21. Four Essentials to Know About Your Story Before You Even Start to Write

EPISODE DESCRIPTION:     
There are many things about your story that you can discover as you go along, but there are four primary things that every writer should know about their story before they sit down to write. 

1. First and foremost, who is your character and what is he like? 
2. Second, what does he want, meaning, what will he relentlessly pursue over the course of the telling?
3. Third, what does he need, meaning, what wound or flaw or need must he overcome? 
4. And fourth, what tangible, concrete action steps will he take to relentlessly pursue his goal throughout the story? 

Whether you’re just getting started on a new project or whether you’re already halfway done, take an inventory of your story the next time you sit down to write. Cam you clearly articulate each of these four things? If so, you’re off to a good start, and if not, you have a chance to correct it in the hopes that it will go easier for you from there. 

UP NEXT
Next week we’re going to borrow some tenets from our fellow performing artists. We’re going to discover three major lessons on craft that writers can learn from actors. Stay tuned!

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SPECIAL THANKS

The Mission with Zena Dell Lowe would like to thank composer Carla Patullo for the original music she graciously permits us to use in the intro and outro of this podcast. To find out more about this amazing talent, go to  www.carlapatullo.com

Transcript

Ep. 21 - 4 things to know before you write

15:29

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

character, story, goal, writer, abstract, pursue, popular, concrete, means, marty mcfly, world, relevant, main character, ideas, scene, basic understanding, personality trait, tangible, simply, meta

SPEAKERS

Zena Dell Lowe

Zena Dell Lowe  00:01

INTRO: 
Hello, and welcome to The Mission with Zena Dell Lowe, a podcast for artists and storytellers about changing the world for the better through story. 

Zena Dell Lowe  00:12

TOPIC INTRODUCTION: 
It's tempting to put off what I have planned for this episode to explore the philosophical tenants we've been talking about since the beginning of this podcast. The fact is, these principles are proving to be incredibly relevant because every single thing I've been arguing since the beginning of this podcast is literally at play in the marketplace of ideas. From last week's discussion about which qualities of your character are good or bad and which should be retained or let go, to understanding the differences between a character flaw and a personality trait and not allowing others to shame or confuse you, to how trauma can have an impact on one's views of reality and plays a vital role in shaping our perspectives and worldview. We even talked about how we must avoid becoming dogmatic because dogmatism is the easy path that allows us to dismiss those who are not us without doing the hard work of thinking. And of course, we've talked about the importance of story; how story is arguably the most powerful weapon on this planet; how it has the power to change the hearts and minds of people and how he who controls the narrative controls the world, which is why all of these principles are being played out right now in the marketplace of ideas. And of course last week we learned that one of the best ways to evaluate whether or not some of these ideas have any merit, is to look at the fruit that's being produced in his or her life. So yes, these are the issues at play in the real world right now. And it's tempting to rehash them because they're so relevant. However, you'll be happy to know I decided to refrain. I know, I know, after that verbose preamble I'm refraining, but it's true. Instead, I've opted to move on with what I'd originally planned to do for today because I believe that the trajectory that we're on ultimately must be relevant to whatever's happening in the world, and as the one that we were meant to be on. 

Zena Dell Lowe  02:13

That said, allow me now to give you a brief overview of what you can expect over the next few weeks or so. 

Zena Dell Lowe  02:21

In essence, we've spent a significant amount of time laying the philosophical groundwork for story in the first 20 episodes of this podcast. We've asked a lot of why questions: Why do we write? Why should our characters do this and not that? Why is story so important? We've covered all the stuff that I just went over, all those things that are now relevant in the marketplace of ideas. And we've also covered some key concepts when it comes to the actual craft of writing, like how to make sure your character remains active rather than passive over the course the telling. And all of these issues and more are foundational to the storyteller's journey, which gives us the ability to dive even deeper into the art and craft of story as we move forward. 

Zena Dell Lowe  03:10

So, for the next 10 weeks or so, that's what we're going to do. We're going to be focused even more intently on craft. I will be sharing with you the most practical, the most applicable tools that I know, so that you can immediately add them to your arsenal, and start using them in your own story. My goal for you for the next 10 weeks, will be to help you identify and remove any bad habits that you may already be practicing, while also implementing new habits and executing your story, using sensible, practical, and concrete tools that actually have the ability to take your writing to the next level. 

Zena Dell Lowe  03:49

PRESENTATION:
Let's start the process by addressing four essential things that I believe you need to know about your story before you ever sit down to write. If you just know these four things, all of which happen to be interconnected, it will save you an incredible amount of time down the road when you go back for rewrites. It'll also help you to stay on track and keep you from going off the rails. It'll keep you from getting lost along the way. Almost everything else in your story can be discovered as you go, but from personal experience and from working with other writers, these four things will keep you going, when the going gets tough. And believe me, the going will get tough. 

Zena Dell Lowe  04:34

Here are the four things that you should know about your story before you even sit down to write. 

1. Who is your main character? 
2. What does he want? 
3. What does he need?  
4. What tangible action steps does he take to achieve his objectives? 

Zena Dell Lowe  04:55

Let's start with number one: Who is your main character?

Zena Dell Lowe  04:59

Arguably, the most important thing you need from the get go is to have a basic understanding of who your main character is. What makes them tick? What are they like? What kind of person are they? Too often I read screenplays and manuscripts with characters who are all over the place. In this scene, they're sweet and submissive and in the next, they're quirky. In the next, they're bossy and dominant, or whateve., The writer simply doesn't know their character's basic personality traits, let alone their limits or capabilities. Characters like this are inconsistent and confusing. 

Zena Dell Lowe  05:34

Now, don't get me wrong. I don't actually believe that you have to know every single aspect of your character before you write. I think it's possible to simply pick a few broad strokes, that makes sense for your character and the story, and address the deeper elements of that character's being. The main thing is you want to have a basic understanding of who they are at their core, as well as how that manifests itself to the rest of the world. Otherwise, the character will be nonsensical. 

Zena Dell Lowe  06:05

Now, sometimes the character becomes nonsensical because writers forget to carry through on the emotion that the character landed on at the end of a previous scene. If a character has been introduced to her husband's parents for the first time, for example, and that encounter turns out to be creepy and disturbing, in the next scene you wouldn't want her to dismiss her husband's paranoia or concerns as if she's got emotional amnesia. If she does poopoo her husband's concerns, it has to be for another reason, like she's trying to comfort him, or maybe she even thinks she's being silly and overly critical, but she can't just have forgotten all about the creep-vibe she experienced in the previous scene. Emotions from one scene must flow into the next in some kind of subtle way, otherwise the character will not make sense to us. 

Zena Dell Lowe  06:57

Another thing to consider when it comes to character emotion is that their emotions must be appropriate for the context. Too often the writer will ignore the proper or natural emotional state that the character ought to be in because they're anxious and excited to get to the "good part." For example, let's say a character just received word that her favorite teacher died under mysterious circumstances. The writer needs to resist the temptation to have her jump right into the mystery. You need to make her real and believable and likeable, which means the character must first feel the full weight of their grief, before they launch into the Nancy Drew type of mystery investigation to discover who done it. 

Zena Dell Lowe  07:41

Now let's look at numbers two and three, but we'll look at them at the same time. You need to know what your character wants, and you need to know what they need, and rarely is their want the same thing as their need. 

Zena Dell Lowe  07:54

I've already talked about this in several episodes, but let's have a refresher. The character's need is directly related to their wound or character flaw, or whatever their particular struggle may be; that thing that they need to heal from over the course of the telling. For Marty McFly, it's the stubborn pride that gets elicited anytime anyone calls him a chicken. He simply cannot let it go. Through all three installments of Back to the Future, we're waiting for that moment when Marty McFly will finally learn his lesson, not feel compelled to react or defend himself when he's called a chicken, and then he'll finally step into the man that he's destined to be. And once he learns that lesson, Marty will be free. He'll no longer be in bondage to this compulsive character trait. He'll have overcome the character defect, now and forever. He will have arrived. 

Zena Dell Lowe  08:50

So that is what Marty McFly needs, but what does he want? Well, what he wants is entirely different. The want of your character is wrapped up in the plot, and it's given to your character through the inciting incident. In essence, it's the goal that your character must pursue over the entire rest of the story. For Marty, the goal was to find doc and to get back to the future, where he belongs, without altering the future in any way. But, of course, he has to overcome all sorts of obstacles in order to be able to attain this goal. But his relentless pursuit of this one clear goal is what drives the entire action of the story. Without a clear, concrete goal, your character will flounder, and you as the writer will flounder. You will get lost, you will lose steam, somewhere around act two because you simply won't have any idea of what should happen next in the story. And by the way, that's a freebie for you. If you ever have that thought, "What should happen next in the story?" It usually means that your main character is not driving the action. So the real question that you should be asking yourself is, "What would my character do next to achieve his or her goal?" This is what informs what happens next in the story, not the other way around. 

Zena Dell Lowe  10:08

Okay, last but not least, number four: Your character's goal needs to be framed in a concrete, actionable form. 

Zena Dell Lowe  10:16

Let me give you an example. Every year, people make new year's resolutions, right? And every year, I can tell who's got a shot at achieving those goals, and who doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell. It's all about how the resolutions are phrased. Are they stated in abstract terms, or is there a concrete goal? For example, let's say someone said, "My goal this year is to get closer to God." I'd say, "Oh, yeah? Well, good luck with that." Because, you see, there's nothing tangible there, there's nothing actionable in that statement. The question needs to be, what action steps will they take to make that happen? What are they going to do about it? The abstract goal on its own means nothing. It's a goal, yes, but it's vague. It's all theoretical. How would a person even go about measuring it? How would they even know if they'd accomplished it? 

Zena Dell Lowe  11:15

Now, let's say someone articulates this goal, but then they follow it up with a concrete action step that makes that possible. A concrete action step is the same as a mini goal in story, because it has tangible parameters that can be pursued, accomplished and measured. For example, if the person's abstract meta-goal is to get closer to God, then put the mini-goal in concrete form by saying something like, "I'm going to accomplish this goal of getting closer to God by reading one chapter of the Bible every night before bed, and then journaling my thoughts and responses on it for 10 minutes." See, now I have something tangible to pursue. Now I have a way to measure how well I'm doing. And notice the details I included. I removed any abstract or vague language in order to increase my chances of success. I said, "one chapter per night." I said, "journaling for 10 minutes." See, that is reasonable and doable. And this is exactly what you need to do in terms of your character. 

Zena Dell Lowe  12:23

So, if your character's overarching objective is to, say, become more popular at school, well, now your character needs to come up with concrete action steps that would enable her to accomplish this goal. So maybe she tries out for cheerleading because hey, cheerleaders are popular. But maybe that means that she needs to practice and get good so that they can't say no, even though she's not part of their clique. But maybe that means that she needs to hire a coach to help her work on her acrobatic skills. But maybe that means that she needs to take the job at the yogurt store in the mall, because she needs to earn the money to be able to pay for the private training. And that's where she happens to meet Jake, who likes her just as she is, but she's so obsessed with being popular that she doesn't even notice. 

Zena Dell Lowe  13:09

What I've done here is twofold. First of all, I've made sure that her want is clear, both in terms of the abstract meta-goal and the concrete mini-goals that she must pursue to achieve the meta-goal. I've also made sure that her need is clear. She needs to stop seeking the approval of the popular crowd and to find acceptance with those who accept her already. Notice that the want and the need are connected, but they are not the same thing. Even so, in both cases, where the stated idea is initially abstract, the important thing is for the writer to translate those abstract goals into concrete action steps, so that your character has something to pursue relentlessly, and so that they can possibly succeed. 

Zena Dell Lowe  14:00

Okay, having said all that, I'm not suggesting that you know every single action step that your character takes before you sit down to write. That would not only be impossible, but it would be impractical and unnecessary, because inevitably you're going to discover things along the way that's going to take your story in a new direction. The purpose here is for you to clearly articulate your character's meta-goal, and then to check to make sure it's a good goal by coming up with a few possible action steps that would enable them to pursue that goal. Understanding the necessity for concrete action steps in advance will help you to make sure your original objective is attainable, and pursuable by the character. 

Zena Dell Lowe  14:45

CALL TO ACTION: 
Whether you're just getting started on a new project, or whether you're already halfway done, my advice is to take inventory of your story right now, the next time you sit down, and make sure that you can clearly articulate all four of these things. And if you can, great, you're on the right track. And if not, hey, it's never too late to make corrections. 

Zena Dell Lowe  15:07

OUTRO: 
I want to thank you so much for joining me today on The Mission with Zena Dell Lowe. May you go forth inspired to change the world for the better through story.