Tuesday's Inspiration - A Story Is... #MFRWauthor

Once again, thanks to Dwight V. Swain for this quote. "A story is movement through the eternal now from past to future.

Sounds mystical and is sort of. Each story written is happening in the character's present and shows movement from a single incident to reach a goal. The past is that moment when the incident occurs that is the trigger for the character's desires and actions to gain that desire. Though one writes in past tense for the story most of the time, the story is a journey.

I've seen stories written in the present tense and must admit they make me uncomfortable. A number of them are written in first person but for me this isn't what a story is about. That's just me. What about you?

So each story has a beginning and the journey takes the characters on a journey heading toward the end. To reach the end the story has to pass certain points where the character or characters must make decisions. Do I continue on this journey? Is the goal what I really want? Have I changed? Have any of the other characters changed, making my decisions different?  The middle of the story is where things happen and drive the character to reach the end.

Where the character ends is the future for that character. And this future is based on the decisions made throughout the story. One thing about the ending. This point must be a satisfactory ending for these characters. We all like happy endings but sometimes they aren't the satisfactory ending for a particular character.