“We write both from and toward–from what has previously happened and toward the payoff for the promise we’ve made.”
This was my favorite quote from the chapter, and one of my favorite takeaways from the book as a whole. Shannon did a beautiful job talking about the concept of promises we make last Friday with her post, Five Promises You Make To The Reader.
One of the many reasons the Harry Potter series is so satisfying to read over and over and over is that J. K. Rowling fantastically maintained story continuity and fulfilled promises we didn’t even know she was making.
But like Mr. James talks about in the chapter, that kind of continuity doesn’t happen by accident. Lots of writers lean on outlining as a safeguard in hopes that they can keep continuity, but the real seamless storytelling magic really does only happen with the process Mr. James talked about: Constantly reviewing what you’ve already written to inform what you will write next.
Another quote from the chapter that I really liked was:
“Editing is not ‘keeping the good stuff,’ and ‘taking out the bad stuff.’ Editing is leaving out everything except the contextually essential stuff.”
Of course, editing well means understand what is contextually essential. This is one of the reasons why “identifying the core of my story” has become critical in my pre-writing process.
At it’s core, The Lost Girl of Astor Street is about Piper trying to figure out what happened to Lydia. What that meant to me as an author is that every scene needed to be about that or it didn’t belong in the book.
Do you know what your story is about at its core? And if you read the chapter, what stuck out to you?
At its core, I think my current project is about Lee (the MC) trusting God with his future, and also him being ‘the messenger.’ I didn’t read the chapter, but I read all the posts about this, and they’re really helpful! Thank you. 🙂
Quick question: Are you guys doing NaNoWriMo this year?
I don’t know about the ladies that run the site, but I am. My username is Ninjago88 if you are looking for buddies.
I would love to do NaNoWriMo, but right now my priority is finishing the WIP I’m already halfway through. Maybe next year. I’ve never done it and it sounds fun.
And your story sounds interesting by the way. 🙂
https://goteenwriters.com/2018/10/22/37-story-brainstorming-questions-to-help-you-prepare-for-nanowrimo/
I just found this from last year.
Thank you! I just sent you an invitation to my buddies list.
I know for sure Jill and I are not doing NaNoWriMo, and I’m almost positive Shannon isn’t either. Just falls at a bad time for all of us this year!
I personally loved how Mr. James opened the chapter with the metaphor about “untangling” a story by repeatedly “brushing through” the easy parts, and eventually, with patience, you will be able to get through your problem rather than snagging on it. I thought it was both a fitting comparison and good advice, and I intend to do that with the issues I’m currently facing in the short story I’m writing (Which may or may not be due before midnight tonight. Wish me luck!) and my WIP novel.
I guess at its core, my novel is about the combined effort of a group of people to break a century’s old curse, with primary focus on the experiences of my two POVCs.
I just have one question: We’re supposed to make sure that all our scenes tie into this core, and if they don’t then they’re not necessary, but can one say that a scene is essential to the book if it doesn’t contain the core per se, but deals with themes or character development related to the core? (Examples: subplots that help the character grow to meet the challenge they face at the story’s core or show who they are as a person.)
Em, I also thought the hair-brushing example was a useful metaphor.
That’s a really great question and you point to the answer with the examples you gave. Even if at a glance a scene doesn’t look like it’s directly related to the core of the story, often it still is. If the character is gaining a skill or growing in some way that will help them overcome the main conflict, that still counts. I’m planning to put a post together about this in the next couple weeks, so hopefully that will help clarify!
Thanks 🙂