Writing a story has always been a challenge for me. Whether it was a short story, or a longer book, I never felt like I could write in a creative way that grasps the reader and has a flow to it. It’s hard to come up with an idea and put it into words, which is why being able to write my story was such an accomplishment. 🏆
Through my writing process, I was taught many lessons about how to write a story from Frances Dowell, a very talented author. One of her lessons was about all the parts of a story and how they fit together. The parts of a story include the opening action scene, the background check, sticks and stones, the big monster problem, and finally the resolution:
- The first thing before beginning to write is coming up with What If questions. These questions become the central theme of a story. For example, “What if there was a wizard named Harry Potter?” What If questions help to get out of a writer’s point of view and lead in towards making a general idea for what your story is about. My What If question that I chose to write about is, “What if dinosaurs were still alive?” 🦕
- After selecting a What If question to write about, the next step is to make an opening action scene. The very first scene in a book is almost considered one of the most important scenes. This is because the first scene is the reader’s first impression of a book, so it has to pull the reader in. To make an opening action scene, the only real requirement is that something has to happen that changes the course of events. Most people think of this as an explosion or physical action of some kind, but it can also be something else, just as long as it sets the protagonist on its journey through the story. My opening scene was actually set in the future, and my whole story was working up to that moment. 🧩
- After the opening scene, things should start to calm down in a story. In the opening scene, there were no details given about the protagonist’s life, so it was left a mystery (which is part of what pulls the reader in 📚). This is where the background check comes in. The background check fills the reader in about who the character is, such as things like their age and where they live. I used the background check in my story to describe the protagonist with details like these.
- Besides the big monster problem and the opening action scene, a story has to have “bumps” on the way. These mini-problems in a story are described by Frances as “sticks and stones in the path to the boulder”. This conclusively means that the mini-problems in a story can be worked out easily by the protagonist, like sticks and stones on a path, working its way to the monster problem (boulder). My story is a mystery story, and some of my stick-and-stone problems were the protagonist in risk of being caught many times throughout the story. 🕵️♀️
- Another important scene in a story is the big monster problem. This problem that the protagonist faces is way bigger than the sticks and stones and requires them to face it. For example, in an action movie, the fight scene might be the monster problem. I used this lesson and created my monster problem by making the protagonist face a threat to their neighborhood. 🏠
- And finally, every story needs a resolution. The resolution is where everything in the story is resolved and there are no cliffhangers or untold details. The resolution wraps up the story. Since my story is a mystery story, the resolution was almost completely after the monster problem, since the mystery had already been solved. 🗝
After I wrote my story, it was on to revision. One of the most important things that helped me revise my story was the feedback from my classmates and even from Frances Dowell herself! Instead of looking over my own story, I got to listen to other stories and hear feedback on my own to help me revise. I feel like the process of doing this helped me get out of my own point of view and listen to a reader’s perspective. Not only that, I enjoyed reading everyone’s story!
Other than the specific feedback I got from Frances Dowell and my peers, one of the things I learned from this method is that everyone has a different perspective. I thought it was interesting to see the diverse feedback I got and the wide variety of writing styles in each individual story. ✍️
As I said before, writing has always been challenging for me. It wasn’t easy, but I am very proud of the outcome. I have never attempted writing a story this long and I am really grateful to have had this opportunity! 😊
To learn more about Frances Dowell, click Home below: