Stories Move

Many times, I have spoken to writers who say that they have a great idea for a story. They have shown me things or described things that were interesting, but were not actually a story.

Sometimes, I have been shown very interesting character sketches. Sometimes it is a great back-story. Other times it is a situation or setting. But none of these things, alone, create a story.

The difference between a vignette, setting description, or a character sketch and a story is fairly simple. In a story, something changes. The character's understanding of self, the character's location within the setting, the world in which the character exists, the reader's point of view or thoughts… something changes. Something moves.

No Change:

Carol looked into the mirror at her long, dark hair. She had been a blond for years, but after the tragedy, she decided it was time for a change. She picked up the blue bow her grandmother had given her and pulled up her hair, clipping the bow in place just so. She was very particular about her looks, and wanted everything to be in its place. That, too, was something she had adopted after… When Bo had died, a lot of things had changed.

While that might possibly be interesting, nothing changes. Past changes have created the presented version of Carol. But in the paragraph, we only learn how she "is" but nothing really changes.

Change:

Carol looked into the mirror at her long, dark hair, and shook her head. She had changed it to the darkest brown she could find when Bo died. His death had rocked her world, and had turned her into someone she hardly knew, but she had come to think she was no better for it. She had come to think she was worse off—obsessed with nit-picking every detail of her looks to the point that she was miserable.

She looked down at her vanity and then back at her reflection. Shaking her head, she picked up the shears, lifted a section of her hair and cut. Shoulder length will be fine… She made sure that it was a little uneven, just to make a point.

This may be no more interesting than the first example, but in it, we see Carol move. She makes a decision to act on something the reader is told she had been feeling for a while. The reader senses the movement of Carol, and the sum of all the character movements is called the character arc.

An interesting character arc can, sometimes be enough to make a story. Coupled with an interesting plot arc, can make an even better story. But to be sure, without some movement—without something in the work changing, growing, or adjusting—without movement, there is no story.

If a writer is looking to purposefully create a response in the reader, it will be accomplished through the story. As the characters and the world of the characters change, the reader will be prompted to change with them