How To Write A Story
Articles about techniques you can use to make your story better.
I’ve written before about the difference between the Protaognist and the Antagonist in your story and how you use them, but in some stories you’ll want to use multiple antagonists. I’ll give you some examples of how multiple antagonists can be used in one story, different kinds, and the effect it has, using one of my favourite films in the whole world as an example: Jurassic Park.
When your reader or view is particularly observant and notices the small details in your story, you can reward them by making those small details pay off later in a way that is really satisfying. It takes time and effort, but it’s worth it.
If you’re writing an ensemble cast, rather than just a single protagonist and antagonist, you may need to be able to write with multiple Protagonists, and understand what that means and how to do it well. However, an ensemble cast doesn’t necessarily mean you have multiple protagonists, you may have a large cast revolving around a single Protagonist. They’re only a Protagonist if you’re directly following their story.
“Pantsing” comes from the expression “fly by the seat of your pants.” If means to be making your story up as you go, and finding out what’s going to happen along the way. “Plotting” is where before you start writing, you work out who you characters are, key events in the story, what page count you’re aiming for etc in advance, and then you follow that plan as you work.
The Death Of A Mentor is a technique used in story to motivate the Protagonist, by killing the person who has taught them to do what it is they do.
To explain how and why you use Narrative Triplets in your writing, I am referencing the film Spider-Man Into The Spiderverse, so this post does contain SPOILERS if you’ve not seen that film. I’ll cover key moments in the film and how these Narrative Triplets make the entire plot stronger.
Most of the time when you go into reading a book or watching a film, there will be a person who’s telling you the story, it might be the lead character who’s POV you’re in, or an actual narrator. That’s usually a person who you trust is giving you an accurate account of the events occurring in your story. However, there is such a thing as an “unreliable narrator,” and I’ll be explaining how and why you might use an “unreliable narrator” by referencing the book The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins.
Taking your characters from the mundane to the magical, a technique used in most fantasy stories, when you take your character from their normal life in their ordinary world that they’re familiar with, and into a magical world that’s new.
Narrative Triplets is a story tool that you can use to make you story progress and keep it interesting. When a Narrative Triplet is used it makes the story feel extremely satisfying for the audience.
When you’re a writer, people will often tell you that they too want to write a book. They have ideas, maybe a character or a concept, but they’re just not sure how to start it. And I always give them the same piece of advice.