Author: Lara

In this short video (<4 min), I discuss Story. What is “STORY” in the archetypal sense of the word? How does it differ from plot? What can the Harry Potter series teach us about Story?

View the video to see the Harry Potter clips. Otherwise read the transcript below.

TRANSCRIPT

Hi, I’m Lara, a writer, editor, and story coach, and I’m going to teach you a little bit about story.

[Verity Lane channel jingle]

What is story?

To answer that question, I want to take the most well-known story probably the world has ever seen—Harry Potter.

What is Harry Potter about?

Is it about a young boy named Harry Potter and his adventures as he attends Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, learns how to perform magic, and comes face to face with his archenemy, Lord Voldemort?

When you think about Harry Potter, if you’ve seen the movies or read the books, what lasting images come to mind?

Why do you think Harry Potter is such a lasting series?

Is it because Harry Potter was the chosen one?

<CLIP>
Hermione: She’s only interested in you because she thinks you’re the chosen one.
Harry: But I am the chosen one.
<end Clip>

Because he’s a wizard that goes to a wizarding school?

(Clip of Hogwarts)

Is it this, him fighting an arch nemesis?

<CLIP>
(Harry and Voldemort cast spells and curses)
<end CLIP>

Or is it this?

(Harry, Hermione, and Ron after the Battle of Hogwarts)

Harry Potter’s wizarding school, his abilities, the places, the characters that are so complex and lifelike and lovable—these are just characters; these are just ideas. They’re concepts. And concepts don’t make a story.

They don’t even make a plot.

I once defined story as “a character believably interacting and conflicting en route to a goal.”

That’s plot. You have a character with a goal, and then you have a character trying to reach that goal, amidst all of these conflicts getting in the way. The longer your story, the more conflicts they have.

But that’s plot.

So what’s story?

Story is an irreversible change from beginning to end.

“You’re a Wizard, Harry!”—that’s the beginning of the story, right? That’s when Harry learns that he’s a wizard…

No, that’s the beginning of the plot.

The story begins when Harry loses his family.

The story ends when Harry has a new family.

The Story of Harry Potter is a boy who finds friends, and belonging, and a family. That’s the Story of Harry Potter. That is the underlying Story that all of us can believe in and all of us can understand. The plot shows us the Story.

Check out bit.ly/videogameway to see how story goals made the stories of Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, and How to Train Your Dragon.

I’ve talked about plot at length. I have a whole series of the 8 C’s of Plot that you can use to map out your story if you’re an outliner or a planner.

If you’d like to find out more about what makes a story, how to write plot…this spring, I’m launching StoryWorldCon, an online convention for writers of stories of any genre, for any ages. StoryWorldCon is going to be a place for you to meet other writers, to exchange work with them, to find critique partners, and to also learn from me how to write a story, how to come up with ideas, how to revise your story, and how to get that story out to agents.

I’m so excited about this, and I can’t wait to share more information! But that’s going to have to wait until later this spring, so stay tuned!

 

 

As I get ready to put my preschooler on a big yellow bus for the first time, I’m excited and nervous for the two of us. I loved school, and I’m nostalgic while I relive those days vicariously through my son. But I’m also nostalgic for when he was eight months old. My husband was in Afghanistan, and it was just me and this little dude with an unfortunate 1960s haircut, scooting around on the floor at the speed of a freight train. How is he five years old already?

Some of your local school districts may have started school a month ago. Some started this week. Some haven’t started yet! Whether you’re already inundated with homework or you’ve been out of school for decades, you never have to stop learning. Indeed, you never should.

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you might remember when I did a guest post for Better Novel Project. That post was about writing dialogue, but I’ll let you in on a secret. The same methods you’ll use to strengthen your dialogue are the same you can use to strengthen your writer’s voice.

What is Voice?

People like to pretend that “voice” is this illusive, infamous enigma.

Voice is how your words sound.

It’s a combination of diction (word choice) and syntax (word order).

Everyone has a natural voice—it’s affected by culture, style, and education. By “education” I don’t mean just formal schooling, I mean what people read or listen to in their spare time, their experience, and their worldview (their personal philosophy which affects the way they observe and interpret the world).

Obviously as an editor, I’m a proponent of “good” grammar in formal writing. A standardized grammatical form allows for the best reading comprehension. However, fiction is not formal writing—that’s why people actually read it. Readers want authentic voices in their novels. Sometimes that means “improper” grammar.

I use scare quotes above, because there’s no such thing as good or proper grammar, just formal and informal. Grammar should only be prescribed when it will improve reading comprehension.

Of course, I do have some pet peeves, but as long as your formality/informality is consistent in consistent situations, many of my grammatical edits will be marked as subjective rather than objective “that was wrong, this is right” statements.

Back to voice. When asked how he would define it, a Milkweed editor said, “Good voice is something I’d pay to listen to.”

Good, consistent voice suggests a singular person is behind it. When I read a developed voice, I can hear what the audiobook might sound like. Is your text readable out loud? If not, the voice isn’t going to sound authentic. Your writing will seem like writing–you’ll be drawing attention to yourself and your diction or syntax rather than immersing your reader in the story.

So how do you write authentic voice? Read my 7 tips at Better Novel Project.