Learn Storytelling Mechanics: Short Fiction, Comic Books, and More

The writer of any piece of prose has a lot of tools at their disposal. Sometimes these resources fly right by us. For example, if we wanted to learn how to write a movie script, we would have to see published scripts in order to understand how to make one. If we wanted to learn how to write a short story it can be as simple as breaking down one in a magazine like "The New Yorker," "The Sun," or just studying that old textbook we have from our college days. To learn storytelling mechanics we need to do more than reading; we will need to developing clear plots and themes, we will need to branch out into other fields for ideas, and remembering the big three of storytelling.

A basic story has the old cliché of a beginning, middle, and end. The Greeks invented that. But today a story needs so much more. We need conflicts between characters, themes, and an ability to entertain the reader or watcher. So if we write a movie script, we must keep an eye on making our characters real. If we wanted to create an anime we might have to utilize the animations to tell our stories. Each story we write needs a clear theme. The theme for a short story can be the search for happiness. But often we write pieces that are bigger than short stories. If we envision a two-season TV show it will be hard to put together a three-sentence theme to the story. This is not part of story mechanics; this is part of learning to submit the right way.

Often we can find that boiling down a story to a theme can make it more focused. A limited series for a comic book could have a conflict between good and evil (another cliché) as its theme. Or perhaps we write a romance novel that has a touch of western to it We use our tools to make the story come alive. The three-sentence theme is not the hardest part. We need to develop our storytelling skills.

Avoiding clichés is perhaps the biggest point. In "Writing For Comics With Peter David" David wrote that the first idea often needs to be thrown out. This comic writer's reasoning was that we were influenced by something else for the piece. A critical part of learning how to tell stories is to find the original idea and to run with it. A character like Batman is not needed; there already is a Batman. A new Mickey Mouse for an animated series may sound fun, but those stories have been done a million times

Once we have the theme, conflict, and originality to our piece, we are learning the most important lessons in storytelling. The other assets like good dialogue and strong imagery will come. Focus on the big three first, and you will have no problem developing your own stories.