You may have a clever plot that is masterfully structured and filled with complex twists and complications, but if there is no connection between the External Activity and the Internal Life of the story, it will be dull and boring and ultimately disappoint.

As a storyteller, you need to have a strategy or technique for developing the physical or External Plotline of a story and creating a compelling line of dramatic action.  In our The Write Journey course we introduce you to 16 structural points that will plot your story effectively.

When it comes to expressing inner values and establishing a personal perspective on a story, writers are often guided only by their instinct or intuition and a little luck.

Creating a rewarding & emotional fictional reality

As a writer, you have to:

• Illuminate the thoughts and mindscape of your characters: You have to show us what a character is thinking, what is going on inside the character’s head, and how the character’s point of view guides us into a rich inner life that is meaningful and rewarding.
• Reflect on the thematic purpose of your story: If your story deals with ‘Man versus Nature’, you have to delicately weave this into your line of dramatic action by creating subplots. Amplify your theme without preaching.
• Reveal the memory or history of the events and characters in your story: As your character journeys through the external plot of your story, you contrast the physical action with a rich emotional landscape that takes us into the past that informs the present.

It’s a delicate balance between the Internal Life and External Life of your story that culminates in a complete story that is engaging and emotional.

Without Real Emotion, we simply don’t care. We may feel momentary excitement, terror, horror, and even awe, but those emotions are relatively superficial and transitory. There is no feeling, no deeper connection because no authentic view of the writer’s humanity has surfaced during the telling of the story.

We not only take a journey with the character from their ordinary world into an extraordinary existence, but we become intricately involved in their lives, and take something home with us after watching the film.

Nothing is more rewarding than a story that lives in your heart forever.

Learn more about the art of structure and dramatic narrative in our The Write Journey course.