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I’m trying to outline a short story and thought I’d ask for help with brainstorming. What I have so far for the story, is that character A gets stuck out in the rain, and catches a cold/fever. Character B tries to look after them, like make them warm soup or whatever. They knew each other before the story, but aren’t really close friends yet.
Character A is creative and shy (likes to draw and sew) Character B is a bit mischievous and isn’t naturally very nurturing which could be funny, considering their role in the story.
Oh, and this is in a contemporary setting.
@dekreel @sam-kowal @emily @dragon-snapper @shannon @anyone who’d like to help.And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.
@introvert_girl Oh, yes. You know what, I’m just going to dump you with an article. This will help you figure out your plot I believe. If it doesn’t, I can clarify how to do it.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kpZLtQ2gtGJEbvSGRvD6I5pdSRca9IfkHDGh4TAYJwU/edit?usp=sharing
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@daeus That is helpful, thank you!
While this doesn’t exactly pertain to plot, this: “Internal monologue that lacks subtlety is one of the biggest problems I see in modern fiction” really caught my attention because I can see that I’ve had a tendency to do that as well. Subtext in internal monologue is something I’m going to try and pay more attention to now.
Also, I have a question about a character’s yearning. Does it fall into the category of want or need? Is it both?
And one last question, just because I’ve been curious. . . How do you pronounce your name? xDAnd he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.
@introvert_girl Well, I would argue that it actually does pertain to plot. If you’re looking to develop the plot in your story, I would ask, “What needs to happen to fulfill these characters’ yearnings and what obstacles are going to stand in their way?”
As for need vs. want, it depends on how you look at it. 😉 Man does not live on bread alone, and our inner hungers are often more important than our physical hungers. At the same time, not everybody’s yearning is equally deep and I don’t think many (if any) yearnings are actually technically needs.
My name is pronounced like: D(“a” as in “ant”) – s(with a very slight “uh” sound before it). If that’s too complicated, you can pronounce it Day-us, which sounds almost exactly the same and if you said it that way I wouldn’t even notice. It’s a name that’s said quickly without very much stress on either syllable, though the first receives more emphasis.
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@daeus I think you may have misunderstood me, because I agree with you! I don’t know if you’re familiar with the scene sequel structure or not (K. M. Weiland has some articles on it, I think) but stories usually come to me with characters and their arcs and possible sequels that would be important to them. From there I flesh out the scenes, the events that would lead up to the sequels. A character’s yearning fits right into that. 🙂
I find that to be a very satisfactory answer. Often times our idea of our needs and wants get a bit muddied. We’re blessed to have a heavenly Father who knows exactly what our needs are!
And I believe I understand. Thanks for clearing that up, lol.
And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.
Yeah, let me think… you need kind of a main point to the story so there can be a resolution
Maybe B has loads of homework to do and has to try to get A to help with it.
Maybe B doesn’t really like A, and doesn’t want to socialize with A, but has to because of the homework.
Maybe’s it’s B’s fault A got sick, and A’s mom is coming to get A, so B has to get A healed quickly first. Or they’re stuck in the house until someone comes to get them, and they have to learn how to get along. And in the end, they learn from each other.
Maybe A is really nonsocial and B keeps on trying to get A to talk and open up. And so B keeps trying to start conversations that A doesn’t want to be in
@daeus’ article would be an excellent help, I think. 😀 figure out A and B’s yearnings. @daeus Thanks for the excellent article, by the way. I felt like something clicked inside of me about realizing characters that I hadn’t realized before… their goals are just part of their greater yearning, which is locked at the core of their being*Giarstanornarak tries to melt chair*
Also, Daeus has 22 turtles in his signature.@daeus I had another question related to your article. In the case of a short story, do you think a character’s yearning should be fulfilled by the end?
@sam-kowal Thanks, that was super helpful! Your first idea sparked what I think is going to be a large element of the plot now. (Character A has a project they need to finish, but because they’re ill, they’re stressed they won’t be able to finish it on time, so character B steps in to help them out.)
And yes, I agree that @daeus article is a great help.And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.
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@introvert_girl Sounds like you already have plenty of help on this. I don’t think I have anything to input for this.
@introvert_girl Good question. I think in a short story, it isn’t necessary to fulfill your characters yearnings, though if you can, that would be great. I think you do need to show that the characters have made a significant step toward fulfilling their yearnings though.
Also, with villains and tragic characters, sometimes their yearnings should never be fulfilled.
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You say the two characters knew each other before this meeting. I think it would be really interesting if they had some bad history together, even if they didn’t really know each other. Even if they only met once, they could have negative or critical thoughts about each other. Backstory always makes things more interesting.
I hope this helps!
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www.jennaterese.com@jenwriter17 You’re right, there should definitely be some sort of conflict between them. Thanks for the idea 😀
And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.
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