The storyteller is the puppet master of emotions.
As a writer, you have the power to make your audience laugh whenever it pleases you, cause grown men to cry shamelessly, keep millions on the edge of reason, prevent couch junkies to switch channels, and grip people with fear.
The writer is not only the puppet master of emotions in storytelling, but also the traffic warden in a story, controlling the line of dramatic action, drawing audiences and readers into a deep involvement, keeping their full attention from opening to ending, and rewarding them with a meaningful and memorable experience.
It is vital for the narrative drive to progress relentlessly and rapidly, and for story events to flow fluidly and form a cohesive whole so that the parts (scenes, sequences and acts/chapters) and the (story) are united as one.
The story must be well-paced and flow rhythmically, seducing the senses and evoking emotions, ranging from total delight to absolute fear.
The writer must continuously move the story forward, advance the dramatic line of development, and constantly keep on turning the story like a screw, tightening it to achieve maximum dramatic impact and value.
To maximise creative control, the writer uses Story Values, Turning Points and Transitional Values to manipulate emotions and draw unsuspecting audiences / readers into a web of mystery and wonder.
Story Values
Story values refer to the broadest sense of the idea and are the soul of storytelling. Story values are the universal qualities of human experience that may shift from positive to negative, or negative to positive, from one moment to the next.
- Opening story value: You should now be able to be clear about the opening story value of your scene: It could be any emotion ranging from happy to horrified.
- Closing story value: Your closing story value should be the opposite of your opening story value: if your opening story value is Happy, then your closing value will be Dead.
Turning Points
Turning Points in your story empowers the writer to open the gap between expectation and results in a story and jolts the audience/readers with surprise. The audience/readers expect something to happen, and then the unexpected occurs. They experience a rush of insight into the character and the story.
There are three turning points a writer can use:
- A Minor Turning Point at the end of each story event.
- A Moderate Turning Point at the end of each sequence.
- A Major Turning Point at the end of each act/chapter.
Through the strategic structuring of Turning Points, the audience/readers experience emotion when the story takes them through a transition of values.
Transitional Values
A story without a sense of progression tends to stumble from one scene to the next. It has little continuity because nothing links its events. As a writer, you must link scenes / events. To do this you have to look for:
- What the scenes have in common: If the scenes have a characterisation trait in common, cut from a bratty child to a childish adult; if the scenes have an action in common, cut from the foreplay of a love scene to the afterglow of passion; if it’s an object cut from a greenhouse to woodland exterior; if it’s a word, the phrase could be repeated from scene to scene; if it’s a sound, cut from waves lapping a shore to the rise and fall of a sleeper’s breath; if it’s an idea, cut from a child’s birth to an overture.
- What the scenes have in opposition: If it’s a characterisation trait, cut from the awkward protagonist to the elegant antagonist; if it’s an action, cut from chatter to cold silence; if it’s an object cut from the Congo to Antarctica; if it’s a word cut from compliment to curse; if it’s a sound, cut from silk caressing skin to the grinding of gear; it’s an idea cut from a painter’s empty canvas to an old man dying.
Transitions have always been a part of the writing process. Transitions mark the passage of time and the link between scenes and sequences and must be conceived visually; moving the action from one scene to the next requires a visual transition. Each scene must bridge a time to a place to move the story forward.
Transitions are tricky but a wonderful way for writers to explore imaginative and unique ways of linking scenes flawlessly.
If a story does not challenge its audience/readers with conflicted emotional extremities, it becomes dull and lifeless.
The story becomes a tapestry of mixed emotions, and a melting pot of symbolism and subtext, allowing us to feel what’s happening, and experience the heartbeat of each moment, taking a meaningful journey on the roller coaster of dramatic or comedic action without interruptions or getting lost in translation.
This is the storyteller using ultimate power to manipulate emotions and have full control over both the characters and their captive audience.
The Art Of Composition forms an integral part of The Write Journey Course
