Writing Life Stories — of Living People by Ruth Bonetti

Over decades of writing my heritage trilogy, I wrangled relatives, opening closet doors to skeletons, shotgun weddings and shame on the family. I resisted cranky maiden aunts who threatened legal action if I divulged a century-old illegitimate birth. Black sheep were drafted from white; truths sifted from myths;
‘Change the names and turn it into a novel’ some siblings urged, not trusting me to honour the family.

Magical realism gave me a tool to avoid relatives’ rancour. I wrote conversations with dead relatives, posing questions like ‘Karl Johan, I bet you were in the thick of the Battle of Brisbane?’ No answer but the possibility hangs in the ether. (Don’t you talk with your long departed?)

 

I gave him new life, channelling his own FaceBook page. This long-deceased bachelor author received little encouragement until I gave him credence in his book Burn my Letters and on Soundcloud.

Now, writing stories of living people, I face new challenges. Valued critique groups focus on writing tools like Spot the ‘Show don’t tell.’ With living people it’s ‘dare I show or tell without asking permission? 

 

Recently I’ve been led to write stories of a diverse group of living people: Justen, a Sudanese child soldier, refugee to Australia and now studying for the ministry; my indigenous ‘Bestie’ from Boigu Island in Torres Strait, who was so buoyed to have a short story in Mosaic of Grace that she wants to publish a whole book of her testimonies as well as short stories for children.

My book-in progress Victorious Voices will release stories of three friends including a Neapolitan tenor and Tuija, a Finnish singer who I was led to Estonia to meet. Why Estonia?

 

‘That’s all I have to write about Finland,’ I decided after the third book of my trilogy Midnight Sun to Southern Cross was published. But that shut door left a hole in my heart and head. Until I stumbled onto a documentary called The Singing Revolution. It described how Estonians won freedom from Soviet rule with unique powerful weapons—their singing voices. The three Baltic states endured oppressive regimes under Russia until 1991. They won independence through silent protest and singing! 

At Estonia’s Song and Dance Festival (see my 2025 blog) I bonded with Tuija and discovered we share similar issues, even reaching back to utero. To communicate our murky dark issues sparks triggers.

 

What to reveal in print? What might malcontents use against me? Why reveal chinks in my armour for insensitive prodding? I am blessed with wise counsel, spiritual direction, beta readers and editors to vet words before they’re printed. With a small team of like-minded nonfiction authors meet, some digitally, I meet to pray through far deeper issues than show-don’t-tell. 

 

Digital platforms like FaceTime are invaluable for interviewing distant friends and transcribing in first person viewpoint. Messenger’s green dot alerts when Tuija is awake in Finland. It tempts me to jump in with a searching question, skipping introductory pleasantries. The three dots wave in response while I double guess if I’ve been too abrupt or disturbed her sleep.

 

One luminous full moon I tossed before sleeping. Text pings woke me at 2:30am. Bestie’s mother had just died following the recent death of her younger sister. I rolled over, remembering I had stumbled into a cultural sensitivity by asking about their health and funerals. After wriggling a while I replied with the compassion she then craved. (Next day I reset the ‘do not disturb’ function.) 

At such times how to balance objectivity and sympathy? While I’ve promised to help Bestie edit her stories, my role is to enable and empower her to own her stories. It’s her voice, and she knows culture better than me. When I upgraded my iPad, I donated the old one to her worthy cause and sent videos showing how to record her stories to Notes or Voice Memos using the mic icon. Transcribe, even. 

 

Pitfalls lie in wait when writing of different cultural situations but there’s deep satisfaction in enabling living stories to reach readers.   

 

What stories could you share before they’re lost to dementia or the grave? Do it now!

 

HEAR Ruth Bonetti speak at Koorong on 'Writing Life Stories of Living People'.

WRITING PROMPTS:

·      If I’d known what lay ahead, when I took that first step…

·      The photograph sent prickles down my spine. These were real people!

·      If only I’d shared my story, another life might have been saved.

Ruth loves writing true stories of real people overcoming adversity. She is grateful to her team of prayer supporters (yes, including Tuija in Finland) to overcome the Attack of Tech Gremlins that messed with blog formatting and her head. 

Ruth co-edited a third collection Mosaic of Grace with Anne Hamilton and Rosemary New. Ruth is thrilled by the prolific harvest of published authors since founding Omega Writers in 1991 and co-founding Christian Authors Showcase Queensland. 

Website

Mosaic of Grace

Buy Ruth's books

Midnight Sun to Southern Cross Trilogy

Book Narrations

The Singing Revolution

Power in Writing Community.

 

    In the beginning God created family. He created man and woman and he saw that it was very good. God also noted it was not good for man to live alone and so he gave Adam a mate.

Early members of Sunshine Coast Omega 

Likewise it is not good for a writer to be completely alone.  I’ve heard many say that it’s a lonely experience being an author, and, yes, there is always a lot of time when we pound the keys in our bubble. However, there is a difference between being alone and being lonely. An author, needs a community, people around that support and understand her.

Writers together celebrate the release of Symphony of Grace

Jesus spent time alone, but he also spent much time in community, where He modeled different levels of relationship. He had three close friends, chose twelve disciples, and related to many others in the crowds. When he needed company, it was always available.

 

I find my writing community invaluable so when writing I purposely involve other people. I need people to bounce ideas off, to share wins and get feedback. Equally, I watch for others to help, support, read and critique.

 

When I write anything, my friend Sue wants to read every word. I email my books chapter by chapter. She knows my characters and keeps me encouraged. The wonderful thing about this arrangement is having someone I can discuss a character’s dilemma or a plot difficulty. Sue isn’t an author but an avid reader. She’s been an invaluable help to me as I have written various novels and articles. She’s also edits the document at the first level.

My little critique group. Jo, Miranda, Jeanette, Arlene.

 

I am part of a small critique group of four writers. This blog will be emailed to them today.  Next week when we meet they will edit it and critique it. They suggest changes and highlight obvious mistakes. As I’m a master at mistakes this group saves me from publishing bad writing. Each of us submits three pages each month and we all comment on one another’s writing. Our writing has improved as we’ve learned from each other.

 

Last Saturday, our sunshine Coast Omega writers group met in my lounge room. There were ten of us, investing our time to share each other’s knowledge and experience. It’s an incredibly rich place to be as we talk about our wins in our losses. One person has created a new app for the group to help with our editing. The members of this group are quick to help each other with knowledge and assistance. Some of the members are more experienced with many published books. Others have done a lot of study and bring knowledge about writing craft. Others are only just beginning their writing journey. Some understand technology and others struggle with it. It’s a fun, supportive group and its great to have people you can ring and seek help.

Sunshine Coast chapter celebrates with Julie as she launches Oscar was Here

 

And of course, there is the online writing community. Facebook groups like Australasian Christian Writers and Christian Writers Downunder feed encourage and teach me. Through these sites and others, I have met so many interesting people, discovered their writing and learned from their experience. Recently I sent El Gibbor, my next book, to a few beta readers requesting feedback before publication. One of those readers was Paula Vince in Adelaide. Paula and I met years ago at writers’ conferences. She published Picking up the Pieces the same time I published Though the Bud be Bruised. Both books look at different responses to sexual abuse. I knew she would be interested my latest book. She very graciously sent me three pages of suggestions, sharing how I could improve the book.

 

The wider internet community is a great forum for questions.  How do I self publish? Where is the best place to get this? What’s the best app for that?  So many questions mine the combined knowledge of writers. This help is invaluable.

 

Part of this community dynamic is our willingness to share our wisdom and time. Time invested in helping others reaps much reward. We champion each other, acknowledging wins and giving help when needed. Book launches are a great place to support community and build it. Julie Modra, one of our members, launched her book, Oscar was Here, at the Mad Hatter’s Bookshop last weekend. It was a great occasion and an opportunity to mingle.

Julie Modra at Mad Hatter's Bookshop

 

Wider community again is the Omega Writer’s conference that brings people together from Australia and New Zealand. Many of these occasions have equipped me with new skills, corrected bad habits and warmed me with great fellowship. There are many similar conferences from other Writers Centres, but I really enjoy the Christian fellowship.

A team of contributers celebrating Mosaic of Grace. 

Anthologies develop from community. Tabor College in Adelaide have printed one every year for ten years. There are many books on my shelf where my writing is published.  Keep your eyes open. There are lots of anthologies where your short works can be highlighted. I’m thankful for the community that works together to produce top quality books.

 

How do you find a group? I’d start on Facebook or similar sites. Join groups. Become a member of Omega Writers. And ask the simple question… Does anyone live near me? Join an online group like Grace Writers. Just hunt until you find your family

 

And remember a Christian is never alone. We carry the Holy Spirit within and he’s a great source of creative ideas and fellowship. 

Jo Wanmer lives on the northern outskirts of Brisbane with her husband of 55 years, Steve, and a lively needy toy poodle called Barclay. She is used to dodging him on her knee as she writes.She is excited to see her book El Roi named as a finalist in Caleb Christian fiction awards this year. Her book El Shaddai is leading a series. It is followed by El Roi, and El Gibbor is with the publisher. Two more books in the series are on the computer. Exciting books written with Holy Spirit as co-author.

 

Not the Droids We're Looking For

 by Rebekah Robinson

Tick the box: I’M NOT A ROBOT. Identify the pictures with traffic lights or what-have-you. Grimace, or grin, according to the day. Think fondly of C-3PO and rather less fondly of Hal 9000.

Image: Rawpixel|iStock

These days, it’s getting harder and harder to tell fact from fiction. Bots sound like us now. I had two almost identical-sounding conversations with ‘Sharon’ on my phone before it occurred to me to ask, ‘Wait, wait, Sharon … are you a bot?’ The reply I got was extremely huffy: ‘I am a Digital Assistant!’ (Clippy at least never rang us up repeatedly to talk about solar!)

Not only that, but world events are the stuff of fantasy, and grimdark, at that. On the author front, people are now feeding bits of very old manuscripts to the Beast to see if it cries ‘Plagiarised!’ And — you guessed it — it sometimes does! Who knew Mary Shelley was secretly using ChatGPT in 1818?

For a very interesting, slightly heartbreaking, but ultimately helpful article on proving your from-scratch authorship, you might find this relevant.

(Yes, yes, Beck, we’re all very outraged about AI, stealing our fun, our voices, our work. Where are you going with this?) ←Hat-tip to the mighty Ruth Bonetti for this technique!

Do you remember the grunge/deconstruction phase of the 90s? All the glamorous excesses of the 80s were eschewed in favour of dressing down, gritty music, drilling fiercely to find the authentic. My prediction is that the current surfeit of airbrushed unrealism will soon wane in popularity against an upsurge in appreciation for the artisanal and the genuine.

This is especially relevant to writers because we are artisans. We take language and make it dance. We are not auto-tuned. We are the coalface of art, bespoke and irreplaceable. The Bible tells us our very hairs are numbered.* Science tells us our fingerprints — even those of twins — are unique.

Further, the presence of God is always supposed to be carried on the shoulders of humans. From the time He manifested His presence between the cherubim of the Ark to the incredible privilege of having Him live inside each redeemed heart, He has always wanted to include us in what He is doing. A cart won’t cut it. An answering machine won’t cut it. And so no matter how correct-sounding a sermon written by an LLM might be, it cannot by itself impart life. That is something God Himself does, and He seems to enjoy doing it through us. The Gospel is and always has been incarnational. He became one of us to invite us to become one with Him.

Within the scope of what God does on the earth, He calls us into community. Across our millions, we can do even greater works that He did rolling 12 deep.* Even in shopping, there's something about great customer service which far outstrips ‘Add to Cart.’ This goes double for writing stories that amaze and inspire, and interacting with people who are searching for connection to the Lord.

Your testimony matters, and so does your fictional narrative idea, and so does your gift of insight. Now and then, perhaps, we reinvent the wheel; but the wheel must be reinvented every generation. You might have noticed this in church songs: yesterday’s I See the Lord becomes today’s You Are Holy. Jesus, Just the Mention goes through What a Beautiful Name and comes out at Jesus, Be the Name. Each iteration of each great truth carries the flame of the Lord and the flavour of today's firebrand. All the glory is the Lord’s, but He stoops to share the joy with us.

AI will never replace or command the presence of God, and it will never be a substitute for the fellowship of believers. Trust Him — He knows what He’s doing. Remain at your post and stay the course, ‘for God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable.’*

Rebekah Robinson loves God and people, and writes about Christian living. A missionaries’ daughter, she was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, and lives in Brisbane, Australia. She and her husband have two adult children. Freelancing as a graphic designer specialising in books, she enjoys singing, songwriting and worship leading, and may have a slight digital scrapbooking addiction.

Beck's Website . Facebook

Tell Me More!

 by Anusha Atukorala

One day, not long ago, I turned to a friend for prayer. What I needed was someone who listened, asked a question or two to know more and then prayed for me. My friend, let’s call her Simone – did do what I asked for and I was grateful. But … she talked. Too much! The instant I shared my prayer request and before I could finish, she began sharing similar situations in her life – which in truth, had little bearing in my own. She meant well and I did appreciate her praying for me. However … she didn’t understand my need - she made invalid assumptions without first listening.

Simone didn’t understand what caring for a friend means in the fullest sense. Which is … talking less and listening more. Talking less and praying more. She in fact taught me what I needed to do, if a friend approached me for prayer. Not to talk more or make assumptions. But simply to listen. And then to say ‘Tell me more!’ Isn’t that what friendship and caring are about? Seeking to learn more about another in order to support them well! Psychologists talk of curiosity being important in a relationship. I prefer the word 'interest’ rather than curiosity. When someone is interested in another’s feelings or life or experiences, it helps. Tell me more! Three words that can make a difference.

 

A good listener, draws out another by an attitude of ‘Tell me more’ even if she doesn’t mouth the words. And of course … a good writer answers the question ‘Tell me more’ that’s asked by an interested reader. There are books and books. Some books I can leave aside. Others I can’t put down. Tell me more, I cry in my reader’s heart as I turn the pages swiftly and read more. I’m eager to get to the end of the story but also don’t want to reach the finale, because I am enjoying it too much! Have you been there? It’s a great feeling is it not, (despite it being a conundrum)!

 

Writing a best seller that draws readers wanting more, is a writer’s dream come true. These days, sadly I can’t get to the library as often as I used to (it used to be once a week – now, it’s more like once in a few months due to my ill health), so I check the writers whose books I’ve greatly enjoyed and put more of theirs on hold – then ask my beloved to pick them up for me on his weekly trip to the library. My unspoken question then towards each of these gifted writers is ‘Tell me more’! If one of their novels was an exceptional read, their other books too are sure to be enjoyable.

You know, it blesses me deeply when a friend says ‘So tell me more. What is it like to live with chronic fatigue?’ Or ‘It must be so difficult for you, not having the energy to do basic tasks. Tell me about it?’ But few people realise that it’s a way of helping me and others with chronic illness. I know that it’s not that they don’t care, it’s just that they have not experienced the challenges and don’t realise the power of being heard. People are often fixers – they want to fix broken things. But when broken things cannot be fixed ... listening is a way of fixing what cannot be fixed.

Tell me more! Three little words that can bless another. My beloved blesses me often by letting me vent and complain when I have unbearable pain or debilitating fatigue. After I share – even just one sentence, I feel so much better. And then I can move ahead to be more positive.

 

In our experiences with others as believers, we can bless them through our attitude ‘Tell me more.’ Do we instead formulate responses in our head about what we’d say in response, even before our friend stops speaking? I’m sure we are all guilty of it. And what of our walk as believers? ‘Dear Jesus, do tell me more’,  should be our heart’s spiritual posture every day. Last year, when my church Bible study group studied ‘Learning to discern God’s Voice’ – a powerful study by Priscilla Shirer, we were asked to list a few questions of what we hoped to hear from God.

 

A question I asked God that He answered most fully was: Who are you God? He responded to it in amazing ways, not once, not twice but many many times over. I learnt so much about Him that I hadn’t known before. It made me realise that God wants us to seek Him and know Him better and better. So here’s a challenge for all us. Let’s learn to write so well, that readers will say ‘I want more. Tell me more’. Let’s learn to listen to others with a stance of ‘Tell me more about your joys and sorrows. I am listening’. And in our spiritual lives, let’s have an attitude of seeking and finding God in full measure.

 

And now dear listener, dear reader, dear writer, dear friend. 

Here is my question today: 

“Tell me more about yourself. What are your own hopes and dreams? Tell me more! I am listening.”

Anusha’s been on many interesting detours in life, as a lab technician, a computer programmer, a full time Mum, a full time volunteer, a charity director, a full time job chaser, until one golden day (or was it a dark moonless night?) God tapped her on her shoulder and called her to write for Him. She has never recovered from the joy it brought her. She loves to see others enjoying life with Jesus and does her mite to hurry the process in her world through her writing and through her life. The goodness of God is her theme song through each season, as she dances in the rain with Jesus.

 

Her first book Enjoying the Journey contains 75 little God stories that will bring you closer to your Creator. Her 2^nd book ‘Dancing in the Rain’ brings you hope and comfort for life’s soggy seasons. Her 3rd book, ‘Sharing the Journey’ is a sequel to 'Enjoying the Journey'.

 

Do drop in on her two websites to say G’day! She’d love to connect with you.

Dancing in the Rain 

Light in the Darkness

Lessons from Ghostwriting a Book

 by Charis Joy Jackson 

 

Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash          

The past few years, I’ve dedicated my skills to ghostwriting a book for some friends. Their life is amazing and it’s been a privilege to be a part of seeing their story told. 

From the get-go, I was clear with them that I’d never ghostwritten a thing before, but shared a few samples of my work: articles, blogs, a sci-fi short story or two. On paper, it didn’t make sense for me to take on the project, but I’m so glad they were willing to take the risk with me. 

Just this last week, I passed the project back to them. We have a complete book and we’re close to the next phase — publishing. 

All of us were learning as we went, so hopefully you can learn from my mistakes.

THE LINGO

Learn how they talk. If you’re about to start a ghostwriting project or just want your WIP characters to sound like unique individuals it’s important to differentiate between how you would say something and how they would say it. 

Early on, I’d ask investigative questions like, “How did that make you feel?” or “Were you scared?” I was often bemused by the answer because it wasn’t what I was looking for to make them relatable to the reader. 

It wasn’t until Easter of that first year, when I was sitting at the table with their whole family, that I realised why we were missing each other. One of their family members made a joke about being the only “feeler” in the family, and something clicked. 

I am by nature, very emotive, I am a “feeler.” Much of my language is around feeling words, my friends are not. They are genuinely loving and caring people, but their language and thought process doesn’t come from a baseline of feeling. I started paying more attention to how they spoke about difficult situations. My language would’ve been, “It was really painful”, their’s was, “It was tough” or “it was hard”. 

The more I paid attention to these small changes the more I was able to write from their genuine perspective.

REGULAR COMMUNICATION

In those early months, when I was recording their stories, regular communication and meetings were a natural part of the process, and some of my favourite moments. There I sat, gleaning from their incredible adventures, and I had the privilege of interrupting at any point to ask more details. What did it look like? What were you thinking then? And now that I knew better, was that tough?

As the slow trudge of transcription and puzzling the book together took over, the meetings slowed. I don’t think any of us knew what we’d discus if we met. It’d have just been a lot of, “Yup, so I’m transcribing this section and writing out this story.” Looking back, I wish this had been more of a steady rhythm for two reasons.

Reason One: To pray for the book and the process
Reason Two: Just to keep us all focused

As the months turned into a year, the book slipped from our main focus a few times. There were health issues among other things that slowed the process down. If we’d met on a monthly basis to pray, I’m convinced we’d have kept the book more front and centre.

LOGISTICS PART ONE

Oh the logistics! I’ve put this into two parts because there’s much to consider when working on a project of this scale. As, I’ve mentioned, there was a lot of transcription. I recorded those early meetings on my phone’s Voice Notes. 

When recording those meetings, it took me a while to figure out how best to label them, and how to transcribe them. There are many online platforms that will transcribe meetings for you, but I wanted to do it the long way. It helped me really sit in their story.

At first, I would sit with my phone and let it play a few seconds, pause it and then type what I’d just heard. This was VERY tedious. Then, a wonderful friend told me about this cool program that you used with a peddle. Some of you may be familiar with the type. The one I used was called Express Scribe Transcription Software. It did cost some money, but it was well worth it. 

Once your recording was uploaded into the program with a push of the peddle at your feet, you can play, reverse or fast forward. I don’t know why, but it made me feel (there goes my emotive language) very official and cool. 

Yes, I am a nerd. 

It cut the transcription time in half if not more and allowed me to soak in the stories more than just passing the process off to an online AI transcription platform, which if I’m honest, I’m not comfortable using anyway. 

LOGISTICS PART TWO

Once I began to have scenes and chapters for my friends to look over, it became a bit of a juggle to find the best way forward. At first, I was sending word documents but then we were getting lost in too many files of the same chapters. Or emails were lost.

Our workplace used Outlook, so then we changed to online sharable files. I’m sure Outlook is a blessing for many, but I loathe it. In my few years of using it, emails went missing, files didn’t actually show up right … I’m just not a fan. Neither were my friends, so I suggested we move everything over to Google Docs and try the process there. 

This worked much better for all of us, but in the processes we were losing some of their edits because we hadn’t fully established turning on “Suggesting” aka Track Changes. A few chapters were such a slow process for me to incorporate back into the original Scrivener project that if it had been a race with a snail, well, let’s just say, I wouldn’t have won! 

Still, once we started really working with it, things got better and communication around edits became clearer. In the end, we got the project there. 

 

ONE LAST THING ...

If I ever tackle another ghostwriting project, these tools will definitely help me for the future. Who knows, maybe some of them can be helpful for you too, even if you’re not doing a ghostwriting project. Using what I learned for “The Lingo” can definitely help build a strong voice for characters, and when looking for an editor, maybe some of my mistakes with logistics can be something you avoid, at least that’s my hope. 

I’ll end with this, whether you’re writing non-fiction or the next epic fantasy, who do you have praying for your work? 

I’ll never forget being up in Toowoomba, for the Omega Writers Conference, sitting with lovely writerly friends, when one of them said, “Tell me what you’re writing, and I’ll tell you what you’re struggling with internally.” 

This prophetic woman was so right.

At the time, I’d been writing a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, and my MC, Averie was struggling with forgiveness. The theme of my take on the fairytale was, can you forgive even the worst offenders? And, lo and behold, I was struggling to forgive some people in my life. 

What an eye-opener and, for me, all the more reason why it’s good to cover our projects with prayer. This ghostwriting project has come with hurdles and I was able to find the energy to get over them with the help of a wee group of friends who’ve prayed at every step of the process. 

Why not reach out to a few friends and see if they’d pray for your WIP? And then, get typing!

Happy writing all!

______________________________________

 

Charis Joy Jackson
 

Substack, Instagram, Facebook, Website

 

Home is one island or another. Sometimes on a collection of Isles (Hawaii), once on a GIANT one (Australia), & now on the quaint Island of the Mighty, aka Britain. 

 

 

I potter, I film things, & I write. 

At the heart of it all, I am a Storyteller.

Creating characters who live

by  Jeanette Grant-Thomson

Have you ever written a story and found one of your characters stays alive in your mind afterwards?

Once I would have been a bit cynical about this concept but since writing Lantern Light, I’ve had Dave and his trek on my mind occasionally. Of course, I loved the PNG jungle. But Dave feels like a character who has more to say. Perhaps this is why some authors write series.

Actually, when I first read Jane Harper’s The Dry, the first book with Aaron Falk as the protagonist, I found him a bit flat, too many closed doors in his emotions. A rather boring central character. So I was delighted when he began to develop emotionally in Force of Nature and then came right through to being real in Exiles.

Apparently the first appearance of Don Tillman (Graeme Simsion’s The Rosie Project character) was in the short story The Klara Project, which is typically funny. Presumably Simsion considered Don a character with plenty more to say.

Of course, many authors have created wonderful characters who really live right from their first novel. For example, McCall Smith’s Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi are very ‘alive’, even with their exaggerated quirks. And I always enjoy Dorothy Sayers’ Peter Wimsey, who develops a lot more depth in the four books covering his relationship with Harriet.

I remember chatting with a friend about McCall Smith. The conversation went something like this:

Me: I don’t know. Sometimes I think a lot of my prose is almost as good as McCall Smith’s. (Oops, pride!) And he’s making millions and I’m … not.

Friend (smiling): Well you didn’t create Mma Ramotswe!

Hmm! And I do like character-driven dramas. Time to try harder. Some of my characters have been more real than others. How about you? Do you feel yours come to life?

Some people prefer writing in the first person, so we know the protagonist’s innermost thoughts and feelings. This can be a way of making characters come alive but it’s important to make the narrator likeable, so people want to spend book-length time with him/her – except in rare cases where the narrator’s character adds something different to the plot.

But briefly back to Dave. I can't tell you where or how Dave is at the end, without spoiling the story. But what if ... and there are so many 'sliding doors' moments (you know, the 1998 movie with Gwyneth Paltrow) with Dave and his crazy jungle trek.


Of course this is all imagination and he's only a character in Lantern Light - but I like to imagine various other outcomes as well.


So I'll probably deal with Dave in a short story or two. Lay him to rest - or give him eternal life if the stories end up a roaring success! Tessa deserves another story as well. They may turn up with different names in short stories, like whole new characters.

For those who may find character building is NOT your strongest point, here are a few suggestions I find helpful:

I find it good to have a few salient points, but not too many details, about the characters’ appearance so I can visualise them easily but quickly. Other writers may prefer to leave it to the reader to create the protagonist themselves. That may seem more real to them.

But for me – for example, I love Janette Turner Hospital’s book, Due Preparations for the Plague. The main protagonists in this complex novel are Lowell and Samantha. Although we follow them through hair-raising adventures, I don’t think we are ever given any hint to their appearance. JTH has left it to us readers to create these characters’ appearance as we read. I’d prefer a few hints as we are well acquainted with their motivations, emotions, thoughts and actions. But the novel is good enough without the externals. It’s probably a deliberate ploy on Hospital’s part to go in-depth. For example, what’s Samantha like? She’s a hurting, determined, loyal, driven girl. Her eyes and hair? Well …? (Incidentally, for those readers like me who prefer a cleanish read, if I had edited DPFTP, I’d have deleted one revolting image.)

I find it best to introduce aspects of the characters’ appearance naturally, rather than giving a deliberate detailed description of them. E.g. Ali combs her long wet hair after her shower. Tessa gets a traditional description as one of the important things about her role in this story is her beauty and attractiveness. Dave’s appearance comes in little phrases like ‘a wavy brown lock’ of his growing-longer hair.

Of course, the traditional questions you ask about your characters are: what is his/her main goal at the moment? And what are his biggest obstacles and fears?

If you’re doing deep POV with your character, try to use as many of your five senses as are suitable. What can she see? Hear? Smell? Touch? Perhaps even taste? And is she feeling at peace inwardly? Or does something niggle? And other aspects of her emotions, e.g. fears.

If you’re not sure about how real your protagonist is, you may wish to try putting him/her into a totally different situation and then writing about the character in this situation. Deal with her reactions, feelings, thoughts, what she says, does, etc. It’s fun to choose a dramatic scene like: She is swimming with several friends. The lifesavers call a warning over the loud speaker that a shark has been spotted, so ‘Get out of the water immediately’. One of the girls or boys is a poor swimmer. What does your protagonist do, say, feel, think?

Do you feel your characters live? I’d be keen to hear your thoughts on this whole subject.

Jeanette Grant-Thomson is a Moreton-based author who has been writing and having work of various types published since her early childhood. River Song is her seventh published book-length novel. Her favourite of her own novels is Lantern Light, but Jodie’s Story, in its third edition, is a best seller.

Jeanette enjoys the country, mountains and beach as well as having coffee with friends. You can find her books at  www.facebook.com/jeanette.grantthomson or in many shops including Koorong.

 

 

Featured photo of hiker from Pexels on Pixabay.

 

 Jeanette O'Hagan

Story and Structure

At the beginning of the year, I attended Genre Con (put on by Queensland Writers Centre) which included a number of presentations and workshops on Manga and Asian story telling structure, on Scot Wilson and the Indigiverse, as well as a workshop that compared three ways of telling stories - the Hero's Journey, the heroine’s journey and the Asian Kishōtenketsu (起承転結) (a classical four-act narrative structure originating in Chinese poetry that is widely used across East Asian literature, manga, and cinema). And in May, at Christian Authors Showcase Queensland (CASQ), Anne Hamilton digged deep into the Hero's Journey.

And six months later, I'm still pondering about the different approaches to storytelling and structure. 

 

Plotter or Pantser

I have a confession to make. I wrote in first draft most of what is now the Akrad's Legacy series (four books) before seriously looking into structure. . It originally was meant to be one book, though now I'm trying to keep it to four (Akrad’s Children, Rasel’s Song, Lumi’s Allegiance and Mannok’s Betrayal). Mostly because every time the story became too long, I’d split that book into two, but then needed to add additional plot arcs so each book had its own resolution within the overall narrative arc.

Well, since then I have dived into the different approaches to story and structure - including K M Wieland's many wonderful posts a lot of useful information on plot and structure, Stephen King's On Writing,  Blake Synder's Save the Cat (which focuses on modern movie structure), Lisa Cron's Story Genius, Susan May Warren's Story Equation, Stephen James' Story Trumps Structure.  (Both King and James are pantsers.)  Plus, while getting a MA (Writing) lots on Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces and Chrstopher Volger's The Writers's Journey (an adaptation of Campbell).

So I know the theory. 

But here's the rub.  I'm an organic writer or a discovery writer or maybe a tweener or a planster. When I start writing I need to have three tent pegs (or maybe triangulation points) to start the story - not necessarily the same each time. It could be any combination of a theme or premise (a lot of my short stories start with theme or genre), or the main character, or the setting, or sometimes the end or an even along the way. The rest develops as I write and I often plot on the fly. And  then there are the times the story and/or the characters take over.

I don't think that means my stories lack plot or structure. In fact, at least one reviewer thought my books were plot driven. (I like think they are both character and plot driven.)

Firstly, as avid readers we imbibe an intuitive sense of story structure, much as we first learn language - not by studying grammar but by soaking up the language that surrounds us. 

And secondly, I learn intuitively and write intuitively. Give me a garden with curving lines, fallen leaves and sprawling flowers, not strict, straight, geometical patterns. 

I love learning patterns, but I hate having to plod one foot in front of the other. I like tweaking and transcending (not breaking) the rules. So sitting down with a plan with precise percentage points of when center elements should be added in kills my creativity. 

We are all different.

Each of us probably falls somewhere along of the spectrum of plotter versus pantser, but even for full blown pantsers, it is still helpful to know readers’ (intuitive or instinctive) expectations of what is a good story. It's still helpful to understand the theory on structure.

We each will probably apply that knowledge in different ways.

Story, Plot and Structure

Story - is what it's all about - the interaction of the characters with the premise, plot, settings and themes. It provides the deeper meaning of the story, that rises from the characters, their past, their moral dilemmas and their journey. It's what keeps the audience emotionally invested.

Plot - is the action that drives the story forward,  the series of external events, usually connected by cause and effect. 

The story can be plot -driven (mainly about the external journey) or character driven (mainly about the internal journey) or often both.

Structure - the order in how the story is told, the way it's put together. It provides pace, organization and ebbs and flows in the story. For instance, in a dual narrative two interconnected stories are told in parallel.  Structure may include different acts (sections), inciting moments, mid-points, climax etc. 

Three Acts and the Hero’s Journey

Many millennia ago, Aristotle spoke of a three-act story - with a beginning (protasis, the set-up or exposition), middle (epitasis, confrontation or rising action) and end (catharsis, the resolution). 

However, Shakespeare's play generally had five acts - Act 1, the exposition and inciting incident, Act 2 Rising action and complications, Act 3 the turning point or climax, Act 4 the consequences of the turning point and climax, act 5 the resolution or denouement.

And some modern plays (Waiting for Godot) have a two-act structure. Other propose a 4-Act story. While other story telling is episodic.

Novels (unlike screen plays) are not often explicitly divided into Acts. Even so, they usually follow similar structures in development of the story.

According to Joseph Campbell, the most common (or he would claim 'universal') structure is the Hero’s Journey. Certainly, it is a widespread and popular approach often portrayed as a circle (from normal  world to the new normal) and with a number of - 18 steps or Campbell.Volger simplifies it into 12 steps - such as 1. the normal or ordinary world, 2. the call to action, 3. the refusal of the call, 4. meeting the mentor, 5. crossing the threshold, 6. tests-allies-enemies (sometimes called fun and games), 7. approach the cave, 8. the ordeal, 9. the reward, 10. road back (back lash), 11. the resurrection, 12. bring gifts to the normal world. Some definite similiarities here with Jesus' life, death and resurrection.

Stories such as Star Wars – New Hope, Eragon, or the Matrix follow the Hero’s journey and as do many modern movies.

Can you think of other popular stories that follow this structure. Or perhaps others that don’t?

Btw, for a neat discussion that go beyound 3-Act structures and the Hero's Journey check out this blog.

Breaking the Mould

Slice of life stories and literary fiction are less dependent on plot and focus more on character or setting (or both). Such stories are much more about the journey than the destination.

As a pantser (or planter), I found Stephen James’ StoryTrumps Structure, helpful. But, as I said, I’m also intrigued with different story structures. And …. in the tradition of splitting up things in three parts – I hope to dive deeper in the Heroine’s Journey and Kishōtenketsuin in subsequent posts.

Jeanette O'Hagan has spun tales in the world of Nardva from the age of eight. She enjoys writing fantasy, sci-fi, poetry. Her Nardvan stories span continents, millennia and cultures. Some involve shapeshifters and magic. Others include space stations and cyborgs.

She has published over forty stories and poems, including the Under the Mountain Series (5 books), Akrad's Children and Rasel's Song, the first two books in the Akrad’s Legacy series and more recently, Rise of the Consortium. Her story in Stepping Sideways, 'In a League of Her Own' won the 2024 Aurealis Award for YA Short Stories & 'Anomalies at Prospero Base' (in Rise of the Consortium) was shortlisted in the 2025 Aurealis Awards.

Jeanette has practised medicine, studied communication, history, theology and writing. She loves reading, painting, travel, and pondering the meaning of life. She lives in Brisbane.

Find out more about Jeanette at:

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