For years, I’ve attended churches with preachers who dig deep into the Word, dissect the meanings of verses with a scalpel and basically train their congregants in theology like we might be attending Dallas Theological. And this is a good thing…we need to know what we believe and why.
But, every once in a while while I’m travelling, I’ll attend church where the preaching is more, well, let’s say basic. This week, while I was in Montana, the local church had a guest speaker—not their usual preacher—but a troubadour whose strengths were in his musical abilities.
They asked him to preach.
The sweet man gave a simple sermon about the miracle of Christmas, of God coming to man to rescue him.
Simple. But powerful. No exegesis. No digging deep into the etymology, no commentary connected to other scripture. Just a retelling of why Jesus came to earth and why it matters today.
He said, “Christmas is the beginning of God’s rescue mission.”
And then we sang carols to the strum of his guitar. Joy to the World, The First Noel, Silent Night.
Again, familiar. But as our voices raised with the simplicity of the accompaniment, the words became the focus, and I was overwhelmed with the simple joy of being rescued.
There’s nothing wrong with simple. With focusing on the basics.
In fact, a great story starts out with the basics.
A person with a problem, who wants something, for a good reason. Goal. Motivation. They run into obstacles as they pursue it, and this causes Conflict.
GMC, we call it, and every story starts there.
All the rest is the accompaniment—the storyworld, the dialogue, the emotional layering. And then we add the exegesis—the themes, the backstory, the transformation.
But it’s the basics, it’s that simplicity of focus that create the powerful story. The Goal. The Why behind the Goal. The obstacles standing in the way.
The happy ending.
Most of you just finished NaNoWriMo (YAY for you!) and are looking at your story, still cooling after the rush of creation. You might be worried it doesn’t have the layers you need, or the plot twists, or the scene tension.
Don’t panic. You’ll get to that. But for now, start with the basics, and keep it simple…Goal. Motivation. Conflict.
Happy ending.
Storytelling doesn’t have to be that complicated.
Nor does your writing career. As you head into the new year, keep your goals simple:
- What is your goal. Why?
- What obstacles do you see ahead of you? How will you conquer them?
- What does a happy ending look like for you in 2017?
If you have a solid foundation there, the rest will fall into place.
Your story matters. Go! Write Something Brilliant!
Susie May
PS. If you’re interested in learning how to write a story, simply, organically, starting with the character, check out my how-to book The Story Equation!
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