The Promise of Stories

This post is a reflection on two episodes from the podcast “Writing Execuses”. The two episodes are 10.13: Where is my story going? and 10.14: How much of the beginning needs to come first?

How much of the beginning needs to come first?

In this episode, the makers of the podcast talk about the elements to include in the beginning of your story. One of the important ideas that come up in this part of the podcast is the idea of a promise you are making to the audience. A promise is a thing that you introduce for the readers/listeners/players at the very beginning of your work that will keep them going. It asks the question that you will answer at the end, or previews the adventure that will come later in the story. This promise should be fulfilled later in the story. One of the challenges for writers is actually sticking to that promise, which made me wonder in what order should the parts of the story be written? Should I write my promise first then move to the meat of the story or should the main parts of the story come first and the promise be constructed around it?

In the same chapter, they also talked about how much of the character and plot should be included in the beginning. They mentioned making the character competent vs. likable, and how you need competency to be existent or at least promised. The same was with likability.

Where is my story going?

The main point that I got out of this chapter was focusing on the structure of your story in order to succeed in fulfilling the promise that you make to the audience. I think having that structure clearly understood and represented in the mind of the writer is really powerful, but it also could be used as a component of the story. The reader needs to know where they are heading in the story and how the different steps will lead eventually to fulfilling the first promise. However, this does not mean the writer has to stick to these instructions. They could use it as a way to present surprises and twists in the plot.

Another key point that they mention is that saying not to follow a formula while writing is like saying don’t follow a recipe while cooking. They explain that the issue is following the writing without understanding the components, but not the formula itself. When I wrote my first story, I avoided reading anything that was out there because I was afraid it would become cliche or too similar. I like to think that I’m now a bit more analytical when reading different stories.