In a previous post, Caring About Our Stories, I mentioned how we need to ask ourselves “Why am I writing
this?” As we develop the mechanics of the Process, we need to ask a more
refined part of this question: “What is the purpose of this?”
With anything we
write, that question should apply to every part. For any essay, screenplay,
novel, or short story, we should be able to ask that question about something
as broad as the entire work itself, or as narrow as a particular word we
choose. The answer doesn’t have to be perfect, brilliant, or even insightful,
but if the answer isn’t obvious, we need to ask ourselves if that part is
necessary.
In my post, And So Begins the Process, I offered the example of my working manuscript called Easier than
the Truth. In that post I demonstrated how to take a one-line idea and turn it
into the bones of a story. Now we can follow through with that technique and
apply our question of purpose to make sure this story focuses on what is
necessary and leaves out what isn’t.
There’s the story in
front of me, and I ask, “What is the purpose of this story?” This should be a
very simple, concise answer, at least in the author’s mind. For this novel, it
is, “To show how someone broke away from a life of denial and faced the harsh
realities of their life.” One sentence; simple and to-the-point. As we start
asking this about smaller and smaller pieces, the answers might be a little
more elaborate, but they are just as important.
Now we narrow the
focus from the story to a particular section. In Chapter 12, our protagonist,
Tom, is driving to work early, with his friend, Phil, trying to catch some
sleep in the passenger seat. “What is the purpose of this chapter?” This is
where Tom explains his plan to bring together his out-of-control life. Simple
and to-the-point, but we can still narrow this question further.
The next question
would be, “What is the purpose of Phil in the scene?” Phil is skeptical of
Tom’s plan and doesn’t think it’s a good idea. “What is the purpose of Phil
trying to sleep instead of being wide awake?” It allows Phil to be dismissive
rather than confrontational, thus allowing Tom’s plan to continue (plus Phil
was up late). Again, it is… simple and to-the-point.
This can continue down
to the individual words, but we won’t take it that far in this particular
example. The point is that when we ask the right questions about our writing,
the answers make our writing better. Then we can tell elaborate stories and
explain complex ideas, yet our writing will be strong because it is simple and
to-the-point.
I feel this is definitely important in fiction. I would be curious your thoughts on CNF writing, and the 'why' there?
ReplyDeleteIntended audience?
Intended moral of the story?
Just thinking out loud :)
Depending on the style, CNF can take different perspectives if it is speculative or documentary, or if it presents deductions based on anything other than hard facts
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