Tag Archives: writing

Smart Writers Avoid These Story Missteps

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By Books Author Denise Turney

woman writing in front of her computer
Photo by RF._.studio on Pexels.com

Writers can learn a lot from real life and the arts. In fact, inspiration for these writing tips came to me while watching a television drama. As interesting as the plot for the television drama was, the characters made too many mindless choices to keep me hooked.

After a while, I felt too frustrated watching the characters make choices that would put anyone’s life in jeopardy. Kindergarteners would know better than to do what these characters did. It was more evidence that great storytelling takes work, more than an intriguing plot.

To Tell Great Stories Writers Avoid These Mistakes

Because the acting was good, I actually tried to figure out why the characters in the TV drama were unbelievable. A possible reason could be that the producers and directors were so focused on the story that they often tossed practicality and common sense to the wind. And it’s easy to do, which brings us back to story development.

To sharpen your writing craft, consider practical real-life patterns and traditions as you write. In other words, don’t have a novel character raise six kids as a single parent, operate her own multi-million-dollar business and run two marathons a year, all without ever feeling tired. Even if you’re writing fiction, write believable characters. The more real characters you write feel and seem, the better.

Also, avoid these story missteps:

  • Misalign character motives to what you reveal about the character’s childhood, development and experiences. In other words, don’t make a pastor have a marital affair just because the pastor moved to a new town or just because a woman tried to seduce him. Give the character strong, believable motives.
  • Craft story scenes were women close the front door, not once lock the door, and go upstairs or into the basement without so much as a second thought. This happens in way too many movies, including thrillers.
  • Set women characters in suspense settings but avoid having these same women characters look through a peep hole or glance out of the edge of their blinds to see who’s on the porch or front stoop before they open the door.

More Storytelling Tips for Writers

  • Build deep, abiding trust between two strangers that have known each other less than a day, the type of trust that, in real life, takes months, sometimes years, to develop.
  • Embed a motive to save someone in a character to the point that the character turns blind, even ignoring her own instincts, common sense and basic human impulses to save the person.
  • Develop a character so that he exhibits only one personality trait, ambition or motive.
  • Limit a character to a single emotion, only allowing a character to express rage, fear, kindness, weakness, intelligence or courage.
  • Introduce fashion, housing, food, slang and cultural trends into a television drama, fanfiction, a short story or other storytelling that did not exist at the time the story takes place.

Power of Realistic Fiction

Great storytelling takes work. Even if you’re a writer who can knock out an engaging story absent an outline or character sketches, it takes time, focus and skill to write a story that resonates with hundreds or thousands of book buyers. For starters, you’ve got to appeal to each book buyer’s interests, ambitions, passions and fears.

Even if you write science fiction books, you have to create such believable characters that readers perceive the characters to be real. Readers have to believe that the story could happen, even if the story takes place on another planet.

And yet, the story has to have practical elements. Readers need to believe that your characters’ motives, weaknesses, strengths and personality traits are relatable. Whether you’re writing a novel, a stage play, major motion picture script or television drama, make sure that your characters use common sense. After all, if you’re a skilled writer, people could think that the choices your characters make really are the best options.

Great Journalists Help Shape the World

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By Books Author Denise Turney

Great journalists help shape the world by digging so deep into real life events, some which world leaders, local politicians and business moguls, prefer kept hidden, that they gain real keys. Some unethical and illegal operators will stop at nothing to protect their image, the very idol that journalists expose. It is most unfortunate that, in 2019 alone, as many as 25 news writers gave their lives in pursuit of truth.

W. E. B. DuBois professional portrait of great journalists
Wikimedia Commons – W.E.B. DuBois (Library of Congress)

Committee to Project Journalists (https://cpj.org/), Common Dreams (https://www.commondreams.org/) The Center for Investigative Reporting (https://revealnews.org/ ) and Reporters Without Borders (https://rsf.org/en) are among the organizations that work to protect journalists. Their work is necessary. If investigative journalists are silenced, so too could be the truth. It’s why we need more of these effective fact finders.

There would be no Watergate without great investigative journalism. We might not learn about corruption at the local government level. Stories like the Flint, Michigan water crisis and the North Dakota pipeline protests wouldn’t get the widespread attention that they receive were it not for the work of great, probing journalists.

Probing great journalists surface issues before they develop into bigger social storms

During the Civil Rights Movement, it was the investigative writing, the radio shows and probing television journalists that pushed deeply troubling events into the public eye. It was those printed, heard and watched stories that helped to change the conscience of the nation.

During my early years, I was impacted by the works of great journalists like Gwen Ifil, Walter Cronkite, Xernona Clayton-Brady , Ed Bradley and Ebony magazine’s Lerone Bennett, Jr. On Sunday evenings, my family watched 60 Minutes religiously. Ed Bradley covered a story and interviewed influential guests as if the only thing that mattered to him was the truth.

And how I admired Mr. Lerone Bennett, Jr. and the amazing, moving stories that he told about the African American community. He had a rare way of digging into a story and uncovering hidden gems.

Other great journalists who I recall and appreciate are Edward Morrow, Ida B. Wells, Lillian Ross, Michelle Norris, Helen Thomas, Dan Rather and Bernard Shaw. There is also Max Robinson, Maureen Dowd, Diane Sawyer and, of course, the great, W. E. B. DuBois.

Imagine if stories they broke were never shared. How much would we not know?

Springboard off good journalism training

As aforementioned, we need more of these courageous, curious event explorers. We need more truth seekers, truth sharers. If you are thinking about pursuing a career as a freelance writer or journalists, I commend you. I encourage you to be committed to the craft.

Research colleges and universities. Consider college journalism programs that have robust internships, externships and that have established journalists as guest speakers. Be prepared to do the hard work during and after school. You could become one of the greats. You could help to change the world.

I wonder if it’s the knowledge that the work they do can change the world, enlighten and help to awaken, that fuels journalists. The risks are too high for the chance to experience an adrenaline rush to be enough to keep someone on the journalism path. And there are certainly easier, safer, ways to travel. Regardless of motive, I deeply appreciate great journalists’ work.