What Is the Heart of Story?
By
DiAnn Mills
Stories
have souls that breathe immortality.
The
magic kingdom is filled with rare, distinct, haunting, and extraordinary
characters who accompany us to our sweet spot of remembrance. Readers and
writers dream the character is real and imagine themselves joining the journey.
We long for readers to become the hero or heroine, much like children don
super-hero costumes and develop mannerisms of their favorite character.
How
does a writer accomplish this amazing feat? Is there a magic wand to wave over
our keyboard?
There’s
no fairy dust in writing. It’s all hard work.
We
labor to create characters who are:
· Multi-dimensional.
· Full of life.
· Possess authentic flaws.
· Achieve solid victories.
· Have believable strengths.
· Are real people with real
challenges.
We drop
them into a setting that is determined to see the character fail by tossing
rocks, swords, bullets, bombs, lies, and the hero’s worst fears into their
paths. (Think Indiana Jones and his aversion to snakes.)
We
offer the character a way out of his predicament, but the hero refuses. When
knocked down, he gets back up. When bleeding he smacks on a Band-Aid and keeps
moving. When he’s defeated in battle, he understands the war is not over.
· The characters are unique.
· The characters are not
afraid to love or give.
· They are secure in who
they are.
· They are confident in
their abilities and willing to learn new skills.
· They accept a higher deity
called God who is sovereign.
· They make mistakes and
learn from them.
· Their appeal is shown in
their response to life’s challenges.
· They inspire us to be
better people.
· They offer hope in a world
that threatens our peace of mind.
Is a
writer always successful in establishing the immortal character? Unfortunately,
not. But we never give up because it’s in our DNA and our divine purpose for
each book to be better written than the previous one. We writers are committed
to our craft, so that our stories and their characters will live forever in a
reader’s mind and heart.
How do
you give your stories soul?
Photo courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net and sumetho.
DiAnn Mills is a bestselling author who believes her readers should expect an adventure. She creates action-packed, suspense-filled novels to thrill readers. Her titles have appeared on the CBA and ECPA bestseller lists, won two Christy Awards, Golden Scroll Awards, and finalist in the RITA, Daphne Du Maurier, Inspirational Readers’ Choice, and Carol award contests. DiAnn teaches writing all over the country. Connect here: diannmills.com
Comments
Post a Comment