Springtime in Summerville, SC
I love to read fiction, especially good fiction. Also, if I happen to see a movie that contains all of the elements of good story telling, then I tend to remember that movie for some time.
The elements of storytelling are, in no particular order:
- Setting: Where the story takes place, time, location
- Point of view: Who’s telling the story
- Plot: How the story is told. The steps, or sequence of events
- Theme: The underlying message of what the story is about.
- Character: The main participant
- Conflict: some type of struggle, either internal or external
My wife’s all time favorite movie is Seven years in Tibet. This movie, may or may not appeal to you. It depends, I think, on where you are in your life.
The general theme of the movie is change, or perhaps self-discovery, or maybe even renewal. This movie had it all, well placed, and in great measure. It’s probably my favorite Brad Pitt movie. My favorite movie series was The Matrix. Wow! It was more than just a special effects orgy. The theme was about discovery, about discovering that we are one with the Universe. It was all about casting off masks, breaking out of the Matrix, discovering reality, etc. When I watched it the first few times, I didn’t connect; however, after a lot of Tao reading, etc. It began to make sense. I could say that perhaps that is not what the author intended, but the story had enough in it to make sense to me in that way. There is a lot of discussion about it around the web. People take different meanings from it.
As we approach the SoFoBoMo starting line, I’m trying to solidify a theme, a setting, and a plot. It might seem a lofty goal for a 30-day project, but I want to give it a go. Last year’s project was haphazard, but I liked it anyway. There was, however, one section that I particularly liked better than the others, that was the Yin/Yang section. It had a theme. Click the image to the right to see last year’s book.
This year, I might do something about the flow of life. I might just do it in the field across the street. After all, everything occurs there. Birth. Death. Struggle. Triumph. Failure. Competition. It’s all there. That could be my setting. My time line would, of course, be the SoFoBoMo month. The characters, whatever I find like plants, insects, etc. The point of view would be from my point of view could be omniscient limited point of view where I move from character to character and put in my thoughts or feelings about what I see. The plot is the interesting part. How do I put it together to be in line with the theme?
Well, it’s food for thought anyway.
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15 Responses to “Story elements”
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Wow! What a fascinating idea. I certainly hope that you decide to pursue this. I want to have the pleasure of seeing it.
@Anita: I hope that I pursue it, too. I think that it would really turn into something special, at least for me. I’ve just got to get my head around it and, more important, my heart into it.
OK Paul, I’m starting to think that I’m not putting anywhere near enough thought and planning into SoFoBoMo.
Wow, all you guys are doing SoFoBoMo. Cool. I don’t feel so alone. I’ll have some friends along the way. Excellent.
Just one more quick thing. That’s a great picture of you up top. Wonderful.
I took the opportunity to look through your last year sofobomo book and must say it’s simply beautiful, both visually and in prose. The idea you present here is really interesting. While the nature you described in your last book was being nursed to some extent, the field across the street lies in the middle of civilization, with all that comes with it. I imagine all that can happen out on this field, the small disasters that occurs every time the grass is being cut for instance, how life goes on for most, and how it ends for the less fortunate. What was ended leads perhaps to new life, and on and on… Stimulating idea of yours, I must say.
[...] I will do photo shoots, and I have started to think of whether there is a need for a plot, or not. Thank you Paul, for this! He is doing a sofobomo book as well, and I must say his thinking helped me a lot in getting my [...]
@Chris: No, you are not alone. We are all in this together!
@Earl: No pressure, Earl! This is book two for me and I just want to do something different.
@Ove: Thank you very much for your compliment about last year’s book. I keep my eye on that field across the street every day. It’s really hard for me to not go there and shoot almost daily. I want to save some of it for a surprise for me. I think that in the next two weeks, much of the clover might be gone, which is visually interesting, but I’m sure that if I look deeper, there will be a lot more to see.
I took a quick look at last year’s book and I was really blown away. Wonderful. I’m going to dive it more deeply. I feel overwhelmed by the options for this whole thing. Question: why did you choose issuu? I hadn’t heard of them before I went and looked at your book.
@Chris: Thanks! I chose Issuu because that seemed to be an easy way to host it and make it look like a book. This year, I am going to use straight PDF and place it on the SoFoBoMo website, which didn’t exist last year, so to speak, at least not as far as the hosting is concerned.
I look forward to reading about your experience doing the book. People seemed to share their experiences, which were all very similar. Feelings of doubt, especially. There were a lot of emotions flying around during this time and all were very interesting to read. We could really relate to each other.
I’m so happy to have found you and Anita. While I have posted on many blogs whose authors work on SoFoBoMo, and was inspired to give the whole idea a shot because of their wonderful work, I don’t feel like I have connected to them as I feel I have with the two of you. Gives me some hope about getting the book done. Support group and all that.
@Chris: I’m glad that we found you, too! Well, there I go speaking for Anita, but I’m sure that she would agree.
I would say write about it! I’ll chime in with experience, encouragement, and whatever else that I have to offer. I’m pretty sure that you’ll get it done and have a great time doing it, to boot! It all starts with an idea, I suppose.
Paul, I’m happy to have you speak for me when it comes to welcoming folks like Chris.
Chris, I am delighted that you found us and I will second Paul’s description of the blogging especially during the first month of SoFoBoMo. He summed it up beautifully. By the way, Paul will have invaluable information to share. If you need encouragement, I will tell you honestly: if I got through it, you have no worries about surviving the adventure.
We all have a grand time (oops, I’m speaking for a great number of people). At least it would appear that most people had a wonderful experience. Welcome to the madness.
As one of many, I can chime in and say I will have a lot of fun during this madness!
I’m beginning to start a plan, but I always try to allow for the unexpected.