O’s Wisdom for the Journey: Three Parting Tips

 

Happy Wednesday, my writing friends,

What joy I’ve had contributing to Seriously Write each week! I’ve learned so much as I’ve shared my small offering of writing knowledge and experience with you. I’m sad to say, my schedule—both in writing and family life—have made it necessary for me to move on. This will be my last Ask O Wednesday.

Over the past year and a half, I’ve shared a wide range of writing topics, from characters to plot to self editing. For my last Wednesday post, I want to narrow it down to three.

Seek Christ

First things first! It’s easy to seek being published. Let’s be real: it’s easy to obsess over being published. I understand this longing. I’ve felt it too, but through the years, I’ve learned to go back to Matthew 6:33: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (ESV)

Putting my hope in publication either leads to disappointment or pride. Seeking Christ reminds me that my goal is to glorify Him (not myself) and to love through words as He’s called me to do.

Deep POV

Now for a more nuts-and-bolts tip. For me, the key to creating real characters who emotionally connect with readers is to plunge into the deepest possible POV. I’m learning to lay aside my own self-consciousness and tap into my deepest emotions, (O’s blubbering time) then pour these out through the character.

I try to remember: The heroine of my story is not a stranger, not a friend, not even a family member. She’s me. The more I become her, laugh as she laughs and cry as she cries, the more real and relatable she becomes.

Strong Verbs

Tossing those to-be verbs (and other weak culprits) opens my mind to more creative thinking. And, therefore, a higher level of excellence. For example:

She is beautiful.

 

Compared with:

 

Her hair cascades over slender shoulders as her hand gently touches the scar on her face, yet Marcus can’t see the scar, only the shining love in her eyes.

I can’t tell you how many hundreds (thousands?) of my sentences have gained sparkle simply by reworking a weak verb. New characters even show up (like Marcus—who’s that guy?) and plots shift. It’s such a simple step, but so important!

Well, my dear writing friends, there you have my final tips: Seek Christ, Use Deep POV, and Find Strong Verbs. Keep strong on the journey, and if you need me, feel free to keep in touch at Ocieanna.com or Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest…

God bless and happy writing,

Ocieanna

Ask O Wednesday How Do I Weave Theme throughout Plot?

Happy Wednesday, my writing friends,

Today we finish up our three-part series on theme. In part one we mulled over how a well-defined theme boosts a story from a way to fill an afternoon to a life-changing experience.

In part two, we dove into how to find a theme by first uncovering what moves us and then having a heart-to-heart with our characters.

Now we’ll explore how to weave theme through plot. It’s so important!

Planning the Big Picture

As I plan my story's overarching plot arcs, the main pegs parallel theme. If my theme is forgiveness, for example, then the main conflicts reflect this. Perhaps my character was betrayed by her husband. My main plot points could be:

Act One: At least one or two major conflict scenes with her husband. The pressure heats up.

End of Act One: A big fight in which she declares she’ll never forgive him. Ever!

Act Two: The husband’s persistent repentance and patient love begin to win her over.

She finally admits she wants to forgive him but is afraid of being hurt. They share a tender, honest moment together.

End of Act Two: Something happens to make her think he betrayed her again, destroying any hope of reconciliation.

Act Three: The misunderstanding about the betrayal is cleared up, and she finally finds a way to forgive him.

Do you see how each plot point revolved around forgiveness? Subplots and external conflict work their way in, but forgiveness underlies and motivates the main forward thrust of the story.

Scene by Scene

Once I get the big picture done, I start writing. Yippee! But before my fingers fly, I create a chart for each individual scene. (Some writers forge scene charts for the whole book ahead of time, I create it just before I write the scene. It’s up to you.)

In the scene chart, I always (always!) make sure to include an element of theme. Even if the scene doesn't involve a major conflict, a hint of theme resonates. This builds consistency and expectancy.

Let’s go back to our forgiveness story. In the midst of a relevant scene, I might include a short snippet of a child forgiving my protagonist for stepping on her dandelion bouquet. Or maybe she sees a dude cursing out a store clerk for getting his order wrong; or hears a song about reconciliation. These little bits all point toward forgiveness.

Since I’m passionate about my theme, I long for it to ring out in every scene. I prepare for this in my scene charts.

Ban Rabbit Trails

I try my darnedest to toss out any plotline that doesn’t prop up my message. Theme gets blurry when too many other ideas encroach on it. I keep my focus on clearly communicating this one idea that has so moved me, and stay with it. That’s what I love about books with awesome themes, so that’s what I try to do.

How do you incorporate theme into your stories? I’d love to hear!

God bless and happy writing,

Ocieanna