The Christian Writer

Spreading God’s Truth to the World One Story at a Time

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Tag: plots

  • Intro to the Story of Humanity

    Since the start of this blog, I’ve been talking a lot about plots and character arcs. In our Writing Tips series, we’re in the middle of a sub-series about Positive Change Arcs, with a Flat Arc series and Negative Arcs post to follow. But all of these plot points might seem a little unrealistic to…

  • The Positive Change Arc First Plot Point

    In this series so far, we’ve covered the First Act up to the Inciting Event. Up until this point, the MC has remained in their Normal World where they are allowed to generally live comfortably with their Lie. However, all of that is about to change. When the First Plot Point arrives, the MC will…

  • The Positive Change Arc Inciting Event

    So, you’ve successfully hooked your readers in. You’ve used the first part of your story to world-build, introduce characters, and provide necessary information. But now that that’s over… what next? The answer to that is the Inciting Event, which we’re going to talk about today.

  • The Positive Change Arc Hook

    The beginning is possibly the most important part of a story. For the writer, it’s do-or-die territory. If you don’t get a reader interested in the story right from the start, their journey through the book isn’t going to be as enjoyable—or they may not even make it through the book at all. So stay…

  • The Positive Change Arc Antagonist, Part 2

    We’ve already determined what a good antagonist should look like, but you might still have some questions. So, today, we’re going to look at some common questions about antagonists.

  • The Positive Change Arc Antagonist, Part 1

    Who’s the most important character in your story besides the protagonist? You might be inclined to answer with a mentor character, a love interest, or a sidekick. But there is one person that we often don’t think of in terms of importance. There would be no story, no plot, no anything but a bunch of…

  • The Positive Change Arc Theme

    Now that we’ve covered most of the major story elements, it’s time to talk about the Theme. The Theme brings the Lie, the Truth, the Want, the Need, and the Ghost all together to create a seamless framework for your story. Without it, the plot would be a jumbled mess, and the character arc would…

  • The Ghost

    So, if you’ve been following this series, your character now has a misbelief—the Lie—and a goal—the Want. But we haven’t yet discussed the reasoning behind it all. Why does your MC believe the Lie? Why do they desire to have the Want? The answer to that is the Ghost.

  • The Want vs. the Need

    What does your character want more than anything? And what do they need more than anything? These elements are referred to as the Want and the Need, and they’re both necessary in order to keep any plot moving. If you don’t have the above questions answered already, you will by the end of this post.

  • The Lie vs. the Truth

    Today, we’re addressing two terms you may have seen on my blog before, and will probably see many times again. They are the Lie your main character (MC) believes, and the Truth they will come to believe. Let’s take a closer look at these two important elements…