theticklishpear: (A table of contents is available. This series will remain open for additional po
theticklishpear: (A table of contents is available. This series will remain open for additional posts and the table of contents up-to-date as new posts are added.) Part Four: When to Consider the Focus Last time we took a look at how narrow or broad the focus of the story’s lens is on the historical arc can help determine whether a story lends itself more toward a multi-book series, or a stand alone story, and how that looks for episodic series. In short, a multi-book series tends to look at a broader scope of world history, following the characters’ journey within the grander context of what’s happening in the world. Stand alone stories and those that make up episodic series tend to look at smaller pictures, the events of one particular arc, often a character’s arc. I also brought forward the idea that a story could not be both character-focused and plot-focused, but that they could be heavily influenced by one side while still focusing on the other. It’s tough to spot the differences between the two when there are stories out there that look like one thing but are really another. In general, writers and readers tend to agree that it’s the characters that make a story worth reading. A world can be as complex and beautiful and interesting as the author can make it, but if the characters aren’t interesting, there’s a higher chance that an audience will stop reading. On the other hand, when the characters are complex and intriguing, they can cover many flatter pieces of worldbuilding simply by keeping the audience engaged with their story. One of the most common complaints in book reviews for books the reader didn’t finish was that they didn’t like and/or care about the characters. It seems to follow, then, that every author would want to put their focus on the characters to keep the audience engaged. Wouldn’t that mean that every story would strive to be a character-focused story? Of course! But the depth of a character on-page isn’t a good indicator of the focus of a story. You have to be able to look at the story as a whole to see what it’s really driving at. Even the plot-focused Lord of the Rings brought Frodo and Sam’s relationship and Aragorn’s journey to kingship to the forefront and twisted our hearts, but the structure the three books uses to put those character-based struggles on display is that of a much wider conflict–the Ring’s influence on the world and the upheaval characters create because of their desires toward that Ring. Where this leaves us is realizing that our understanding of what a story is focused on can change as the story goes on. Sometimes stories camouflage themselves beneath the appearance of a character-focused story only to later reveal that, in truth, the conflict the characters’ stories are couched within is much wider; the story becomes plot-focused instead, with a heavy character flavor. To understand what it is you’re writing, you often have to have the whole thing to look at first, before you can narrow down what your point is and what the focus of your story is. Often, it means that once you’ve written out that first draft, you look back and see literally everything that could have possibly been included. That’s the purpose of a first draft, after all: To get the whole story out. It’s your job in the second, third, fourth, etc., drafts to go back and shape the story to be what you want it to be, to be focused on the exact conflict it’s meant to be telling. This means cutting out things that pull the focus away from where you want it, even if the material is compelling and interesting. (Maybe it’s destined for its own story!) Maybe it means restructuring what happens on-screen vs. off-screen so that you draw the focus in closer. (It doesn’t make what happens off-screen less important, just helps to better draw the audience’s attention to the story that’s directly at-hand and de-clutter the page.) Maybe it means combining extra characters to remove some of the extra backstory material that having a whole other character comes with so that you’re not trying to tell too many stories at once. It’s about being ruthless and true to your vision of the heart of the story. We’ll talk a bit more in the next part about how to bring that vision to fruition and what kinds of changes the narrative structure undergoes depending on the focus. -- source link