What's The Story About Anyway?

So I told you all last week that I love to write and I really enjoy stories. I'm sure you're all wondering: What kind of story are you writing, Micah?
I shall tell you.
I am writing a story about pirates.

No, not that kind of pirate. This is going to be riddled with Princess Bride references. I just know it.
But yes, I am writing a pirate story. I will describe to you this epic tale of pirates with something called the Five Elements of Story. This technique is taken from OYAN.
So the Five Elements are:
Air
Water
Fire
Earth
And
The Avatar.

(Hey at least it’s a fandom other than Princess Bride)
No, I’m kidding. The Elements go like this:
Someone to Care About
Something to Want
Something to Dread
Something to Suffer
Something to Learn

Later when I have posts about these I’ll link the different elements to each Element so you can learn more, but alas, I have not made said posts yet. I’m afraid you’ll just have to wait.

 
 

(I can’t resist, it’s my favorite movie)

But to break it down simply:
Someone to Care About – The Protagonist, or main character, of the story. For example, Frodo is the protagonist of Lord of the Rings. Westley is the protagonist of Princess Bride.

Something to Want – This is the story goal. The story goal of Lord of the Rings is to destroy the ring in Mount Doom. The story goal of Princess Bride is for Buttercup and Westley to get married (but who gets Prince Humperdinck?).

Something to Dread ­– This comes in different forms: The obstacles the protagonist has to face as he or she goes on his quest and an antagonist. For Frodo, this comes in the form of many different antagonists and challenges along his way to Mount Doom. In Princess Bride, it comes in the form of the Fire Swamp, Count Ruegen, the Pit of Despair, and that rotten Prince Humperdinck.

Something to Learn – This is the lesson that is taught through the story. Please do not make it preachy. I absolutely hate preachy morals. However, many stories have morals that work even though they don’t preach it. The theme of Princess Bride is “Nothing can stop true love; Not even death.”

ISN’T THAT SO SWEET THOUGH

So concludes my rant about Princess Bride the Five Elements of Story.
See you next week!
Question of the week:
Do you like kissing books?
(I had to)

Obligatory Introduction Post

Hello Everyone!

So I finally decided I was going to get back into this whole blogging thing after my first blog crashed and burned (ha ha car accident pun sort of), but here we are again!

 

I’m back to talk about my screwball stories, ridiculous writing realizations, and amazingly awesome alliterations. But the point is I really am back at this point and I’ve got a new thing that I started over the summer that I think everyone will get a kick out of.

It's called the One Year Adventure Novel!

 

Now, a disclaimer, I don’t own OYAN, and I’m not sponsored by them either, I just think they’re cool. 

Anyway, I’m mostly going to be talking about my story that I’m writing through OYAN, which I will have a page about soon, not the curriculum itself. I’ll also be posting book reviews, writing advice, and anything else that piques my interest.  

Now I’m sure you’d all like to know a bit more about me, the author, so I’ll fill you all in (I’ll be adding this to the about page as well). 

I’m 18 years old (recently, Feb 9^th, actually), and I’m planning to go to Wright State University and get a degree in Mass Communication with a minor in Russian Studies. I work for the Clarion at Sinclair Community College and I’m really hoping I can get a superman t-shirt because that’s all I need to be a mild-mannered reporter. It’s pretty thrilling.

Anyway, hope you all enjoy!

(PS There's little buttons at the bottom of the post so you can tell all your friends what a great writer I am wink wink nudge nudge)

Question of the week:

Which is better? Plotting or Pantsing?