How do stories form? How do they go from the idea in the writer's head into something a reader can read. This short article looks at one writer's process.
Ideas for stories come to me in that one line sentence with which one opens the query letter to an editor.
“Dear John Roberts,
Would you care to read my novel?. It tells the story of Cinderella, who despite being kept locked away by her cruel sisters, does, with the aid of her Fairy Godmother go to the ball and meet the prince, and despite a last minute hiccup, marries him. Etc. etc.
I see the story as a block of wood. A slab of stone or a lump of clay. The story is more or less there. I need to bring in the detail.
The first stage then, whether we are talking flash fiction, short story or a 80,000 word plus novel, is to slap it down. Here comes the outline of the, roughly hewn out of the block of wood which is the basic idea. It already looks like a story.
First, I check, does it really have the right balance. Is the high point high enough and is the resolution satisfying and plausible? Have I got the right shape in my piece of wood, stone or clay?
Then we go into detail. Is my story using the right voice for its reader? Is the sculpture right for its purpose? But whatever I do at this stage or late, I must not alter the basic shape.
Then comes a whole process which involves putting extra bits in and taking other bits out. Tinkering. Does the dialogue work? Would people really say that? Is it adding to character or plot? Is there pace? Are emotionally engaged with the characters? Was that a cliché that crept in then? I am I writing enough with my senses? Am I giving a convincing sense of time and place? Is this a darling I must kill?
It feels like sculpting. Perhaps now the clay analogy works the best, because I have to had and subtract and smooth over and with wood and stone you can only take more away. But even there's a lesson. Less is often more.
Finally, there is the last read through, the reading out loud, which slows you enough to notice clunky sentences, basic spelling and grammar mistakes and typos. You finally step back and take in the whole of your sculpture and look for any jagged lines. You smooth and make now minor adjustments which serve the integrity of the whole. The sculpted story is complete.
