In between school, chores, defending my homework from my cat, and other things, I have been immersing myself in this book and taking a sabbatical to try and better my writing technique. It is amazing, Story Engineering by Larry Brooks gives you way more info on structure, theme, and character than other writing blogs, books, and various other things that I have read.
He uses something called the Six Core Competencies. It's a list of things you combine to make good stories.
First is concept, then character, then theme, then structure, then scene execution, and finally writing voice.
He describes concept as a tool to help you involve that initial idea into a rough outline. He says to take your idea and morph it into a "What if?" question that could lead to more what ifs and eventually the beginnings of a fantastic story.
He also talks about the "three dimensions" of a character. The first layer is what we see on the outside: habits, appearance, quirks, and attitudes. The second layer explains why that character does what it does - in other words backstory, which is also connected to the third layer. The third layer is the true essence of a character. For instance, you have a person who is a bit messed up. Made a lot of bad decisions in life (I E drugs, alcohol, etc...) and that character is faced with two choices, one of which is the better choice and the other a very bad choice. Now, despite all of the things this character has done, he or she could take the better choice showing his or her true character.
This is a wonderful book that covers practically everything you need to know about how to write a piece of fiction. ^_^
Until next time~
