A firm foundation: Start with a Premise,
Create
strong characters, Proportion
Build It Right Series by
Dora Hiers
They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep
and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that
house but could not shake it,
because it was well built.
(Luke 6:48 NIV)
Last week we talked about clearing the land and preparing
ourselves for our writing journey. This week we’ll discuss building our story on
a firm foundation.
Concrete footers provide a strong foundation for a
structure, making a house less vulnerable to attacks from wind, tornadoes, or
floods.
Just like houses must be built on strong foundations,
your book requires a sturdy anchor or it won’t stand. Readers will feel tossed
about and confused. As the author, you will lose focus and momentum.
So how do you give your book a strong foundation?
Start
with a Premise.
Whether you tend to be a plotter (you outline a detailed synopsis before you actually start
writing) or a pantser (you sit down
at your computer and start typing with just a few rough ideas floating around
in your head), every writer must create a premise.
The premise is the basic footprint of your house, whether
it’s two-story or one, rectangular or square. It’s the basic idea, the main
purpose or reason for writing your story. Without a purpose, a foundation for
writing, your story won’t be able to withstand the elements. It will sag, maybe
even collapse.
Create
strong Characters.
Your characters should be men and women readers want to
hang out with for a while, someone they could be friends with, someone they
like. Know more about your characters than just hair or eye color, how tall
they are, or what they do for a living. Why do they do what they do? What are
they afraid of? What do they want most out of life? Whether you use a character
chart or another method to flesh them out, dig deep to create dimensional characters
readers will like.
Proportion.
Cement alone isn’t enough for a sturdy foundation. Sand,
gravel and water must be mixed in proportionally to add strength and volume.
The same goes for your story. Mix in bits and pieces about your hero and
heroine’s past so that we can understand their decisions and behavior. Would
you keep reading a book with long clumps of past events dragging things out and
slowing the pace? Probably not. So, give your story a great foundation by
offering tidbits tucked in the right spots and at appropriate times.
What
elements do you use to give your story a firm foundation?
Join us next week as we discuss adding cohesive elements
by installing walls, windows, and doors.
~~~~~
Journey's Edge:
A Routine Audit? Hardly. Red flags-including some goon who's following
her-raise McKinley Frasier's suspicions that numbers don't add up at the
insurance firm. When someone tries to snatch McKinley's daughter from
school, she turns to police officer and ex-fiance, Renner Crossman-the
cop who walked out on her a month before their wedding. But Renner's not
the same guy who broke her heart ten years ago. He calls himself a "new
man." She trusts the new Renner with her daughter's safety...but what
about her heart?
~~~~~
After a successful auditing career, Dora Hiers left
the corporate world to be a stay-at-home mom to her two sons. When her youngest
son didn’t want her hanging out at school with him anymore, Dora started
writing heart racing, God-gracing books. Dora belongs to the American Christian
Fiction Writers (ACFW) and the Carolina Christian Writers. Her first
inspirational romance, Journey’s End,
released with White Rose Publishing in 2011, and her second, Journey’s Edge released in March 2012.
White Rose also contracted her third book in the Marshals of Journey Creek
series, Journey’s Embrace, and her
first short romance, Small Town Treasure.
Dora
and her husband make their home in Kannapolis, North Carolina.
Connect with Dora:
Website: www.dorahiers.com
Email: Dora@DoraHiers.com
Facebook:
Dora Hiers Author
Twitter: @DoraHiers
Twitter: @DoraHiers
