Friday, January 22, 2016

3 Things I Love in a Good Story // Victoria


from Victoria


1. Atmosphere


This one is a little hard to explain, but it's critical to a good story in my opinion. Atmosphere is the tone, the aura, the ambiance, the feel of a particular place or land or setting in a story. Think of the glorious, majestic security and beauty of Rivendell in The Lord of the Rings, the coziness of Mr. and Mrs. Beaver's home in The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, the drafty, echo-y mystery of Thornton Hall in Jane Eyre, the earthy, rustic comfort of the Gargery's Forge in Great Expectations. It's not something you pin down exactly, or point to a particular passage and say, "There it is -- there's the atmosphere." It's woven into the fabric of every description of a place in a story. Sometimes it runs through the entire story, but usually the atmosphere is connected to a particular place or building in a tale. And then there's the overarching feel of the entire book, made up of a string of individual atmospheres like diamonds on a necklace. I find that (second only to the characters) atmosphere is what keeps me coming back over and over to my favorite books.


2. Characters


I know that lots of other bloggers have already used "Characters" as one of their top three in this series, but I really do think it is absolutely indispensable to a good story. I mean, try to even imagine a truly fantastic story with weak, wooden characters. It's nearly impossible. Characters are usually what we remember most about any good story. Humanity, honor, humor -- all play a part in making memorable heroes. But even villains or side characters or characters that only show up once can all be memorable. As long as they are believable, have realistic dialogue, and accurately reflect humanity in all its complexity, characters can feel as real as flesh-and-blood people that you actually know. And maybe most importantly, they can impact your life forever -- who hasn't been influenced in some way by a hero they read of as a child? I wouldn't be the woman I am today if I had never met Gandalf, Aslan, Mr. Knightley or Dym in the pages of a book.


3. Self-Sacrifice


Think through every compelling, stirring or touching story you've ever read or watched. I don't care if it's How to Train Your Dragon, Sense and Sensibility or The Lord of the Rings, nearly every story has a pivotal scene or theme of self-sacrifice. It doesn't have to necessarily be a matter of life and death, but it always involves someone giving of themselves or laying down their own good for the good of another. Joe Gargery giving his life's savings for Pip, Aragorn riding to the Black Gates for Frodo, Tony Stark taking the missile meant for Manhattan in The Avengers, Flynn Rider choosing Rapunzel's life over his own in Tangled -- self-sacrifice is everywhere. It's kind of ironic to find this in a world that claims to hold a survival-of-the-fittest Darwinian worldview. As a Christian, though, it's easy for me to understand why writers and directors all throughout the world find themselves creating stories of self-sacrifice, book after book and movie after movie. It's because it reflects the life-changing, earth-shattering self-sacrifice of Christ Himself. In a laying down of self so monumental and unbelievable as that of the Maker dying for His creation, the crucifixion of Christ became the single most important event in the history of the world -- whether certain humans throughout history choose to acknowledge that fact or not. Because of Christ, self-sacrifice (like truth, honor, love and good triumphing over evil) has become an ever-present theme throughout literature and film throughout the ages.


Note from Heidi: Thank you so much for sharing, Victoria! :)

~     ~     ~ 

And... would you like to share three of your favorite things in a guest post? You don’t have to be a writer to qualify! This series is by story lovers for story lovers.
For post specifics/guidelines you can see the initial post here, then send Heidi a quick email at ladyofanorien(at)gmail(dot)com. (Don’t be shy. I’d love to have you! :))

8 comments:

  1. Victoria, I love your three things! And I totally agree with ALL OF THEM. Atmosphere and good characters are very very important to me in a good book. Self-sacrifice, I never would have thought of, but you are so right! The stories we love wouldn't be the same without it :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I never thought of self-sacrifice either until I started noticing it in ALL of the movies and books that I enjoy!

      Delete
  2. Tremendous list, Victoria, and so well-written! I especially like what you said about atmosphere :D And your note about self-sacrifice really made me think. Thanks for this!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm so glad you enjoyed it! It was great fun to write. :)

      Delete
  3. I love and agree with all 3 of your points! I especially like your first one, though. I've never pinned it down into words, but it's very true that every book has a certain "feel" (or, atmosphere ;)) and sometimes that does a lot in determining whether I like it or not. It's almost as if they have a taste or scent. Some tastes and scents are so beautiful to me-and others are not. :P
    Wonderful answers! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My sister is to thank for the "atmosphere" one - she talks about the feel of books all the time. She made me realize how essential it is to a good story!

      Delete
  4. Fascinating! As a writer, I love reading these because they clue me in to things potential readers might hold dear that don't necessarily occur to me because they're not something I "need." Like atmosphere! Now that you explain how important it is to you, I can totally understand that, and I'm thinking over a couple of my WIPs wondering whether they have atmosphere or not...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, I feel the same way about these posts! It really helps to stop and think about what makes a good story before writing one. I've been thinking back over my novels that feel "lacking", and I see now that they lack the atmosphere (and in some cases, self-sacrifice) that I love in other peoples' stories. It helps to pin-point what's "wrong" with my writing and how I can improve it in the future.

      Delete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...