Writing in a narrative
Do you do that? Is your story told simply as you see it, but doesn’t include opinions of others? Do you have characters in your story? Do they have a story of their own? Do you allow them to tell their stories or do you do it in a narrative form?
To begin, I readily admit, I’m no expert.I am still learning to write.
As we write, the learning is constant. We begin to pick up little things along the way which we incorporate into our stories. We begin to learn how to write one day and it’s as if someone opened a curtain and we are able to see past the fabric, finally. It took me a while to do that, but, it always takes me longer to see or understand certain things which are obvious to others. I am still learning as I said to begin this.
Oh well, as long as I see it sooner than too much farther in the future, there may be hope for me as a writer after all. There are little mannerisms I discovered, mostly by accident because I read it somewhere, or the proverbial light bulb lit up above the old head. It doesn’t matter how the discovery was made, simply put, if there was a learning experience, connected to it then it was good. One of those helpful habits we should learn to develop can be along the lines of the following thoughts I have learned:
One little habit we as writers should do is to watch people as they interact with one another. People in a bar, at a picnic, or perhaps at a large gathering. Everyone is moving, they’re scratching their heads, or generally doing something. They are usually interacting with the events around them.They aren’t statues.
As they speak many people become animated. Whatever it is you see people do when they’re exchanging conversation with one another, or just being together, is how you should portray them when you write. Your reader can’t see these things unless you tell them about it.
The more engrossed you can get your readers involved with what it is you’re telling them, the better. If it is a dry narrative, it can get old quickly. Most characters just like you have a story they can tell someone else about themselves in your account. Let them do that. You’ll find your tale will move along much better when you do.
I’ve read a lot of stories by people who want desperately to write poignant novels. One of the biggest mistakes many beginning authors make is this, they write the entire dialogue in a narrative style expressing their personal opinion about what happens in the book. I did the same thing early on.
Although that isn’t a bad way to write a story, it isn’t the best either. Usually, we write about what others are doing, saying, thinking and reacting to. In real life, that’s how it is. People sneeze, they cough, scratch their heads, come off with sayings unique to them and it fits their personalities. They think about things and they express their opinions. Sometimes we like them and sometimes we don’t.
I don’t have all the answers but over the last twenty years as I have been practicing writing some things along the way have made themselves clear. I’m still learning and have a long way to go but it is a fun process.
One day, we as authors find our unique voice, if we devote enough time to developing it. It is the way we tell others about what we see in our minds. It is our style. We tell the reader stories about things, people, events and we tell it the way we see it. When we have a variety of characters in our stories, we have to become each character to tell it the way they see it or feel about whatever it is we are imparting to our readers. When you can create events and people living those events that seem to be real, you have come very close to achieving the saying, “You have arrived.”
Arriving as a writer is a long uphill learning process. It takes learning plenty of little things that mount up. Grammar, punctuation, the ability to discipline oneself, and so many more in-depth ideas they cannot all be addressed her. Suffice it to be understood, it is a gradual process that takes a very long time to learn. You never learn it all, it develops with practice but sometimes, we can become accomplished storytellers if we keep at it, and we can retain what we have learned. Practice makes perfect.
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crcaseyboy 