Developing Our Muscles

Developing your characters and plot typically happens as a first step in writing, right after that great inspirational idea (even if it’s given by an outside source). I like to think of this as the “Muscular System” of writing.

The Muscular System’s primary job is to provide movement for other parts of the human body. Think about a time when you were sick. Did your body feel weak? Your muscles weren’t being exercised, or used, and therefore unable to do their job correctly. Recently, I had major surgery. During my recovery, I rested a lot. While I felt very tired after only a short walk around my downstairs, I noticed other things that were happening to my body as a result of lack of movement. My lungs couldn’t provide me the air I needed to breath well, and I had to do special exercises just for breathing every day, (well, several times every day), to make them stronger.

The same is true of our work. The “muscles” of our writing must be developed so that the entire body can “move,” or flow in an understandable way to the reader. How do we accomplish this?

1. Brainstorm, brainstorm, brainstorm. Jerry Jenkins says there are two questions the story must address. First, what happens? This is also known as the plot. Second, what does it mean? This is the theme. As we brainstorm, we begin to see answers to our questions.

2. Think of characters as real people. One blog, (well-storied.com), suggests to give each character a purpose, a flaw, a fear, a history, and a present story. Write this down and create a visual image of what they look and act like. One author even suggested finding a picture online of how you envision your character to be like and print a copy for reference.

3. What we say, how we express it, and the words we choose are all part of the tone the author sets for the story. Think about each individual character as well. Where might we want to add things like slang, or a character with pent-up anger who may speak harshly and use sarcasm.

While most of this is done prior to the first draft, sometimes things can develop or change as we’re working on our piece. A relationship between two characters might work better if one acted more—. Or, a twist in the plot develops itself as the story continues.

I provided just a few of the many ways we can develop the “muscles” in our writing so that the body is able to work smoothly together, creating a real-life experience for our reader. What are some different ways that you build your story’s “muscle?” I’d love to hear. Remember, any comment will be entered into our October drawing!