Inspire a Fire Under Your Parable, Story, and Sermon
Key Points from our chat with Zena Dell Lowe
- The solution to every story problem starts with awakening your passive character. Active characters should be the ones making decisions, picking paths, and driving the action of the story.
- Active characters should have something to lose. Every choice they make should increase the stakes in the story and leave your character with a greater risk of loss.
- Your main character should be observant and notice things in her surroundings and with the characters around her.
- Your main character should recruit allies and put together a team to accomplish their goals.
- Active characters influence the events of the world, even if they are not in charge. If your character is not in charge in the scene, find a way to give them the microphone so they are in charge.
- Your main character should have a superpower.
- When your main character faces challenges, have him or her seek inspiration and support from other characters in your story. However, remember that your main character should ultimately be the one to figure out the next steps or solutions, taking the lead in the narrative.
- Ensure that each scene in your story has an emotional shift before cutting away to another part of the plot. This emotional progression is essential for making scene transitions effective and engaging for your readers.
The Solution to Every Story Problem Starts with an Active Character
Zena enjoys teaching on this topic and recently taught at the Florida Christian Writers Conference. Her valuable insights into storytelling, drawn from her experience as a screenwriter, producer, and actor, help fiction writers better understand and apply key storytelling principles. But these same principles can be used in our nonfiction articles and sermons.
For more info on Zena Dell Lowe check out: https://www.thestorytellersmission.com/
What ways can we encourage others to become more active for the Kingdom of God?
