To write, you have to have things to say. In fact, these things are all around you and in you; you just have to be attentive.
As you have started to devote yourself to your regular, if not daily, writing work, you are therefore enjoying writing more and more. How to start a Wikipedia page for someone you have primed the pump of writing, and it can be very fruitful. Gradually, you incorporate the concepts of building your stories while continuing to flirt with your imagination.
It is a force that you must retain, reassure, flatter and develop in order to continue your work.
The narrative point of view
When you write, from the first pages, you have to position what you know:
- choice of personal pronoun (first or third person)
- the hero (the narrator or someone else)
If you start writing in the first person, you must stick to it until the end and limit your knowledge to that of your hero, the narrator of your story. Most importantly, you must have a solid plan before you start writing your story. Indeed, you will live for months with your hero or heroine, or even identify with him or her.
If you choose to write in the third person, you’re supposed to know everything about your character, including their thoughts. You can comment on events, study them and even analyze them. A narrator who understands and analyzes what he is saying is of much more interest to the reader, who thus learns the psychological mechanisms of the hero.
The choice of storytelling is crucial: ask yourself right away who is telling the story you are writing.
The different points of view
The objective point of view: this is the point of view seen from the outside – everything is told from the outside, without thoughts. We do not enter into intimacy with the characters. Everything therefore takes place through dialogues or gestures, which the narrator discovers at the same time as the reader.
The omniscient point of view: it is the point of view seen from inside and outside. The narrator knows, hears and sees everything about all of her characters. The narrator knows everything. In fact, the reader knows more than the characters.
The point of view seen from inside: the character is the narrator. The reader only knows what the character knows. A single character leads the story from start to finish.
Either the narration is in the first person, or the reader enters the skin of the storyteller, but the vision of the story is limited.
Either the narration is told in the third person, or the reader can thus enter into the thoughts of another character.
Either the narration is made by a secondary character, an observer, or the story is thus fleshed out since this observer ‘justifies’ everything he says.
There are stories where multiple characters lead the book. In this case, each of them must have their own voice, their expressions, and their strong character.
Step 27: ‘narrations’
In this exercise, which you will do in 3 times 15 minutes, you will remember an incident that happened to you as a child. You tell it from 3 different points of view, in a few lines.
- yours, at the time, as you would have told a friend
- that of your teacher, as he could have told your parents about it
- That of an external storyteller who knows neither.
My point of view
You know Caroline, I was punished at school by my teacher because I forgot my sneakers for sports class. I don’t understand, I was already in sneakers, as usual, but Mrs. Fantan refused to let me take the class on the pretext that I put on those sneakers to walk in the street. I do not understand anything. In addition, she said “the rules are the rules. It is the same for everyone”. It’s crazy, this is the first time this has happened to me, but she punishes me anyway. I cried part of the day.
The teacher’s point of view
Mrs. Basil, I called you in because your daughter was punished this morning. She forgot her sports stuff. It is well stipulated in the internal regulations of our school that in case of forgetting, even the first time, and the pupil is punished. So that’s what happened to Clara this morning, who I have to admit doesn’t agree with the punishment. She responded to the limit of insolence, which I cannot tolerate in any of my students.
The outside storyteller’s point of view
This morning, like every Tuesday, there is a sports class at the Jean Jaures School. Clara is a serious student, but that morning she forgot her sports stuff for the first time. As stipulated in the internal regulations of this school, she was punished for forgetting. But, the girl did not agree with her mistress, Mrs. Fantan, because she was already wearing sneakers with which she could have done the lesson. The teacher, in her right, strictly enforced the rules, which did not please the student, who cried part of the day. She of course informed Clara’s parents.
The basic idea of a story
You can find inspiration in any story after reading a novel or watching a movie. But, be careful: you must not write a story that is too close to what you have read or seen, as this would amount to plagiarism, which would then be punished by law.
From a basic idea, your story would obviously not be an original work, but a ’fanfiction’. The idea of your story then breaks down into two parts:
- a ‘concrete’ part
- An ‘abstract’ part.
The beginning of your story should be a simple sentence containing the basic idea. This first formulation must be original. Telling the story of a little boy who goes to school on his bicycle does not bring suspense. While that of a child, who steals a car every night for a ride, begins to interest the reader much more.
Between the two previous proposals, two things emerged:
- originality
- Risk – dynamic component.
The beginnings of any story must be precise and concrete.
Then the concept of your story is more abstract: it’s the tip of the iceberg, the root cause of the risk your character is going to take.
In the example above, it is possible that the father of the child died of an automobile accident and that, since; the mother refuses to touch the car and forces the whole family to travel by public transport.
Recognize the reader’s interest
Any reader seeks to be interested in reading a “good story”. The interest in a book is easily and quickly detected. If your original idea is a simple static sentence that establishes a fact, there is no point. Unless you bring up a subject which arouses the reader’s curiosity, as is the case with a biography of a famous person, then the reader is won over for rather obscure reasons.
On the other hand, if your sentence opens up potentially different horizons, you are almost sure to create suspense. The reader will feel in him this desire to know more, because your opening sentence, precisely, suggests several possibilities. So it’s a dynamic sentence. The reader then sets off on various tracks, then you take the reins back by guiding him to another path, which makes him dream or shiver!
To keep the pressure on your reader, be sure to check the consistency of your story every step of the way. The slightest mistake would make you lose your reader. It is up to you to sow seeds in the mind of your reader to intrigue him, so that he scaffolds a lead or a probable event. An event should never fall as if by magic, because it then cuts off any desire to continue reading. The desire to know more is the indicator of the dynamism of your story.
The author’s opinion
In all the stories you write, inevitably, you will distill your own opinions on a number of subjects, which will help shape a certain morality in you. Your opinion is always difficult to transcribe, because it must be in perfect harmony with you, the reader and the characters.
This principle remains valid throughout your story and remains the thread of the whole story, without which everything would collapse. Of course, you will be careful not to fall into excessive statements about your characters that could possibly shock your reader.
The “moral” becomes the largest permanent message that every author passed in its history, which will remain constant from beginning to end. You have to express this opinion on any occasion that presents itself, like the chorus of a song, to prove it to the reader.
Get used to clearly saying the point of view you want to defend in a very affirmative sentence that could start with:
- “I always thought that…”
- “It’s scandalous to…”
- “It’s great to…”
Stage 28: “scandals”
You will choose a sunny moment and comfortably seated. Close your eyes, let the heat seep into you, deep inside you. If the sun is absent, imagine its warm and reassuring presence.
Let go of the things that scandalize you, the ones you would immediately change if you had the power to do so. List them when you have 5. The exercise will take you 20 minutes.
The 5 things that scandalize me:
- rape of children
- hit and kill his mate
- war and its consequences
- World hunger
- the world of politics
The 5 things I would like to change immediately if I had the power:
- the mind-boggling shows on television
- the foundations of learning and pedagogy at school
- develop artistic practices and culture
- allow each child to be free to think for himself
- help young people to get rid of numerous addictions
Step 29: “3 wishes”
Close your eyelids again and focus, for 20 minutes, on the 3 wishes you would do if you were almighty, avoiding personal or family requests. Scandals and wishes are a source of inspiration for the opinions you may express throughout your story.
My wishes
- politics should come back to the people, in a truly democratic way
- enable every child in the world to study, have enough to eat and have a home
- Do not leave anyone, whatever their origin or opinions, by the wayside in our country.
What is a story?
A story is first and foremost an original and living idea, Wikipedia page creators without which there would never be a new story!
The story is a structured communication in a dynamic form, where a “narrator” tells a story to an audience (reader, listener or spectator), seeking to capture their interest. It is, most of the time, a piece of life, which allows you to reflect or be entertained.
Each story being a slice of life, you will use all human desires as a motor, from the most basic to the craziest. A story is a real or imaginary story that focuses on a being called the main character. To interest the reader, the story will make him sympathize with this character, then abuse him.
The hero of a story
The hero is the hero of your characters whose story is the most exciting. The main character is not necessarily a human being. You can build a story around an animal, a tree, or a house. But, it will still take a living being to lead the story, and one way or another, your heroes will show emotions on a human scale.
Step 30: “50 words”
List 50 unusual words, with no obvious link between them, at the rate of 5 times 10 words, divided during the day between:
- 5 evil living things (3 humans, 2 animals)
- 5 kind living things (3 humans, 2 animals)
- 10 action verbs
- 10 adjectives
- 10 places
- 10 objects
* 5 evil living things:
- Henry VIII of England
- Dracula
- Attila
- the Nile crocodile
- the boa constrictor
* 5 kind living beings:
- the fairy in “Cinderella”
- Bovril
- Abbot stone
- the koala
- the redbreast
* 10 action verbs:
- swim
- knead
- to write
- dirty
- to play
- eat
- to shiver
- to sleep
- feel
- cure
* 10 adjectives:
- melodious
- silky
- careful
- embellished
- damn
- shrunken
- stagnant
- rotten
- trembling
- arduous
* 10 places:
- a clearing in spring
- a green meadow
- a summit of Auvergne
- a swollen mountain river
- a ruined castle
- my dog’s doghouse
- a tree house
- a beach cabin like in Deauville
- a hiding place behind a bush
- a veranda with lemon trees
* 10 objects:
- chewing pencil
- a woodcutter’s ax
- a pliers Monseigneur
- a cork stopper
- an old tree bark
- a wooden pole
- a stack of books
- a pair of scissors
- a car wheel
- a referee’s whistle
Step 31: “personal detective work”
When a creative person begins to express his talent, an obstacle presents itself: he is afraid to expose his creations to the eyes of others. Because, on the one hand, it fears criticism; on the other hand, she doesn’t want to ‘taunt’ others.
Remember several things you loved in your childhood (favorite toy / favorite game / best memory from movie / book / favorite musical instrument / favorite animal).
Recall images from your childhood, then list them. Choose 3 and write a sentence on each memory. Then, select one and tell on 2 pages a scene from your childhood by deliberately exaggerating your emotions.
* 3 memories of my childhood
- The day we went to pick up our dog Black: this dog was unhappy in his tiny enclosure with one of my family members. He had pity us on a previous visit.
- Every Saturday noon, my brother and I partially prepared the meal, invariably consisting of rump steak (less expensive at the time) and home-cooked fries. It was a pleasure chore, but above all a treat, tantalizing in advance.
- The books of my childhood: I devoured the books. I spent entire days reading, reveling in the power of stories over the pages.
My passion for books
As far back as I can remember, I have always loved reading. Since I learned to read in first grade actually. Books have always been with me. I remember certain days without school (first Thursday, then Wednesday) when I would stay in my nightgown, tucked in the living room sofa, devouring one of my books. I put off somehow the chores to be done before my parents came back from work. It was the dishes to wash, dry and put away. Not too exciting to be honest. I forgot everything, the world around me, the weather, the weather; nothing mattered more than reading the current book.
I preferred to immerse myself in the pages of the books I initially borrowed from the school library. I was escaping, I was dreaming, I was going far away thanks to them. It’s not that my life was hectic, but I had this irrepressible need to read, to immerse myself in the skin of the characters, to imagine myself in their place, to reinvent another world for them. It was more than intense in my memories. It has become a passion over the years. It is difficult for me to explain how this came about, whereas around me, we read little, especially for lack of time, the constraints of my parents’ professional life contributing a lot.
At first, I remember the books with the character of Caroline. It was like my girlfriend, a big sister; I envied him a lot to live his adventures accompanied by his animal companions, of course, which may seem banal to our adult eyes, but which enchanted my childhood universe and which gave me infinite joy. I read these books over and over again, and I have a copy in my possession from my childhood. To tell you how it marked me… I refuse to part with it, because I want to tell the story of this book one day to my grandchildren!
A few years later, I borrowed novels from my maternal grandmother. She read a lot late in the day and we were discussing our readings. I trusted him blindly in his choices, and that’s how I discovered romance novels, as they say.
The books have undoubtedly created a number of feelings in me, depending on the stories: fear, anger, joy, sadness, pleasure, laughter, among others. To my childish eyes, it was like real life in the books. It was strange, I lived in parallel worlds. I was never wrong in any of the worlds I lived in.
When I opened a book, I thought I was someone else, the hero or the heroine. I lived all the evolutions and emotions of the main character. I dreamed so much of discovering the world, when I was stuck in my pavilion in the suburbs of Paris that the books took over me. They made me discover lives, worlds. I loved the writers who made up these stories. Books have made me what I am…
Step 32: awakening the senses – taste
You are going to tell about a sensory experience. List vocabulary related to taste. Then write 15 to 20 lines using this vocabulary.
- to taste
- flavor
- tasting
- sweetness
- acre
- rancid
- sugar
- disgust
- smooth
- taste
- delicate
- end
- cooked
- delicious
- delightful
- succulent
- bland
- tasteless
- Revel, etc.
Cream of farm milk
One summer of my teenage years, I was on vacation with my maternal grandparents, as I liked to do almost every year. They lived in a Picardy village, not far from Compiegne, a stone’s throw from the Turgot family farm. It was an old-fashioned farm; the parents and the two sons lived there, modestly, without much comfort. They had known me when I was little, just like my cousins.
I didn’t really like going there, because these otherwise very nice people were gruff, which I wasn’t used to. They also spoke with an accent that baffled me. The yard of their farm was always muddy, the interior of their house not really clean, smelling rancid and stale, as in the descriptions of nineteenth-century authors.
My job in the morning was to get fresh milk from the farm. I left with my can of milk in my hand, as we no longer do. The journey took me two minutes, the farm being next to my grandparents’ property. I took the usual precautions to avoid getting dirty. Madame Turgot, always delighted to see me, served me quickly while talking incessantly, the morning milk drawn. She couldn’t know that I wasn’t very fond of milk, and I still refused to taste the fresh milk straight from the udder of the cow.
When I returned, my grandmother boiled this milk, as usual. Living in the city, I did not know what farm milk was. Also, one day, my grandmother told me to taste the cream which rested on the boiled milk, thinking to make me happy and convinced that I was going to revel in this very fresh wonder. It was quite the reverse.
I had difficulty swallowing this cream of boiled milk, which made me want to vomit. I was more used to sterilize UHT milk. I did not find this cream to be smooth on the palate at all. It disgusted me so much that I threw it up. It was my first and last experience in this field, which put me off milk forever.
As a conclusion
Laure astragal suggests 6 conditions for talking about a story. It is advisable to insert a succession of events, with at least two periods in time. The main character must ensure a unity of theme, while undergoing transformations. Unity of action is important because otherwise your story will have multiple narratives. You don’t have to write chronologically, as long as the story makes sense. A moral, explicit or implied, must also be inserted.
You will begin to write your story with an idea in mind that you will have to defend until the conclusion of your story. To find your ideas, there is no point in torturing your mind. Awaken to what surrounds you: the things to be told are around you and within you. You just have to be attentive!
