fulfilling the story’s promise
Swiped from PBW, Elizabeth Lyon’s Can Your Novel Pass This Test, is great. Actually, I think it’s something I’m going to keep next to me during the writing process to, because it really just made me stop and think. And, for a few minutes, panic completely, based on my own recent revision and her first question:
Does your story promise to fulfill a single, fundamental yearning of your protagonist, one that reflects an issue of human need, such as forgiveness, belonging, redemption, family unity, or self-respect?
Resource: A Story is a Promise by Bill Johnson
My initial thought was, holy crap - NO! And then I panicked and thought and thought and panicked and finally realized, um, duh, it does. In fact, it does so much that the theme is pretty much the title of the book.
Steph T.
December 7th, 2005 at 6:19 pm
That was a great questionaire! Making a note to add some of those books to my wishlist.
December 7th, 2005 at 10:07 pm
YA Steph! You did it naturally!
*going to check out the questionaire*
December 7th, 2005 at 10:17 pm
I checked it out, but after a while, it made me think too much. A piece of chocolate helped.
But yes, I think it definitely zeroes in on some major flaws of first books.
December 8th, 2005 at 1:21 pm
I’m a panster, so I don’t really plot. But what I have always done is decide what the “theme” is to my story. My problem is expressing it in an intersting manner. I guess that’s why I like the Hero’s Journey so much. It kind of spells out what I need to do and gives me a road map.