Category Archives: Storytelling

A Christmas Carol Sings to the Storyteller in You

December 14, 2022StorytellingAuthor Inspiration, Creating Characters, Writing TipAlice Orr

A Christmas Carol Sings to the Storyteller in You. Why? Because you must decode its secret. As a writer you need to know why it has remained a narrative star for so long with such an immense audience. What exactly did Charles Dickens create that keeps vast numbers of people worldwide coming back year after year to be absorbed yet again by his tale?

A Christmas Carol Sings to You because of its Main Character. What Charles Dickens created that holds us in his thrall is Ebenezer Scrooge. He commands us to revisit the dark environs of his “money-changing hole” with astonishingly universal regularity. We simply cannot seem to get enough of his story and the twisting trail it leads us along.

A Christmas Carol Sings to You because It is a Ghost Story. Readers love things that go bump in the night. And, for Scrooge, they literally do. My favorite film version is from 1951 and stars Alistair Sim. The gloomy atmosphere of black and white. The booming apocalyptic sound effects, Ebenezer’s dark scowl. The haunting mood draws me back year after “rolling year.”

A Christmas Carol Sings to Us because We are Scrooge. We are not Scrooge because we are misers hoarding our worldly goods while declaring “Humbug this” and “Humbug that.” We are Scrooge because of the wounds life causes many of us to carry at the essential center of our hearts. Ebenezer carries such wounds and that urges a great swath of readers to identify with him on some level. Which is why A Christmas Carol Sings to the Storyteller in You.

A Christmas Carol Sings to Me Personally. As a human being, I have suffered my own heart wounds. The kind that bore a hole the way hot coals might do when dropped in a sensitive spot at a young age. This hollow place begs to be filled and the only way to fill it is with love. But love must be received and absorbed. For me that fortunately happened. Scrooge has not been blessed in this manner. Which makes me care about him and my caring hooks me into his story.

A Christmas Carol Sings to Those of You who have been Similarly Singed. I am not asking anyone to admit this, because to do so makes you painfully vulnerable. Nor do you need to point out how you are not in the least wounded. If that is true, I rejoice for you and hope you will remain so always. I suspect, however, that, more often than not, you have carried your own wounds and can empathize with Ebenezer’s plight. Thus, you too are hooked into his story.

A Christmas Carol Sings to You because of its Very Dramatic Climax. Scrooge is confronted with the truth of his life in intense and powerful scenes one after another. The vividness of these scenes shakes him to the core of his being. They shake us too. He is additionally confronted with the inevitable outcome of such a life which scares him nearly to death. It scares us too. What will happen next? By now any reader with a beating heart is totally hooked into Dickens’ world.

A Christmas Carol Sings to You because of its Very Happy Ending. The morning dawns. The ghosts are gone. Ebenezer truly sees the light of day at last. He is a new man. Reborn. Redeemed. He acts accordingly. From his heart and to the benefit of everyone – especially himself. This is popular storytelling at its best.

Finally – A Christmas Carol Sings because Dickens Offers an Answer. He points us toward possible healing. Action will be required as is true of all Redemption Stories. A Christmas Carol is a Redemption Story. Scrooge must redeem himself. The spirits help but he takes the crucial action. He learns to love and performs loving deeds. This is Scrooge’s answer and everyone else’s. Millions of readers and watchers are drawn to that message. Whatever your beliefs about Christmas it might be wise to listen when A Christmas Carol Sings to the Storyteller in You.

Alice Orr Says – You Possess Storytelling Magic. Keep on Writing Whatever May Occur. https://www.aliceorrbooks.com.

Ask Alice Your Crucial Questions. What are you most eager to know – in your writing work and in your writer’s life? Ask your question in the Comments section at the end of this post.

Alice Orr – Teacher. Storyteller. Former Literary Agent. Blogs for Writers. Author of 14 novels, 2 novellas and a memoir so far. Wrote No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells as a gift to the writers’ community she loves.

Alice’s Holiday Novel – A Vacancy at the Inn – Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series Book 3 – is available HERE. Celebrate the Season!

Praise for A Vacancy at the Inn. “Grabbed me right away and swept me up in the lives of Bethany and Luke.” “Undercurrents of suspense move the story along at an irresistible pace.” “The Miller family is rife with personality quirks, an authentic touch that demonstrates Alice Orr’s skill as a writer.” “I never want an Alice Orr book to end.”

All of Alice’s Books are HERE.

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Inspire Yourself to Inspire Your Story Characters

October 12, 2022Storytellingam Writing, Creating Characters, Story Conflict, Writing TipAlice Orr

Inspire Yourself to Inspire Your Story Characters. This is an Exercise. Go somewhere public. Sit down in a spot where you can take notes inconspicuously. Pick a person from the crowd whom you do not know personally. Do not overthink your choice. Trust the writerly instinct you surely possess that this person will be the right subject for this exercise.

Write Down Answers to the Questions Below. These are your observations and interpretations. Do not worry about the actual truth. Write fast. Free your imagination to fly while this complete stranger lifts you to the sky. Trust the storytelling magic you also surely possess. Enjoy the ride.

His Outward Physical Appearance. Study his face. His eyes, his mouth, his other features. How is he dressed? Describe his hair – its length, color, style. What do his clothes and hairdo suggest about his personality? What about him prompted him to make these particular choices? Take a guess.

Her Physical Actions. How does she move? Her walk.The way she holds and moves her limbs. The way she turns her head. What distinctive mannerisms does she display? What distinctive mannerisms can you imagine her displaying? Spread your wings wider. Invent some tics, visible hints at her inner nature, that offer insights into who she might be.

His External Extraordinariness. What is this person’s most significant physical feature? The thing in his appearance, and the way he carries himself in the world, that other people are not likely to forget. Feel free to invent what may only exist in your mind’s eye. Inspire Yourself to Inspire Your Story Characters.

Her Story. Your imagination is in full flight now. What does she want most in life? Make this the most crucial and urgent need she has ever experienced. Why does she desire this thing so much?

His Inner Character. Are the reasons for his needs and ardent desires admirable? Why are they admirable, or why are they not? Are his motivations logical? Do they make sense or not, and why? Are his needs mentally healthy, or are they deranged? How deranged is he? Again, you are imagining all of this for yourself on the fly. Do not clip your wings.

Her Fears. What does she dread and why? Imagine that she is running away from something. What is she trying to escape, and why? What, specifically, (events or persons) has caused her to be so worried, or even afraid? How will she decide what to do? What will that decision be?

His Predicament and Dilemma. What is at stake for him in this situation? What will happen to him if he fails to achieve what he desires and needs? What will happen to others he cares about? Make these possible consequences dire.

Her Obstacles. What will get in the way of her achieving what she desires and needs? Why are these forces or people determined that she should not succeed? What in her history with them has set them so adamantly against her? Make these obstacles formidable.

Your Experience. What is your emotional response to this person you have created, and why? What has it felt like for you to perform this exercise – this process of character invention and inspiration? How do you feel now at its completion?

Your Work. Most important, how can you adapt this person – this character of your creation – to fit into your own writing work? Preferably into the story you are currently writing, or the story you would most like to write next.

Meanwhile, You have Soared. You have inspired yourself to ride a bolt of imagination lightning powered by your own creativity rocket fuel. The accelerant you surely carry within you always. Feel free to fire up and take off into the stratosphere with every story you write. Inspire Yourself to Inspire Your Story Characters.

Alice Orr – You Possess Storytelling Magic. Keep on Writing Whatever May Occur. https://www.aliceorrbooks.com.

ASK ALICE Your Crucial Questions. What are you most eager to know – in your writing work and in your writer’s life? Ask your question in the Comments section at the end of this post.

Alice has published 16 novels, 3 novellas and a memoir so far. She wrote her nonfiction book No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells as a gift to the writers’ community she loves. Her novel – A Wrong Way Home – Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series Book 1 – is a free gift for you HERE.

Praise for A Wrong Way Home: “The story twists and turns masterfully into danger and romance.” “I highly recommend this page-turner which is romance and suspense at its best.” “The writing is exquisite.”

Look for all of Alice’s books HERE.

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Story Characters We Have Seen Too Often

September 28, 2022Storytellingam Writing, Creating Characters, Writing, Writing TipAlice Orr

Story Characters We Have Seen Too Often. I once made a wish that I would never be bored. When life turns chaotic, I sometimes think better of that wish. But, most of the time, boredom is something very few of us enjoy. Especially not your readers. Especially not boredom with your story characters.

A Character who is More a Type than a Person can Put Your Reader to Sleep. We have read him too many times. Her behavior is too easily predictable. They are monotonous to the max. Imagine how true that is for an editor or agent, confronting submission after submission, brain deadened by hackneyed characters at every turn.

The Spark of Your Story is Snuffed Out by such Functionaries. A cliché does even worse. The crusty, but benign older gentleman. The doddering, but foxy grand dame. The good-hearted prostitute. The down-at-the-heels detective with a bitter edge. Feel free to add more dullards to the list.

These are Types, Known Mainly for a Pair of Characteristics. They inevitably behave according to this two-dimensional signature. They possess limited life and no real emotional depth. Any appendage that comes with them, a bothersome pet or broken-down car or endless peeve, is a functionary also, adding nothing of substance to the forward movement of your story.

The Usual Purpose of these Characters is to Impact the Hero in Some Limited Way. Beyond that, they have no meaningful significance. This limited role does not justify their presence, if you mean your story to have substance. The last thing you want to create is a narrative populated by stick figures who essentially have no real clue why they are there. Worse still, your reader has no clue either.

Your Purpose is to Give Each Character, however Minor, a Soul. He lives in your reader’s consciousness beyond his few scenes in your story. You may portray only brief moments of her life, but they are real moments. He is not on of those Story Characters We Have Seen Too Often. She enriches your story and deepens the complications surrounding your hero.

As the Storyteller, You must Know Each Character Well. Even the minor character. You must feel her as a living, breathing being. Then, borrow a slice of that breathing life to insert into your story. Do so at a juncture where this character encounters the conflicted circumstances of your hero and affects those circumstances in an important way.

Here are a Couple of Characters who Accomplish None of That. First, meet Lucy the airhead. Worse than out-of-date in today’s take-charge woman world, she is constructed of cardboard. She is too often overly sexy in a wide-eyed, ingenuous way. She blunders into catastrophe and stays there until she is rescued, usually by a man. Like I said, out-of-date.

Another Character in Need of Update is Cal the Commitmentphobe. We have definitely seen too much of this guy, especially in romance and women’s fiction. His character signature is that he refuses to get into a meaningful relationship, no matter what. He has been burned in the past, blah, blah, blah. He loves his freedom, blah, blah, blah. Cal is a cliché.

I Suspect You Know What is Lacking in these Characters. And also lacking in others like them. Their behavior has no depth. Their motivations are commonplace and shallow. They are familiar because we have unfortunately encountered them before in way too many stories. Once again, feel free to add your own cliche examples to the list.

Police Your Work for their Possible Presence. Choose to improve these story slackers or eject them. For example, with some re-thinking, Cal could become a three-dimensional man. Lucy, however, may be beyond reclamation. Let her rest in peace on the rejection pile. Make certain your story isn’t languishing, by way of boredom, beside her, among Story Characters We Have Seen Too Often.

Alice Orr – https://www.aliceorrbooks.com.