Story Dissection Lab 📖🧐🔬

[Esther]

I’m really excited about this topic! I’ve been meaning to create it for a while and I’ve finally gotten to it. 😁

OK!

My initial idea was to do an online book club with y’all, but as I thought about it, the more I figured it wouldn’t work to well because of our differing access to books, what content we’re comfortable with reading, etc.

So instead, this is where we post about books/movies/tv shows that we’ve really enjoyed and dissect them!! Don’t worry, it’s not as bad as dissecting any baby pigs, cow eyes, or frogs.🤢 Basically, take them apart, look at the different pieces and how they were put together. You could identify all the plot points; you could point out an aspect of the story that made it intriguing, funny, thrilling, etc.; you could peel back the layers of the story and find out what made it work. Additionally, you could do this with books you didn’t like as well. What made the story so bad and how could it be fixed?

Another thing—if you wanna do this with a character rather than an entire story, go for it. 😎

I hope all that made sense! The idea is to do it with multiple people so you all can discuss it together. I think this should be super helpful in helping us grow as writers, but this is also a place we get to rant but still sound intelligent. 😂 Cuz sometimes we just say we love a book because it’s SOOO GOOD!!!!! XD

Alrighty. Here’s some questions to start the conversations. You don’t have to follow these at all, they’re just ideas.

• What made you like this story so much?
• What plot devices did that author use that made this story intriguing?
• Is there anything that could have made the plot better if it was taken away/added in?
• What tropes worked in this story and which ones didn’t?
• What made the villain so terrifying/intriguing?
• Was the main character relatable? In what ways?
• Or unrelatable? And how?
• How was the theme presented?
• Was the theme woven into the plot in a way that wasn’t preachy or pushy?
• What plot devices did the author use tactfully to display the theme?
• Were there any characters you didn’t like? Why?
• Is there anything the author could have done better?

And I’m sure y’all will answer many more questions than these. 🙂

If any of this didn’t make sense, just ask me and I’ll clarify. 😉

To begin, just make a post about a story you really enjoyed and find some other peeps who have read/watched it too!

Tags!

@godlyfantasy12 @lightoverdarkness6 @keilah-h @whalekeeper @savannah_grace2009 @rae @grcr @trailblazer @jonas @thearcaneaxiom @smiley @mineralizedwritings @highscribeofaetherium @thelittlejupitertion @janellebelovedpig @joy-calle @acancello @light-warrior-pen @i’m-probably-forgetting-a-lot-of-people @everyone!!

Write what should not be forgotten. — Isabel Allende

[HighScribe]

@esther-c

Ooh, awesome idea!! *subscribes*

It's harder to make a square evil than it is a triangle.

Annoying side character of the KP cast.

[-GRCR-]

@esther-c

Yeah, this is a great idea!! 😮😃

“What be a cretin?”
“Of course you wouldn’t know. It’s a… bread you put in salad.”

[Esther]

@everyone!

Alright! Let’s get this party started ✨ *rubs hands together*

Two stories I have enjoyed immensely… Anyone else watched/read them??

Wonka (2023) (the movie)

The Wingfeather Saga

Write what should not be forgotten. — Isabel Allende

[-GRCR-]

@esther-c

(idk if this will post/notify you twice… sorry, my internet is being weird)

Hmm… I’ve never read the Wingfeather Saga… anndd my siblings have watched Wonka, but I stayed home—so I haven’t seen that either… 😅😑

What did you like about Wonka? 🙃

 

“What be a cretin?”
“Of course you wouldn’t know. It’s a… bread you put in salad.”

[Esther]

@grcr

Both are amazing. I highly recommend. 😁

What did you like about Wonka? 🙃

This isn’t really related to story structure, but I really enjoyed the fact that they didn’t try to push anything. It was clean and family-friendly. I didn’t notice them trying to promote any agendas at all. It was just good story-telling.

It had a great plot structure and I was actually able to identify the main plot points—inciting incident, midpoint, low point, climax, etc. (The fact that it was a musical made it more likable in my opinion, lol, but I can’t quite apply that to my own stories. XD) I also really like the whole… idk, aesthetic? I guess, that it gave off. It was just playful and imaginative, and definitely kept the Roald Dahl vibes while still being its own story.

The characters were great too. They were each unique and although some of them were cheesy for the humor aspect, they were still enjoyable.

I think my favorite part was the relationship between Willy and Noodle. It was adorable and the song they sing together is still my favorite from the movie. 😆 Willy was like a big brother to her and was always trying to make her smile. Their dynamic might have been my favorite part of the whole movie.

And the joyfulness, playfulness, and imagination in the movie was just so fun to see and experience with the characters. 😊

Write what should not be forgotten. — Isabel Allende

[-GRCR-]

@esther-c

Oh, interesting. 😃 😀

“What be a cretin?”
“Of course you wouldn’t know. It’s a… bread you put in salad.”

[hybridlore]

@esther-c Great topic idea!! I haven’t seen wonka, but I think we’re going to, I’m glad it was good!

There is always light behind the clouds.
- Little Women, Louisa May Alcott

[The Ducktator]

@esther-c

Is this topic still a thing? I have a lot of books I’d love to rant intelligently about.

Coconuts are mammals because they have fur and produce milk.

[Esther]

@theducktator

We haven’t touched this topic in a while, but totally go for it!!

Write what should not be forgotten. — Isabel Allende

[The Ducktator]

@esther-c

So this is actually a series, not just a single book, but most of what I have to say applies to the whole thing. The Freddy the Pig series has been one of my favorites since I was six. It is a middle grade series that chronicles the adventures of Freddy and the other talking animals on the Bean farm. All of the books are very well written. The characters are developed, and full of personality. The series takes place around the mid 1900s. All of them have a ton of things going on, all of which are somewhat connected, and at the end, everything is ingeniously wrapped up.  One of my favorites takes place during ww2, (Freddy and the Bean Home News), and there is a prize for the farm who collects enough scrap metal. Jinx the cat and some of the other animals took the phaeton and went to town. Jinx howled on fences, and people threw things at him. The other animals collected anything metal from what had been thrown, and added it to their stash. Meanwhile, Freddy was starting a newspaper, which was not to include any politics, and trying to help his friend Mr. Camphor get out of running for governor. Additionally, while this was going on, the animals were also conspiring to get Mrs. Underdunk’s enormous iron deer for their scrap pile, and trying to stop Herb Garble, who had taken over the town newspaper, from bashing the sheriff and trying to get him fired. I would highly recommend this series. As well as being well written, it is also highly amusing, and includes many characters, all with unique personalities, among them Freddy, a poet, banker, newspig, detective, and other things, Charles the rooster with his love of making high flown overly long speeches, and a friendly criminal by the name of Bloody Mike, so named because he is very clumsy and always manages to injure himself.

Coconuts are mammals because they have fur and produce milk.

[Esther]

@theducktator

I’ve never heard of that series before but it sounds like so much fun!!

@theducktator @freed_and_redeemed @godlyfantasy12 @hybridlore @grcr @savannah_grace2009 @smiley @mineralizedwritings @highscribeofaetherium @acancello @light-warrior-pen @lightoverdarkness6

(ignore the tag if you want 😉 )

Have any of y’all watched the High School Musical movies?

I want to make sure at least some of you have watched it before I go on some whole tangent about it. XD

Write what should not be forgotten. — Isabel Allende

[The Ducktator]

@esther-c

I’ve never heard of that series before but it sounds like so much fun!!

It’s AMAZING. You should check it out! It is an older series though, so some are out of print, and really hard to get a copy of.

Have any of y’all watched the High School Musical movies?

No, but I want to!

Coconuts are mammals because they have fur and produce milk.

[-GRCR-]

@esther-c

heehee, no, I haven’t watched them 😅

“What be a cretin?”
“Of course you wouldn’t know. It’s a… bread you put in salad.”

[Author]

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