The Table Read Magazine

Tag: Writing Advice

  • How To Write The Inciting Incident Of Your Story

    How To Write The Inciting Incident Of Your Story

    On The Table Read, “The Best Book Reader Magazine in the UK“, author JJ Barnes writes about the inciting incident in The Matrix, and how to write an inciting incident that achieves the same effect in your story.

    Written by JJ Barnes

    www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    I’m going to explain what the “Inciting Incident” is in your story, where to put it, what it’s used for, and how to write it. I’ll be referencing the film The Matrix as an example of a really well written inciting incident.

    The Inciting Incident Triggers the Start of Your Story

    The inciting incident is the event that triggers the start of your story. Prior to the inciting incident, your character was living their life, but not in active pursuit of their story goal. The inciting incident triggers the change. It sets them into active motion, from passive.

    portrait of man with projector on him
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    In The Matrix, it’s when Trinity sends Neo the message to his computer telling him to follow the white rabbit.

    Lock the Conflict At The Inciting Incident

    The inciting incident serves to lock the conflict between your protagonist and your antagonist. From this point you are following them both in pursuit of something, and trying to stop the other from winning.

    Because Neo is the Protagonist, the conflict that is launched by the inciting incident is the conflict between Neo and the Matrix itself. The Matrix is essentially a character in its own right.

    The conflict lock between Neo and the Matrix is triggered by Neo being sent on the journey to discovering the Matrix so he can do something to change it and expose it. The Matrix does not want anything to change and wants to carry on as it has been. They both want something, but they can’t both have it. The Matrix can’t both be exposed, and continue to exist uninterrupted.

    Pursuing a Goal

    You want your Protagonist to be a person, or at least a robot, so the inciting incident causes them to make a choice to pursue a goal. By making an active choice to go after what they want, they are choosing to begin their story.

    Until the inciting incident in The Matrix, Neo following the girl with the white rabbit tattoo, he is not involved in the story and is not pursuing his goal. He has no knowledge of the Matrix and no connection to anything that is happening. He has not been set against The Matrix. But the moment he goes to follow the white rabbit, he is on his path and we are following his story.

    Where Does the Inciting Incident Go?

    You can spend some time with your characters prior to the inciting incident. Show them existing in their lives and what may be missing, so when the inciting incident happens you understand why they make the choice to go after that goal. Use that time to let your audience connect with an understand why they become active now, why they are motivated to accomplish their goal.

    However, you shouldn’t spend too long prior to them becoming active because that’s not your story and that’s not why your audience has come to your work. It needs to go in the first act; in a book it should go in the first couple of chapters, in a film it should go in the first ten pages.

    Examples Of Inciting Incidents

    Lilly Prospero And The Mermaids Curse Book by JJ Barnes on The Table Read
    Lilly Prospero And The Mermaids Curse

    A lot of stories will spend time with the antagonist or with the villain of the story before going to the protagonist’s inciting incident. For instance, in The Matrix you start with Trinity fighting agents and going out of the window. This allows the audience to see what is at stake for the Protagonist when their story is started.

    Reading Never Goes Out of Style

    In Lilly Prospero And The Mermaid’s Curse, I started the story with the Antagonist; The Harvester. I show him dragging a mermaid from the ocean, preparing to harvest her body parts to sell on the magical black market. This immediately tells you what Lilly will be set against, so when her story is triggered, the audience understands why it matters.

    More From JJ Barnes:

    I am an author, filmmaker, artist and youtuber, and I am the creator and editor of The Table Read.

    You can find links to all my work and social media on my website: www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    Buy my books: www.sirenstories.co.uk/books

    Follow me on Twitter: @JudieannRose

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  • How To Write The Protagonist And Antagonist Of Your Story

    How To Write The Protagonist And Antagonist Of Your Story

    Written by JJ Barnes

    www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    The terms protagonist and antagonist appear commonly in all the writing advice. However, if you’re unfamiliar with what they mean, this will be confusing. So, I’m going to explain what they are, what they do in your story, and how to write them well. I’m referencing the film Terminator 2: Judgement Day.

    The Protagonist And Antagonist, The Table Read Writing Advice
    Terminator 2 Judgment Day

    The Relationship Between Protagonist and Antagonist

    Some people will use the term protagonist” “as interchangeable with main character or hero, but it’s inaccurate. Protagonist literally means “the opponent of primary importance,” descended from Greek. It’s important to understand that a Protagonist cannot exist without an Antagonist. Without an Antagonist, there is no Protagonist.

    The Antagonist can be human, but it isn’t necessarily. The Antagonist can be a force of nature or fate for instance. But for the sake of this piece, I’ll be writing about these characters when they both take the form of an active character within your story.

    Your story is following your protagonist in pursuit of something they want, and your antagonist is the person that is trying to stop them getting it. That is the main conflict of your story.

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    The Protagonist And Antagonist In Terminator 2

    The Protagonist And Antagonist, The Table Read Writing Advice
    Terminator 2 Judgement Day

    Terminator 2: Judgment Day is an excellent example to use when explaining the Protagonist and the Antagonist, because the Protagonist, Terminator, and the Antagonist, T-1000, are both in pursuit of the same thing. They both want John Connor, and they can’t both have him.

    They are locked in conflict. Terminator wants to protect him, T-1000 wants to kill him, they are both actively pursuing their goals. John Connor cannot both be killed and saved. One has to win, one has to lose.

    Whilst almost perfectly matched in strength and ability, in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the Antagonist is actually slightly superior to the Protagonist. In a straight fight, the T-1000 would in. This means the Protagonist has to go on a journey, a character arc, in order to achieve his goal over the Antagonist.

    Clear Motivations

    Terminator 2: Judgment Day is a really simple and clear story to study to properly understand the concept of the Protagonist and the Antagonist. Both characters are single minded in their motivations and story goals, and you immediately know who wants what and why.

    When you’re writing, you’ll likely find you write both characters having multiple goals, multiple motivations, around the one main goal, but the pure and clean conflict between Terminator and T-1000 is an excellent introduction.

    One of the reasons Terminator 2: Judgment Day is such a popular and excellent story is because of the very clear lines of conflict between the Protagonist and the Antagonist. Going into this film you know exactly what you’re rooting for, exactly what you’re invested in, and exactly what the story is.

    The #1 Writing Tool

    Keep the Story Focused On Their Conflict

    More complicated layers of motivation do not necessarily make a story better. Having no distractions from the main storyline makes it easy to care about what happens.

    If your story is too complicated and you’re feeling like it’s overwhelming and hard to follow, it’s worth looking at the main conflict between your Protagonist and Antagonist and refocusing in on that. Simple and focused story telling is not a bad thing.

    More From JJ Barnes:

    I am an author, filmmaker, artist and youtuber, and I am the creator and editor of The Table Read.

    You can find links to all my work and social media on my website: www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    Buy my books: www.sirenstories.co.uk/books

    Follow me on Twitter: @JudieannRose

    By clicking submit, you agree to share your e-mail address with the site owner and MailChimp to receive marketing, updates, and other e-mails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those e-mails to opt out at any time.

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  • Narrative Triplets In Joker And How To Recreate Them In Your Own Writing

    Narrative Triplets In Joker And How To Recreate Them In Your Own Writing

    Written by JJ Barnes

    www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    Narrative Triplets in Joker, on The Table Read
    Joker

    Narrative triplets are a story tool that you can use to make you story progress and keep it interesting. When a Narrative Triplet is used it makes the story feel carefully constructed, and makes the climax extremely satisfying for the audience. I’ll explain what a Narrative Triplet is and explain how to replicate the technique in your own writing.

    Narrative Triplets In Joker

    To explain the concept of the Narrative Triplet, I’ll be referencing scenes from the 2019 movie Joker, so if you haven’t seen it this will contain spoilers.

    We saw the Narrative Triplets in Joker coming because it was so beautifully set up, and once you’re aware of them and understand them you’ll start to spot them in stories too. But spotting them doesn’t take away the pleasure. I actually really enjoy it because I appreciate the effort that has gone into the composition.

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    The Staircase – 1

    In Joker, there’s a sequence in the first act of the film where Arthur Fleck is walking up a staircase. in the city after having been to see his therapist. He has explained about his journal and been to collect his drugs, and he is trudging up this stairway between buildings. Its grungy and dark. It feels oppressive.

    The character is clearly in a dark place, he is depressed and struggling. The staircase represents the challenge he is facing just to move through his life.

    The Staircase – 2

    The staircase appears for the second time in the middle of the film. This time he it is right after he has been fired from his job, and he is really struggling with his illness and his life. Walking up those stairs is even harder.

    The weight on his shoulders is even harder to cope with. He is hunched and dragging himself. Getting up those stairs is clearly a physical and mental struggle for him.

    The effort to get up those stairs a second time is a clear demonstration of the escalation in his terrible circumstances. The first time was hard, the second time is harder.

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    The Staircase – 3

    Narrative Triplets in Joker, The Table Read Writing Advice
    Joker

    The third time the staircase is used is at the end of the film. Whereas previously he was moving up the stairs, in the third appearance he is coming down the stairs, dressed in full Joker outfit and make up. This time he is dancing.

    He is light, and easily descends the stairs without effort. The scene is brighter than in the previous two, and he has lost the hunched shoulders and haggard expression. It’s the opposite of the previous two appearances.

    At this point, he has killed his mother, he has killed the man who gave him the gun, and he has embraced this darkness inside him. This has freed him.

    Flipping the staircase scene around from the previous two instances, and having him dance down the stairs, demonstrates the change in his emotional state. It makes for a very satisfying visual contrast.

    How to Write The Style Of Narrative Triplets In Joker

    If you want to use the technique of the Narrative Triplets in Joker in your story, the best way to do it is to start at the end and back edit. If you write something in at the end of your story that makes a beautiful representation of your character’s new state, you can go in and insert the previous two instances into the first and second act.

    The important thing to remember is that the first two are different to the third, demonstrating a change in your character’s state. The first instance sets the tone, the second is an escalation of the first. The third then reverts it to show the change.

    So, in Joker, the first act shows his state, he’s depressed and tired. In the second act he’s struggling more, it’s harder and more painful for him. In the third act he has been freed. He is light and dancing down.

    The #1 Writing Tool

    Why Use Narrative Triplets

    Taking the time to put the Narrative Triplets in makes the third instance extremely satisfying. You are able to demonstrate the emotional state of your character, their new circumstances or the lessons they’ve learned. It makes for a really satisfying ending and rewards your audience for paying attention.

    Whilst each instance would work alone, and tell you something about your character and what’s happening in their life, the Narrative Triplet ties a bow on your story. It makes the story feel composed, and the climax a better experience.

    More From JJ Barnes:

    I am an author, filmmaker, artist and youtuber, and I am the creator and editor of The Table Read.

    You can find links to all my work and social media on my website: www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    Buy my books: www.sirenstories.co.uk/books

    Follow me on Twitter: @JudieannRose

    By clicking submit, you agree to share your e-mail address with the site owner and MailChimp to receive marketing, updates, and other e-mails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those e-mails to opt out at any time.

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  • Ways to improve and grow your vocabulary to become a better writer.

    Ways to improve and grow your vocabulary to become a better writer.

    Written by JJ Barnes

    www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    If you can grow your vocabulary, you’ll find your writing is improved. With more creative and interesting words at your disposal, your book will become more entertaining.

    How To Grow Your Vocabulary, The Table Read Writing Advice
    Nature-Girl Vs Worst Nightmare

    Specialised Vocabulary

    First of all you have to work out who your audience is. If you are writing for children you vocabulary wouldn’t need to be as big. A children’s books use more simple language and smaller words in order to be accessible to the children they’re targeted at.

    Secondly, it’s possible to have a big vocabulary in a specialised subject. I mostly write urban fantasy so I have an extensive vocabulary when it comes to that subject. I can write easily about witches, vampires, magic, demons etc. But I cannot write about Ancient Russia without some research. Your vocabulary can be specialised around one subject and that can be the subject you choose to write about.

    Research New Words To Grow Your Vocabulary

    If you want to grow you vocabulary in a simple way Google is your friend. Google synonyms for certain words or phrases that you’re prone to using and find alternatives.

    Word research allows you to grow your vocabulary on the job. You’ll be learning new words, and more interesting words, that you can then have at your disposal in future.

    How To Grow Your Vocabulary, The Table Read Writing Advice
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    Don’t Let Your Insecurity Stop You

    If you focus on a perceived weakness, such as a smaller than ideal vocabulary, it can stifle the creative process. I would highly recommend writing your book as best you can, with what words and ideas you have. Then make full use of the editing process.

    When you edit , you can go over your manuscript with a thesaurus or dictionary, and improve your work. If you have lots of characters do a certain thing or say a certain thing, you’ll notice it during your editing process. I regularly have my characters nod. Always nodding. I have to go back and edit that out and find new ways to show their agreement. You can then find news ways of describing it to keep your writing fresh and interesting.

    How To Grow Your Vocabulary, The Table Read Writing Advice
    Photo by Thought Catalog on Pexels.com

    Read All The Time To Grow Your Vocabulary

    An important thing to remember is that the more you read, the better your writing will become. When you read the work of other writers, you’ll build up your vocabulary. You can learn new ways of describing things and interesting ways to use our language.

    If you’re reading on a Kindle, it comes with a function that allows you to look up the meaning of words you’re unfamiliar with directly. If you’re reading a paperback, don’t be afraid to look up words you don’t recognise. Read as much as you can and it’ll have a positive impact on your own ability to tell stories.

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    But ultimately, you’ll have to work through this fear. Don’t be too afraid to write. Use the language at your disposal and then the more you write, the more you read, and the more you develop your skills at editing the better your writing will become.

    More From JJ Barnes:

    I am an author, filmmaker, artist and youtuber, and I am the creator and editor of The Table Read.

    You can find links to all my work and social media on my website: www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    Buy my books: www.sirenstories.co.uk/books

    Follow me on Twitter: @JudieannRose

    By clicking submit, you agree to share your e-mail address with the site owner and MailChimp to receive marketing, updates, and other e-mails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those e-mails to opt out at any time.

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  • The First Piece Of Writing Advice That I Give To Anyone Who Wants To Write A Book

    The First Piece Of Writing Advice That I Give To Anyone Who Wants To Write A Book

    Written by JJ Barnes

    www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    When you’re a writer, people will often tell you that they too want to write a book. They have ideas, maybe a character or a concept, but they’re just not sure how to start it. And I always give them the same piece of writing advice.

    1. Who is your main character?
    2. What do they want?
    3. What’s stopping them from getting it?

    What Does This Writing Advice Mean?

    Your story is your character in pursuit of something. You start with your character realising they want something. Through the story you send them after it, throwing challenges in their way. Your story ends when they either get the thing they want, or realise they can’t have it for some reason.

    Sometimes through the story they will realise through the story that the thing they’re in pursuit of isn’t what they wanted after all. Their story is taking them back to realising that what they wanted was there all along. They wanted satisfaction in life not the thing they were in pursuit of.

    Examples Of This Writing Advice In Action

    The Table Read Writing Advice
    The Little Mermaid

    The best example of this piece of writing advice put into action can be seen in any Disney movie.

    Disney movies will start with an “I Want Song”. Simba sings that he can’t wait to be king. His story follows him on his path to becoming King of the Pride Lands. Ariel sings about wanting to be part of the human world. Her story follows her on her path to becoming a human. Moana sings about her desire to go out onto the ocean. Her story follows her on her path to leading her people off on boats to explore the world.

    Jack Skellington in The Nightmare Before Christmas is a good example of a story following a character in pursuit of what they think they want, only to realise they were wrong. Jack feels dissatisfied with his life in Halloween Town and pursues the dream of being the Santa Claus. He comes to realise his satisfaction can be found at home, but with Sally not alone.

    Sometimes your character will get what they want, sometimes they won’t, but your story follows them in pursuit of it.

    The #1 Writing Tool

    Different Book Styles

    The Table Read Writing Advice
    Nature-Girl Vs Worst Nightmare

    Books and films aimed at children will often tell the audience what it is the story about in a simple way, such as the I Want Song. In Nature-Girl Vs Worst Nightmare, the book I wrote with my daughter, sees Nature-Girl in the first few pages expressing the desire to be a super hero without any of the adults in her life getting in the way or holding her back.

    Adult books will often convey this message about what the character wants but in a more simple way, but it’ll still be the point of the story.

    Keep Your Characters Motivated

    When you’re telling your story, keep the character’s motivation in mind the whole way through. Don’t let yourself get distracted your story will start to wander. When you get lost the story will feel aimless and can be quite boring for the reader. Even if there is competing goals for your character, sub plots, and other events going on around them, your main character should always be actively working to achieve their goals.

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    Why This Is The Best Writing Advice

    When you’re telling your story, keep the character’s motivation and what they’re in pursuit of in mind the whole way through. The best piece of writing advice you can get is to keep your characters motivated. Your story will be entertaining, it will keep moving forwards. If your characters are motivated your story will hold your audience’s attention.

    More From JJ Barnes:

    I am an author, filmmaker, artist and youtuber, and I am the creator and editor of The Table Read.

    You can find links to all my work and social media on my website: www.jjbarnes.co.uk

    Buy my books: www.sirenstories.co.uk/books

    Follow me on Twitter: @JudieannRose