Structural Elements: The Basic Tools of the Writer Part 1
When we start writing, most of us already have a general understanding of the tools we can use to get our vision of a story or a concept or an idea across to another (the reader). If we’ve been readers all our lives, it seems a fairly simple ask to take what we know about what we’ve read and apply it to our own visions. School has taught the rudiments of grammar and spelling, we have a reasonable vocabulary and the ability to use a dictionary and thesaurus, and with reader preferences we probably already know roughly which styles of writing we want to use.
That leaves the basics:
The Structure
The structure of the story incorporates the plot and the character arcs in a specific way. We design our structure of storytelling in order to present the story in a palatable, clear and exciting progression that will engage and draw the reader through to the end. We might decide that the story will begin in the present and remain there; that it might begin in the past and move between past and present in order to illuminate the meaning of the story in a way the reader can follow; that it might be a linear, chronological progression or that it might move in time and place in order to present information from different characters and times to make the whole understandable.
A part of structure are the points of view we use, from which characters the story will be told, and the tenses required for each shift from the present to past.
Structural design often comes intuitively for short stories and sometimes for longer works. The more complex the story, the more care needs to be taken with structure because the penalty will be a lot of rewriting if halfway through it dawns that clarity would be easier if the story is presented in a different framework!
Points of View
Points of view are usually determined by the type of story, sometimes by the genre or expectations of the proposed readers, sometimes by the need for clarity. A simple story with a few characters, or events seen by a single character, lends itself to first person and third limited. The more complicated the story, the less well these points of view work as events out of the view of the main character must remain hidden to the reader as well. Complex, multi-character, multi-thread storylines require a well-designed structure and clearly shown, multiple character viewpoints to get all the information to the reader as smoothly and invisibly as possible.
There are no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ points of view in storytelling, only what suits and is best for the story in a way that transfers the writer’s meaning and intent most clearly to the reader.
Style
The style of writing is also sometimes termed the ‘voice’ of the writer, either overall, or for a particular story. Style covers tone, mood, sentence structure, story structure, point of view, rhythm and narrative voice and distance. Styles are developed and refined with practice, though they may appear and be distinctive from the first word set down on paper. How you write, how you express yourself, is your style.
Many writers change their styles to suit different genres. Writing a noir-PI mystery may demand a different style from writing an historical romance or a high-tech action story. Some writers have an ocean of ideas to pursue in a single style, while others love the diversity of writing in many styles.
Style is also influenced by narrative distance in the point of view to greater or lesser extents. In a close third or first person point of view, the style of writing is imbued by the character — including their background, upbringing, voice, memories, experiences and their own ‘style’ as the writer creates it. In a distant third or third limited, the narrative style is less infused with character and more with an outside narrative style — that of the observer/narrator watching the characters as they move through the story.
Characters and Characterisation
Characters are what will keep a reader turning the pages. A terrific plot might engage the reader but in the vast majority of stories and readers, it’s the human tale that keeps them reading and their connection to and empathy for, the characters.
Creating characters requires two things to master successfully. A genuine interest and curiosity in and about people. The observational skills to bring to life the minutiae of every day life, extraordinary events and the reactions of people under both circumstances.
Well-drawn characters are people. They are, like any other person, laden with their history, their experiences, the way those experiences impacted them and directed them. They have families, flaws, strengths, interests, opinions and their own inborn natures. Engaging readers with your characters means letting them in, letting them get to know the characters and fall in love, a little bit or a lot, with them.
It doesn’t necessarily mean that all stories need be written in the close third or from a deep point of view. There are many millions of stories where the reader is never privy to a character’s thoughts and feelings directly — but the writers of such stories are very aware that the reader will not follow a character whose personality they cannot discern at all through pages and pages of tension, events and action, and they take the trouble to craft every scene and interaction in a way that the action, the dialogue, the gestures and expressions infer or present sufficient clues to the character that they will get to know them, through those actions, as we all get to know people the same way. It’s not quite as intimate, but for many genres and styles, it’s very effective and absolutely sufficient.
Above all else, your characters are making a journey through this story. They, like us, might begin with one opinion of the status quo, and end up with another, changed and taught by their experiences. The change isn’t necessarily a huge one. Most of the events we go through on a daily basis do not provide epiphanies and life-changing impacts, but each does have its own impact and the culmination of events, large and small, create changes in outlooks, in opinions, in self-regard and in the needful refinement of our recognition of getting closer to what we want.
The Basic Tools of the Writer is continued in Part 2 : Story Elements
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