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The Art of Storytelling: 5 Tips on Crafting Compelling Storylines

by Toledo Lucas County Public Library May 22, 2018
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Are you an aspiring writer trying to get started on that next bestselling novel?

Are you an experienced writer, but need a little help creating compelling storylines or dynamic dialogue?

No matter where you’re at in the writing process your Library can help! We have a ton of great writing resources to help you from start to finish.

5 Tips on Crafting Compelling Storylines

Tip 1: Avoid Common Plot Cliches

We all know a cliche when we see it in a movie or read it in a book. It’s important to think about how cliches annoy you when you come across them, so you’ll be less likely to include them in your own work. By writing a story that only you can tell, instead of borrowing from popular formulas, it will be fairly easy to avoid common plot pitfalls.

We read so that we can be moved by a new way of looking at things. A cliche is like a coin that has been handled too much. Once language has been overly handled, it no longer leaves a clear imprint. ~ Janet Fitch

Tip 2: Generate New Story Ideas by Asking – What If?

If you’re having trouble generating new story ideas – try the what if question game. What if you lived in an alternate universe? What if you had to change occupations? What if you were alive during the early 1900s? By asking a series of what if questions with your personal experiences and interests in mind you’ll be able to ensure your stories are coming from a place of sincerity.

Alternate history fascinates me, as it fascinates all novelists, because ‘What if?’ is the big thing. ~ Kate Atkinson

Tip 3: Use the Power of Emotion

Engage readers with emotional content. Readers that feel emotionally invested in the characters or story won’t want to put the book down. After all, emotion often overrides reason in the human brain (compelling reasonable people to stay up all night reading).

A plot is nothing but a normal human situation that keeps arising again and againโ€ฆ.normal human emotionsโ€”envy, ambition, rivalry, love, hate, greed, and so on.
~ Louis Lโ€™Amour

Tip 4: Create Characters That Resonate With Readers

It’s important for readers to feel connected to your characters. Think about what you can do to make them seem more real to the audience. Research facts, build backstories and create character profiles to ensure they are truly authentic.

As a writer, I demand the right to write any character in the world that I want to write. I demand the right to be them, I demand the right to think them and I demand the right to tell the truth as I see they are. ~ Quentin Tarantino

Tip 5: Draft Dynamic Dialogue

Effective dialogue helps to bring characters to life andย advance the story. Read authors renowned for dialogue to find inspiration when writing your own.

If you are using dialogue — say it aloud as you write it. Only then will it have the sound of speech. ~ John Steinbeck


Craft Compelling Stories With the Help of These Great Books

The Writer's Guide to Beginnings: How to Craft Story Openings That Sell by Paula Munier
The Irresistible Novel: How to Craft an Extraordinary Story that Engages Readers from Start to Finish by Jeff Gerke
Writing with Emotion, Tension, and Conflict: Techniques for Crafting an Expressive and Compelling Novel by Cheryl St. John
The Secrets of Story: Innovative Tools for Perfecting Your Fiction and Captivating Readers by Matt Bird
Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction by Jeff Vandermeer
The Emotional Craft of Fiction - How to Write the Story Beneath the Surface by Donald Maass (eBook)
Crafting Dynamic Dialogue: The Complete Guide to Speaking, Conversing, Arguing, and Thinking in Fiction from the editors of Writer's Digest; foreword by Cheryl St. John
Damn Fine Story: Mastering the Tools of a Powerful Narrative by Chuck Wendig (eBook)
The Art and Craft of Storytelling by Nancy Lamb (eBook)
Spellbinding Sentences by Barbara Baig (eBook)

Learn More About the Art of Storytelling With These Helpful Articles

Three Powerful Ways to Brainstorm New Story Ideasย – Well-Storied

5 Golden Rules for Writing Authentic Dialogueย – Writer’s Edit

5 Elements for Crafting a Compelling Story Your Audience Will Loveย – Write to Done

5 Tips For Creating Characters Readers Canโ€™t Wait to Come Back Toย – The Creative Penn

5 Tips on Writing Dialogueย – NY Bookย Editors

7 Simple Ways to Make a Good Story Greatย – Writer’s Digest

Ten Authors Who Write Great Dialogueย – LitReactor

10 Easy Ways to Improve Your Dialogueย – Write to Done

10 Tips to Avoid Cliches in Writingย – Writer’s Digest

The 7 Tools of Dialogueย – Writer’s Digest

Emotion vs. Feeling: How to Evoke More From Readersย – Writer’s Digest

Novel Settings: 7 Tips to Get Setting Description Rightย – Now Novel

Some of the Greatest Writers of Dialogue (And What We Can Learn From Them)ย – Gizmodo

Story Plots: 7 Tips for Writing Original Storiesย – Now Novel

Your Novelโ€™s First Scene: How to Start Rightย – Jane Friedman


Toledo Library Blog Posts on Writing

Writers on Writing: Tips for Aspiring Writers

5 Tips to Improve Your Writing Skills

Top 5 Reasons to Join a Writing Group

Memoir Writing Resources

Developing Characters that Resonate with Readers

How to Write a Novel in a Month

Learn How to Publish a Book

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BCAN has won an Emmy for UNTOLD: Willow Beach! ๐Ÿ† 

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We're running a concert to win ๐Ÿฐ ๐—™๐—ฅ๐—˜๐—˜ ๐—ฉ๐—œ๐—ฃ ๐—ง๐—œ๐—–๐—ž๐—˜๐—ง๐—ฆ ๐ŸŽŸ to see Common on Friday, June 17th, at Promenade Park! ๐Ÿ‘

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We're getting aboard the @mysticbelle_official in Vermillion, strolling the streets of @rockfordmichamber, and getting bite while going to new heights in @marbleheadpeninsulachamber!

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BCAN is proud to announce that ๐—จ๐—ป๐˜๐—ผ๐—น๐—ฑ: ๐—” ๐——๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ has won Bronze and Silver @tellyawards! ๐Ÿ†

We'd like to give a ๐™ƒ๐™๐™‚๐™€ congratulations to all of those involved in bringing this incredible story to life! ๐Ÿ‘

Here's to many more... ๐Ÿฅ‚
This Sunday, May 25th, we're peeling back the curt This Sunday, May 25th, we're peeling back the curtain to see behind the scenes of some of your favorite Installations! ๐Ÿ‘ฉโ€๐ŸŽจ

PLUS... we're taking a deep dive into a local artist who is freshening up your kicks! ๐Ÿ‘Ÿ

All that and more on ๐—”๐—ฏ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต @btswithallie, at 7:00pm only on BCAN! ๐Ÿ“บ
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You're won't want to miss this... so don't! 

Catch the new episode this Wednesday, May 25th, at 7:30pm only on BCAN! ๐Ÿ“บ
We're headed back in time in the newest episode of We're headed back in time in the newest episode of ๐—ข๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—ง๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ธ ๐—ง๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น! ๐Ÿš˜

๐™‹๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™—๐™–๐™ก๐™ก ๐™‡๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ in Rockford, Michigan, is filled with all of your favorite Pinball and Arcade Machines from when you were a kid! ๐Ÿ•น

Catch the new episode Wednesday, May 18th, at 7:30pm only on BCAN! ๐Ÿ“บ
Coming up this week on ๐—ข๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—ง๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ธ ๐—ง๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น! ๐Ÿš˜

Tim is hitting the road and crossing the Michigan border as he finds his way to Rockford! You don't want to miss it...

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We're getting to know some incredible local artists! You don't want to miss it...

Catch the new episode Sunday, May 15th at 7:00pm only on BCAN! ๐Ÿ“บ
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Take a trip with host Tim McMahon as he talks with Dennis Kennedy, President of the Marblehead Lighthouse Historical Society, to learn about the history of Marbleheads beautiful signature!

That's only a piece of the adventure!

Catch the Season Premiere TONIGHT at 7:30pm only on BCAN! ๐Ÿ“บ
BCAN is proud to present the City of Toledo ๐‘บ๐’•๐’‚๐’•๐’† ๐’๐’‡ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐‘ช๐’Š๐’•๐’š ๐‘จ๐’…๐’…๐’“๐’†๐’”๐’”, given by Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz on Wednesday, May 11th at 5-6:00pm. 

We'll be broadcasting the event on BCAN (Channel 109/609HD) and on our ๐—™๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—Ÿ๐—œ๐—ฉ๐—˜ ๐Ÿ”ด!
Sometimes you just need to slow down and relax... Sometimes you just need to slow down and relax... and on our trip to ๐Œ๐š๐ซ๐›๐ฅ๐ž๐ก๐ž๐š๐, ๐Ž๐‡, we stopped in at ๐‘น๐’๐’„๐’Œ๐’š ๐‘ท๐’๐’Š๐’๐’• ๐‘พ๐’Š๐’๐’†๐’“๐’š and the crew did just that! ๐Ÿท

The season premiere of ๐Ž๐ง๐ž ๐“๐š๐ง๐ค ๐“๐ซ๐š๐ฏ๐ž๐ฅ premieres next Wednesday, May 11th at 7:30pm only on BCAN! ๐Ÿ“บ
๐ŸŽจ THIS SUNDAY ๐ŸŽจ On the next episode of ๐—” ๐ŸŽจ THIS SUNDAY ๐ŸŽจ

On the next episode of ๐—”๐—ฏ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐—”๐—น๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฒ ๐—ฅ๐—ฎ๐˜†, peel back the paint to get to know the lead artist Dean Davis and fellow documentarian Nick Corbin!

Tune in Sunday at 7:00pm only on BCAN! ๐Ÿ“บ
We've been Nominated for the 53rd Annual Great Lak We've been Nominated for the 53rd Annual Great Lakes Emmy Awards! ๐Ÿ†

๐—–๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€ to all the incredibly hard working talent who have been recognized! ๐Ÿ‘

Learn more about the nominees... ๐Ÿ‘‡

Glass City River Wall Mini Mural - Allie Ray, Tim McMahon, Brent Sobczak

One Tank Travel - Tim McMahon, Allie Ray, Brent Sobczak, John Eidemiller

Talent Performer, Host, Narrator - Tim McMahon

A Day to Remember - Marcus Harrison

Willow Beach - Marcus Harrison

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It's time to hit the road... again! ๐Ÿš— A brand It's time to hit the road... again! ๐Ÿš—

A brand new season of ๐Ž๐ง๐ž ๐“๐š๐ง๐ค ๐“๐ซ๐š๐ฏ๐ž๐ฅ is almost here! Where's @table4tim headed this time? ๐Œ๐š๐ซ๐›๐ฅ๐ž๐ก๐ž๐š๐! ๐ŸŒŠ

Catch the Season Premiere on May 11th at 7:30pm only on BCAN! ๐Ÿ“บ
Share your pictures from the BCAN Birthday Party w Share your pictures from the BCAN Birthday Party with us and we'll share it on our Story! ๐Ÿคณ

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Here's to another 5 incredible years! ๐Ÿฅ‚๐ŸŽ‰
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Letโ€™s take a trip down i75 and head to Main St. Letโ€™s take a trip down i75 and head to Main St. in Bowling Green to check out the Juniper Brewing Company! โ˜•

In this segment of ๐‘ป๐’“๐’†๐’๐’…๐’š ๐’Š๐’ ๐‘ป๐’๐’๐’†๐’…๐’, Co-Owner ๐‚๐ก๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐š ๐“๐ซ๐š๐œ๐ฒ shows us what's on the Brunch Menu!

Catch all episodes only on BCAN! ๐Ÿ“บ
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Today is the day that BCAN turns 5 years old! 

๐™’๐™ค๐™ฌ...

That's 5 years of getting to know YOU and getting to SHOW YOU all the amazing things right here in our community! 

๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ธ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ for all the support over the years!
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bcanarts BCAN @bcanarts ·
27 Jun

We're on Cloud 9 โ˜๏ธ knowing that BCAN took home an @GreatLakesEmmys Award ๐Ÿ† over the weekend for UNTOLD: Willow Beach! ๐Ÿ‘

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bcanarts BCAN @bcanarts ·
27 Jun

BCAN has won a @GreatLakesEmmys for UNTOLD: Willow Beach! ๐Ÿ†

๐‚๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ to everyone involved in putting together such an incredible piece and you are so deserving of the recognition! ๐Ÿ‘

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bcanarts BCAN @bcanarts ·
24 Jun

Congrats to John W. of Maumee! He has won the Grand Prize in our Fatherโ€™s Day Contest.

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bcanarts BCAN @bcanarts ·
16 Jun

Coming June 25th, it's THE BASH at the @ISTscience!

We've got host of Four One Nosh, @table4tim, checking out one of the vendors that will be on site, Napa Kitchen & Bar! ๐Ÿท

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bcanarts BCAN @bcanarts ·
13 Jun

๐Ÿšจ LAST CHANCE...

We're giving you a chance to win a Father's Day Prize Pack!

Enter to win: http://buckeyebroadband.com/contest3!

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