Wednesday's Writing Tips - Orson Scott Card - Story Construction part one

Interesting reading in How To Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card and learning things that can apply to most genre writing. This segment begins a bit about Story Construction. What I've read has reminded me of many things that sometimes I apply automatically. Getting a reminder always brings them to the fore.

Part one of Story Construction starts with discovering who the story belongs to. Now when one sits down to write the idea may start with a character in mine. This could be Jack or Jill's story and discovering which one really has the lead can change as one mores forward with the story.

The hero or the heroine is the character the reader wants to end up the winner. Doesn't mean this person is the viewpoint character. The story can be told through other eyes. The main character could be teh villain, or what some people call the anti-hero. The main character could be someone who observes the action and watches the hero or heroine or villain stumble through life toward the goal.

How to choose is the question. There are some hints to this. Who has the most to gain or lose during the course of the action? The person who has the most invested in the outcome of the action is the one you want to focus on.

The viewpoint character has to be there when the big scenes take place. He or she must participate in the event and not be just an observer. He or she needs to have a stake in the outcome even if the outcome depends on other characters.

And you'll find as you write the character you initially chose to tell the story may not be the one you choose in the end or you may find you need more than one character to tell your story.