting pen to paper (or fingers to keys, in my case) really stifles things. Some of my favorite scenes from The Unrighteous, for example, were spur-of-the-moment decisions. (For example, [spoilers here if you haven’t read it yet!] Jack and Harold running away from the Welcome Center together and fleeing into the woods was something that occurred to me only when writing the previous scene, and it actually ended up becoming one of the focal points of the book, and one of the driving plot points. Looking back, it’s hard to imagine how the story would’ve unfolded without it.)
I strongly believe that my emotional state while writing a story (be it sadness, anger, frustration, joy, excitement, etc), is the emotional state that my first-time readers will experience. So if something in the story surprises me while I’m crafting the novel, I can be pretty sure it’ll catch readers off-guard as well. On the other hand, if I’ve plotted it all out, carefully nudging my story and characters in a certain direction towards a key event, more than likely the readers will be able to figure it out long before the hammer drops. This is the equivalent of a movie that’s too predictable. It’s yawn-inducing, and results in a disappointing, even anti-climactic, experience.
Still, writing off the cuff sometimes results in me finding myself in a corner. This is good, I think, in a way, because it forces me to really push the boundaries to come up with a solution. (The airplane hangar scene in The Unrighteous is an example) The problem, of course, is that it can easily lead to writer’s block, and let me tell you, it isn’t fun to be there. It’s as if you’ve just put the movie on pause indefinitely, and the characters, story, plot, and all other elements are all waiting impatiently on the paper (or screen) for you to press play again. Believe you me, it’s stressful!
That’s where The Story Grid comes in. As the name suggests, it helps a writer to graph his or her story visually, to see which elements are changing with each scene. This is a powerful tool, because all too often, writers can neglect certain key elements in their story for far too long. A character that plays a key role in Act III, for example, is mentioned once or twice in Act I, but totally forgotten in Act II. There’s also the issue of what I call “dummy” elements; characters or objects in a story that are merely decoration–they’re completely static throughout the story and take up lots of page space. The Story Grid helps a writer to identify these elements and either A) make them actually do something, or B) eliminate them. This can enliven a story in a big way.
Another important element in most stories is the character arc. (I say most stories because there are few good ones out there where the characters change little throughout the course of the novel. But they are the rare exception to the rule!) Good stories hinge on dynamic characters, individuals who change (for better or worse) over the course of events. In my mind, plot is secondary to characters. You can have a static plot with dynamic characters, and still have a good story. On the other hand, a dynamic plot with static characters will leave the reader feeling empty. (i.e., the majority of what Hollywood likes to churn out. All action, no character development.) The Story Grid helps to keep character development at the forefront of the author’s mind by graphing a “polarity shift” of each character.
Aside from all this, there are plenty of other positive things to say about The Story Grid, but since this is a video series, I suppose it makes sense to just let it speak for itself! If you’re an aspiring writer (or even a seasoned one), I definitely recommend giving the video series a look.
That was reaaaally interesting... I think it will be really useful for your last projet (good read, btw)
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