Storytelling Is An Art

Don’t we enjoy reading a good book? If it doesn’t hold our attention, we usually lose interest, never picking that book up again. This concept should be just as important when writing our own manuscript. As writer’s we want to hold the reader from the beginning to the end. When a reader loves your book, they are inclined to tell others. Waiting with anticipation for the release of your next novel.

An essential writing technique in storytelling is Creating Suspense. How many books have you read until the wee hours of the morning? Not wanting to put the book down. Involving yourselves with the characters, as if you knew them on a personal basis. Have you taken time to watch people when you talk to them? If what you are saying is putting a glassy eyed look on their face, it’s a sure bet, they aren’t listening. Same concept goes for when you are writing your story. Anyone can write words on paper. It’s the emphasis a writer applies to grammatically correct sentences and interesting words, that makes the novel suspenseful to the reader.

Characters are the working force to storytelling. Without them, there isn’t anything to write about. Characters have an agenda following a goal. Put them in a situation where there is conflict. I like to call conflict, obstacles. The hero and heroine will work through the conflict; building on the obstacles, moving the plot along creating the necessary suspense. A book I have found helpful is “Building Believable Characters” by Marc McCutcheon. Great book for helping me develop my character charts.

Some writers have difficulty applying Conflict in their storytelling. Once our characters are developed, we as writers have established a relationship with them. The last thing we want to do is cause pain or discomfort towards them. Conflict makes the story worth reading. It provides the story with struggles, tension, choices the characters will have to make. Having opposing forces is what brings the internal and external conflicts to a height of the drama. If you touch the reader’s hearts at all levels of emotions, you’ve created the art of storytelling.

Storytellers must satisfy their readers with a Believable Ending. Characters should have their conflict reduced to a workable agreement. A twist of surprise at the ending will bring delight to the reader. Such as a traumatic event giving the character a chance to change. Romance storytelling is based on the hero and heroine resolving their differences in harmony. What the basic conflict was in the beginning of the story is now reflected to a happy ending.

Are you excited to be with your characters each day? Does your story hold your interest?

Sharon.