BRAID YOUR STORIES FOR MORE INTEREST and BOOK GIVEAWAY

BRAIDED STORYLINES

You’ve all heard of braided breads and French braided hair, but did you know stories need to be braided, too?

Braided stories should have three storylines, as each section of tresses in a plait. Writers who plod along on one story throughout the entire manuscript run the risk of writing a boring story. Readers need some unexpected happenings and this can be done a little at a time by incorporating three minor storylines into one larger manuscript.

You fold in layer by layer as the story progresses telling three smaller stories to keep the reader from losing interest. The reader likes to figure out plotlines before they actually get to the words that reveal them.  What makes that practice interesting is the twist that overlaps storylines to surprise the reader.

How to braid your stories:

·  Divide your story into threes

·  Write each one separately 

·  Incorporate in story.

Some writers do this instinctively. Braiding makes your stories come alive. It connects the reader to your characters. Let’s look at some examples of braiding.

#1 Harry Potter

Braid A – orphan boy neglected by his aunt and uncle. (family relationships)

Braid B – attends a secret wizard school (school relationships)

Braid C - discovers he is the nemesis if a most evil wizard (good vs. evil)

#2 Twilight

Braid A – teen-age girl is the mediator between divorced parents and moves in with her father on the other side of the country (family relationships)

Braid B – attends a new school, where she becomes mesmerized by a strange boy (school relationships)

Braid C – makes friends with the son of her father’s friend, complicating her relationship in Braid B

#3 Daddy, Can You See The Moon?

Braid A –  boy and his soldier dad concoct a way for them to share a special moment each night while his father is deployed.  (love between father and son)

Braid B – boy discovers his mother crying and finds out his dad was wounded in battle and helps him with his therapy. (family dynamics)

Braid C – boy grows up to be a soldier too. (role reversal)

So get your story threads separated, start at the top and overlap until you come to the end. Secure with a climax and satisfying end.

Comment below with braids of your favorite stories, be they picture book or novels and at the end of next week one lucky commenter will be selected to receive a copy of Daddy, Can You See The Moon?