This post first ran on June 20, 2012. At that time, I was working on a new story for Love Inspired Suspense that released in 2013 as THE SOLDIER'S SISTER. Let's take a look back at how I "built" that story.
I love kids and kids’ toys, especially building blocks. Recently I watched a group of young children stack the wooden squares and rectangles and cylinders, one atop the other, and realized playing with blocks is similar to constructing a story.
I always
think creating a proposal will be easy, but the opposite is usually the case. I
start with an idea that forms the foundation for the book and build upon that
initial concept by adding various “blocks,” such as an inciting incident, black
moment and climax that fit together to move the story forward.
One of my reasons for writing the Military Investigations
series is to showcase various aspects of military life, and the Army Wounded
Warrior Program (AW2) is a success story I wanted to feature in this next
book. The program started after 9/ll to
help soldiers seriously injured in the line of duty. Each wounded warrior is assigned an AW2
advocate as a liaison, of sorts, between the soldier and the military. The advocate helps with paperwork and medical
care, career counseling and the soldier’s transition to civilian life.
LAYING THE FOUNDATION
Like
many writers, when I begin a new story I start with the standard what if.
What if my heroine accepts a position as an advocate in the Army Wounded
Warrior Program at Fort Rickman ,
GA
ADDING BLOCKS
More
what ifs. What if my heroine,
Stephanie Upton, is from the nearby small town of Freemont Afghanistan and
were reassigned to the Warrior Transitional Unit at Fort Rickman
BUILDING SUSPENSE
When
a killer comes after the high school buddies, the hero—Criminal Investigation
Division special agent Brody Goodman—is called in to investigate. (The book is a
romance so Brody and Stephanie eventually fall in love and live happily ever
after.)
BACKSTORY
With
the basic foundation in place, I focused on coming up with an incident in the
past that played into the heroine’s internal conflict. Had there been a car crash that resulted in
the death of one of her brother’s friends?
Was Stephanie at fault? Was her brother driving? Did the boys enlist in
the army as a result of what happened on that summer night?
What if the incident caused friction between Stephanie and
her brother? Perhaps Will transferred his
own guilt to his sister who, he believed, was the catalyst that started the
string of events that eventually leads to the story’s climax.
ADDING AN ANTAGONIST
The
villain needs to be a worthy adversary with his own GMC. I wanted his motivation to stem from what
happened in the back story. The car crash didn’t work so I added and discarded “blocks”
until I came up with a new solution.
INCITING INCIDENT
Needing
a high-action opening scene to hook the reader, I decided the villain would attack
one of Will’s buddies. The CID hero investigates the crime and becomes
suspicious of the brother, which increases the conflict between the hero and
the heroine. Stephanie wants to protect Will so, as much as she’s drawn
to the CID agent, she is also worried about her brother.
ATTACKS AGAINST THE HEROINE
After
writing eleven Love Inspired Suspense stories, I’m always searching for new ways
to place the heroine in danger. The nightly news and Metro section of the Atlanta
CHECK MY STORY STRUCTURE
I
needed the back story to be resolved in the climax and revolve around the hero
and heroine’s internal conflict as well as their external goals. Each time I checked, my GMC seemed a bit off
center, which, in my opinion, caused the plot to fall flat. I took long walks to clear my mind and discussed a number of different options with my daughters and husband until they rolled their eyes and backed
away whenever I mentioned my story. Night after night, I would awake to weigh various scenarios until I finally came up with a satisfying back story.
HERO’S INTERNAL JOURNEY
Previously
focused on the heroine, I changed directions and looked at my hero’s internal
journey. Brody wasn’t as difficult as
Stephanie, and I soon had a situation in his past that worked. Then wanting to
up the tension, I tweaked his back story to make it more intense and
personal.
BLACK
MOMENT
The
black moment occurs close to the climax when the problems between the hero and
heroine seem insurmountable, and the reader wonders how they will ever be able
to resolve their differences and end up together. Working on the black moment exposed how the conflict
between the hero and heroine needed to be more compelling. I made some changes until what started out as mild disagreements
morphed into significant differences that made me wonder how they could ever
fall in love.
FAITH JOURNEY
Once the story was in better shape, I added the faith journey for my two main characters
and established how their relationship with God played into each character’s
internal conflict, the black moment and the climax.
ADDITIONAL “BLOCKS”
I established
turning points for the romance and ensured the black moment was adequately
motivated. I included the hero and heroine’s worst fears, reviewed the pacing
and plot progression and ratcheted up the danger.
FACT CHECK
I rechecked
characters’ ages, the dates and years that had passed since the back story
incidents. In order to learn more about
the AW2 program, I interviewed the Atlanta AW2 advocate and arranged to talk to
her counterpart at Fort Benning as well as the Fort Benning
At long last, my story construction seemed sound with all
the building “blocks” in place.
How do you structure your story? What are the important
elements you consider when coming up with a new idea for a novel? Comments are closed today, but I hope my lesson on "building" a story helps you with your own WIP.
Wishing you abundant
blessings,
Debby Giusti
PLAIN DANGER
By Debby Giusti
DANGEROUS
INHERITANCE
When Carrie
York arrives at the house she inherited from her father in an Amish community,
she's shocked to discover a soldier's body on the property. Her neighbor, army
special agent Tyler Zimmerman, starts investigating the murder, and Carrie
fears it's related to her father's mysterious death. Tyler doesn't trust the
pretty speechwriter or the suspicious timing of her arrival—especially since
her boss is responsible for his father's death. But when someone attacks
Carrie, Tyler insists on protecting her. With his help, will Carrie be able to
hold on to her inheritance and her life?
Order
your copy HERE!
