Story, Craft, and Voice

[cathschaffstump]

I'd like to thank Ferrett for linking to Rachel Gardner's article via his tweet machine.

Gardner approaches the topic from the angle of what appeals to an agent, the marriage of these three elements: story, craft and voice. Gardner believes that craft is the easiest to teach, and certainly it's the more measurable, tangible topic. It's what we writing teachers focus on as we get students ready for their classes. It's measurable and prescriptive.

The other two are very hard to teach. I think they can be developed with practice, and certainly some innate talent helps writers out with these areas.

Story is a matter of talent, but it seems to me it can also be taught at the beginning stages. There are helpful blueprints that can help you develop conflict, plot, and movement in your story. Much like the five-paragraph theme, if you need a structure to hang your novel on, you can look at how other novels are put together, how television shows are put together, and so forth. There are books.

I'll grant you that no structure can make a plot invigorating and exciting by virtue of itself, but you can begin with the blueprint, and practice can improve you. The old edict of write, write and write some more really does apply.

Now, voice. I think about this one a lot.

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