Maintaining Consistency in Author-Audience Coordination
Storytelling is a captivating art that takes an audience on an unexpected journey. As a writer, it's essential to engage readers and provide a narrative that's anything but predictable or dull.
To create a thrilling story, you must first understand your audience and entice them on a rollercoaster ride filled with conflict and emotional action. Each event in your story should prompt interaction between you, the writer, and your readers, keeping the story alive and engaging.
An intriguing event creates anticipation. For instance, discovering a dead body in the woods raises questions, such as 'who is it?' This question can lead to a whodunit narrative with murder investigations, suspects, and a final revelation of the victim's identity. Alternatively, the mystery could remain unsolved, introducing several potential victims throughout the story.
As a writer, it's crucial to be clear about the intent and payoff of each story event. Each event should have a meaningful and rewarding resolution, also known as a set-up and payoff balance.
The structure of a story can be compared to a classic three-act narrative outlined by Aristotle more than 4000 years ago. To plot your story effectively, you can use techniques such as a card outline – a creative, hands-on approach to organizing essential story elements.
Though a "CARD OUTLINE" may not be a well-known term in mainstream storytelling, it likely refers to a practical and interactive method of outlining narratives. This technique involves using physical or digital cards to represent essential story elements like character, setting, conflict, and resolution. By arranging these cards, you can visually plot the narrative's structure and experiment with different timelines or plot devices.
This card outline method is popular in education, especially in classrooms and digital projects, where it helps students plan their stories effectively. By visualizing the story's structure, students can ensure they address all critical plot points and maintain narrative coherence. If "The Write Journey" course uses this term, it probably refers to this interactive, tactile approach to story planning.
In the realm of movies and TV, a captivating story engages viewers by following an unexpected journey, requiring a well-thought-out balance between setup and payoff for each event to maintain entertainment. A writer should meticulously plan their narrative, employing techniques such as a card outline, representing critical story elements, to create a cohesive and engaging story.
