It’s the start of NaNoWriMo for writers everywhere which means there’s a big focus on telling the stories we love.
The BIG question, is how do we write a great story that captivates readers?
As I was writing a scene for my contemporary romance novel this morning, I had an epiphany…
The secret to really make your story matter is to be immersed inside your character’s head. To see the story from their perspective.
I’ll explain what I mean from a few scenes in the novel I’m working on…
*Photo created with Canva
Seeing Your Story Thru the Eyes of Your Character
As I was writing this morning, I was having so much fun diving deeper into the two main character’s point of view, that I lost track of time. That doesn’t happen a lot for me, so it was inspiring.
Here’s what I mean.
My main heroine, Abby (Fuller) Parker after having just lost her best friend and husband in a tragic motorcycle accident – only 5 hours after they married – is completely thrown for a loop from the tragedy. It’s only after the funeral, and after she has hidden from the world, at home on her parent’s ranch outside Calgary, that she realizes she can’t continue to live like this. After she yells at Kara, one of her 3 sisters – for no good reason – and then overhears her old High School friends say horrible things about her behind her back, she realizes it’s time for her to leave.
Abby heads to her Nana’s old rambling and rundown Victorian cottage on Mulberry Island(I’ve set the Island on the Pacific Ocean, near Vancouver, B.C). Once there Abby lives through memories of coming every to stay with her Nana, since she was five years of age. It was there that she met Jack, the good-looking quiet and brooding boy who hung out with her brother Eric. It wasn’t until she was thirteen years old that, Jack – who was fifteen- started turning awkward when he hung out with her. Each summer after that Jack pays more attention to her, until finally when she’s sixteen, Jack takes it one step deeper.
Jack takes Abby to her stepfather’s lighthouse to show her the view and that’s where he tells her he loves her and kisses her. But, Jack’s drunk stepfather interrupts and tells Jack to get his whore out of the lighthouse. As Abby runs out of the building, she hears Jack and his stepfather yelling at each other. She runs down the beach toward her Nana’s house, but Jack catches up with her. He says sorry, but Abby doesn’t know how to process it and tells Jack she needs to be getting back home. Jack tries to talk her into staying for a few more days, but Abby has had enough and feels like she needs to leave.
My main hero, Jack Shepherd, was raised with his mom and real dad until his birth dad dies in a freak boating accident. His mom, starts using drugs to try to cope and eventually marries Lenny, when Jack is five. Jack starts getting beat up regularly and sees his mom abused to. When his little sister is born when Jack is ten years old, he often gets beat up for trying to protect his mom and sister. That’s when Jack starts to get to know the Fuller family and hangs out with Eric and later with Abby. Abby is like a breath of fresh air to him, beautiful and encouraging. He’s drawn to her like a fly to honey and can’t wait until the next summer when she comes back.
So, when Abby comes back to Mulberry Island, Jack can’t believe it. When he first sees her again, he is amazed by how much he still loves her and when he discovers that her husband just died, Jack feels guilty for being happy that Abby’s available. As Abby hires Jack to work as the restoration architect for her Nana’s old house, they get to know each other in an even deeper way.
Here’s what I learned as I started writing down the details of Abby and Jack’s background and then as they meet each other again…
- Abby is afraid of being abandoned again: like she was when her birth mom died of cancer and when Daniel died in the sudden accident. She’s not sure she can give her heart, only to have it ripped out… again.
- Abby is insecure about how important she is to the men she loves – her dad, Daniel and then later as she starts to care for Jack.
- Jack, deep down, feels like his mom betrayed him, when she remarried Lenny – who started beating on Jack from when he was young. He feels like he can’t totally trust women. Later on, during his years of college, as he’s training to be an architect, he falls for and gets engaged to Vivian. When he discovers Vivian kissing his boss one day, Jack feels the betrayal all over again – only deeper. So his default is to hold his heart back from Abby.
- Restoring Nana’s old house is in a way, healing and restoring for both Abby and Jack as they have fights, learn to forgive each other and how to really work together to develop trust.
- When they search for and discover hidden treasure, it’s somewhat of a metaphor for Jack and Abby’s own journey as they uncover their hurts, begin healing and discover the best of each other.
Those issues, are the heart of the story and the secrets I absolutely love to uncover as I dig deeper into the lives of my main characters. It’s best for a writer to be so immersed within that character that they know their deepest thoughts and feelings.
Finding out these surprises is one of the reasons why writing is so fun, and it’s why secondary characters can really add something great to a book. Writing a story isn’t just about telling a story. It’s about living through the character and seeing the story from their perspective. The story is not the writer’s story. The story is the character’s story. This is why I really love story so much.
I dive deeper into story structure and uncovering character and dialogue in the New Write and Publish Your First Book online course. If you want to learn more don’t wait. I’m limiting the number of students for this first class. Doors are open only until Nov. 6th at 11:59 EST. To learn more, check out the Free Video training (and Free Book) 🙂
This is what I’ve discovered about telling a story. Without understanding the character, the story has no meaning. The story becomes only a series of events. It’s the character that gives the story heart.
This is why the character(s) is the key to the entire story, and the focus should always be on the main characters. Secondary characters, of course add a broader dimension and support the story, but the main characters are the ones that the reader really begins to care about and relates to.
What are your secrets to making your story really matter? I’d love to hear your thoughts on story in the comments.
*Photo created with Canva
