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Why? It’s the story.

The kids are coming to realize that a lot of the excellent films they view were novels first. My youngest read Eragon and critiqued the movie on all its flaws. My middle child decided to see the Harry Potter movies first, because she knew the books would be even better.

Why do movies like The Blood Diamond, The Wizard of Oz, Sense and Sensibility and Children of Men stand out in our memories? It’s the story.

There is much to be learned from films. Many of us have read Goal, Motivation and Conflict by Debra Dixon and have seen how she’s dissected the film, The Wizard of Oz. Many of us have attended an all day seminar with Robin Perini and Laura Baker to Discover Story Magic and have dismembered the movie, Jerry Maguire. And for sheer mastery of example upon example, the information divulged by Robert McKee in Story is unrivaled.

If you look carefully at your favorite film, you can see the various plotting techniques used. It doesn’t matter if you use a “W”, a grid, an outline, note cards, a synopsis or even Vogler’s The Hero’s Journey.

Yet, saying it’s the story that brings you to view a movie or read a book more than once isn’t totally accurate. Because, what is really resonating with the reader or viewer isn’t whether or not Dorothy gets home or Jerry lands a client or the last dragon survives, it’s the emotion that is evoked by the characters’ struggles that we can relate to. It is the ability to be in their shoes, to live vicariously through their efforts and learn the lessons they learn.

Some call it the theme, the point, or the purpose of the story—whatever you find to be your universal truth. If you can state this element in a single sentence you are well on your way to tapping into the emotion necessary to make your work stand out. It’s the difference between making something read like a history textbook and a private journal.

So, you have story, and you have emotion. You’ve studied and applied craft (You have figured out a way to deal with that pesky backstory, haven’t you?). Your writing is technically perfect.

But sometimes that isn’t enough. Something is missing. That missing something could very well be you.

You?

Yes, you.

Are you passionate about what you are writing? Are you writing to fill someone else’s expectations of what you should write in order to sell? Are you writing passionately because it is something you absolutely love?

If you believe the ghosts of a cruise ship haunt the vessel, attacking adulterers as the spirits seek a way to be reunited and thus free their souls; if you are passionate about this story idea, have written it filled with the potential emotion such a situation can create do NOT let anyone tell you that the story would be “okay if only you would” change the ghosts to vampires, keep them from attacking the adulterers, put them in Manhattan and not on a cruise ship etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

If you make such changes and your heart doesn’t support those changes, the reader will know.

Now, that is not to say that you should ignore the structural changes an editor gives you. If something doesn’t make sense, is out of sync, illogical or has other issues, trust your editor to guide you. However, should your editor request changes as mentioned above that fundamentally change the vision you had of the story, you must decide on two things: 1) do you want to change the story that much to keep it with that house and 2) have you submitted your story to the right house to begin with?

Your passion for the story and its theme must show through. Passion for the story is what takes an unknown Christopher Paolini from self-publishing to a three book contract with Alfred A. Knopf. Passion is the essential ingredient to make your book stand out when all other writing elements are in place. Passion is what helps writers give believable, multi-faceted characters that a reader emotionally connects with, is the very thing that makes them read a novel over and over.

“The secret of success is dazzling readers—spinning them a story they will never forget.” Donald Maass.

Believe in yourself, in your work, in your theme. Let the passion and emotion pour through each and every paragraph and you will create an unforgettable story.

Sandra Hicks
Editor
www.AspenMountainPress.com