A Tale Behind The Tale

“Every storyteller is a writer, but not every writer is a storyteller.” 

Writers often play with words and when they put them into stories, the inspiration is seldom harvested from real life. My mentor, Michael Burns, once said, "We are a collection of our past experiences that makes us who we are now." We are collectors of ideas and moments.

Since, most of the guides published here, cover a wide range of topics on storytelling, I shall share my own way of writing. As I derive inspiration from raw emotions whenever I pen short stories, before I begin with this guide, let me tell you a tale behind the tale. (Which will also be interconnected with how did I write my story?) 

The Beach Daze is a sequel to The Starry Night's chase (for the uninitiated, it is a story about two people – a mariner and a wanderer, exploring friendship in Tuscany), a story I wrote with an ulterior motive. A purpose of sending a message to a particular person which includes the readers as well. Once, the purpose was attained, I began writing The Beach Daze in a self-analytical way, thus making a leeway for Mariner Wanderer diaries, a series of three short stories.
As you begin reading the story, you will understand, the protagonists share a history/past together. I shall not delve into the details about it here; rather, this story revolves around the theme Quest. It was the quest to explore their bond that brought the main characters together again at Capetown, since they were in pursuit of peace and adventure.   
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So, what constitutes a short story?

The actual structure of a short story is a compilation of:

- Immediate gratification of a goal
- Critical choice
- Realization of quest
- Creating an obstacle

And your story should also consist of the following points:

- Hold the readers interest
- Start with a hook
- Have a purpose of the story
- SHOW, don’t tell
- Use vivid details

But, it's important to come out of your comfort zone, only then are you really experimenting. That's how I decided to break the rules, I began my own module which starts with a PURPOSE. We have been taught since time immortal, to lead a peaceful and content life we need to have a specific goal. Likewise, we need to have a purpose of telling a story too. And it should be not what you say, but how you say it.
My purpose in writing this story was to make both the characters explore the dimensions of their bond and to see if they were compatible or had similar goals from life.
Once I knew where I was going, next important thing to find out was how to get there? Here came the second crucial part, the PLOT. A plot is something that makes writing your story a little easier, but more than that it challenges you to step deeper into your exploration. I knew I would spend a good amount of time about plotting it beforehand, but I made sure, before I began to pen down, the plot of my story revolved in my head as fresh as a newly watched movie.
When I began The Beach Daze, I had scribbled more than one plot; one that involved his sea time and the sudden remembrance, the other with her dialing his number. The former worked wonders for me, it felt the strongest, just like survival of the fittest which tries to fit in the jigsaw puzzle. When you’re writing a story, you think like an archeologist out on a hunt for an ancient city, digging deep and unearthing what it looks like.
I remember, writing plenty of floats and coming across a prompt which asked to build a story about a girl at a beach with a stranger nearby who saves her life. And that’s when I decided my piece would be name ‘The Beach Daze.’
I knew I had to set the story in Capetown, which falls as the next city in the female character’s bucket list (follow up the prequel) So, I wrote the plot in one sitting this time. Jolted down the number of places both of them visit during their trip and revolved my plot around it. It includes places like the Lion’s head peak, Camps Bay, the Boulder’s beach, etc. Imagination, let your imagination on an uphill run.
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What is a story without strong characters in it?
CHARACTERS, work more upon them, develop them, make them your muse, love them, spoil them, but don’t give them the power to destroy you. An essential ingredient for every character is that they must face an internal struggle as they face the external one and they must be capable of making realistic decisions. Making my characters as realistic as possible was my ultimate goal. I had to be mean to them, then be kind, then make their plans fail, make them question things and make them cry.
If you have read the story intently, you must have noticed how the plot revolves around character development of both the protagonists. She makes a critical choice of letting him go as she finds herself struggling with her own demons. The choices of not letting her affection validate any commitment to him because she isn’t ready yet. And hence, she creates an obstacle in his path by leaving CapeTown without any prior notice.
Read the excerpt, ‘She was craving to be understood more than before as much as he did. She hid it and pushed him away but inside she wanted him to stay’.
Likewise, he faces the realization of his quest quite late. He tries hard to guard his heart but becomes Cupid’s latest victim.
‘The time spent with her wasn’t frivolous. But he wasn’t ready to fall in love yet. He was afraid, he would be a disappointment. The alliance wasn’t possible. He did not want to break another heart. He had dreams to fulfil, and he ought to be alone to achieve them. He was so comfortable with solitude that he was afraid if she could compete with it. He wanted to ask her if she could tolerate the strangeness inside him, the storms and the stillness. He made a mistake, letting his heart empower his mind.’

When I began working on both my protagonists I had a challenge, since the male character was loosely inspired by a friend, I had to wait for his validation, he had been sailing back then, and direct contact through calls wasn’t possible in the middle of the seas. I had a tough time pitching it. I remember I wanted to make it look like an actual holiday and I had nothing but my imagination and my words to help me.

So I began writing the characters, one by one. The toughest part was to bring them close and then drift apart, a phase where, as a writer I had to hold my horses, and let it sink in. There was a growing fondness I had for both of them. So the journey of exploring their relation wasn’t limited to them alone, for me, this story was more of a personal growth, as I could relate with the characters.
I always prefer to write in third person narrative, this gives them a real life setting and makes the reader feel the struggles and journey of the writer itself. But I have made sure, while writing in third person narrative, I limit to two characters at a time.
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Being an ardent fan of SUSPENSE, and my life which has never fallen short of any Drama and Complications (I’m a problem magnet), I have believed in giving the readers what they want, but not what they expect. To make them sacrifice what they want but provide them with something better than that, is what I have learnt over the years. To create the suspense, I had to set up a dramatic question, like in the beginning when he dials her number, here’s an excerpt,
He let out a smile and thought of the outburst back in Tuscany. “The next would be..Capetown,” he paused. “Would it be weird if we could meet?” he asked and let the sentence hang. She was a traveller, and he expected she would make this trip sooner or later. Perhaps, he wanted to create more memories with her.
Sensing the reluctance over the line, he pressed on, “I wouldn’t blame you if you said no, but I just remembered what an incredible impact your presence had on me.”
Or like the one later in the story, “Why did you leave unannounced?” she asked him politely. Admitting his weakness would mean confessing his feelings for her.”
Similarly, the end - And then it hit him, as simple as it had been. Why would she ever come to Cape Town if not for him? 
By putting your characters fate in doubt, you make readers ask, what happens next. Honestly, I hadn’t known back then what my fate would be with the Sailor in the first place. Hence, the ambiguous end could suit this story the most.
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The next important aspect of storytelling is the SCENE, of what could possibly change in the relationship, status or a situation. Isn’t our real life just the same? The way it relies on promise, struggle and tension, what are we if not for our stories?
My mentor had mentioned, when something interesting happens, that changes the fate of your character, SHOW the EMOTION. TELL the FEELINGS, as it brings your readers close to your characters, to understand the reactions better. When you show, keep it to three sentences, I was told.
I wanted to let it play out in front of them. So I made use of strong and specific verbs and avoided adverbs as much as possible.
Viz, Don’t tell the readers ‘He was jealous.’ To Show-
‘He heard her call out to him twice over the loud music. Then stood up from the bar and headed straight for the exit with a beer can in his hand. He had perhaps never felt this way before. His blood boiled over it. He came out towards the opposite side of the pub; she came running after him.’

To Tell how he feels, For example, have a look at this excerpt,
Finally, he broke his silence and spoke for a long time, describing himself. He was close to her, less than five inches. She had lighted a smoke while he had been speaking quietly. He wasn’t drunk. His pupils were not dilated, his breathing was regular, no sweat on his upper lip or forehead, nor did his fingers twitch in his lap. She observed him intimately.
He continued to speak in the same even voice. He was in full control and connected, very much in the present. He was revealing himself in layers, maybe he deemed her as worthy. He paused for a while, his gaze never leaving her eyes. 
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Likewise, two paragraphs of about your characters emotions, with no dialogue or inner thought, just makes your story plain boring, isn’t it? Hence, write GOOD DIALOGUES. And they come from intimate knowledge of your character and with lots of re-writing.
Since each protagonist must have a unique personality and voice. Whatever dialogue I wrote, I had to make sure it would suit them. I did make use of plenty of floats and prompts to get my dialogues correct and appropriate. After I wrote and read them, when my character’s voice reached in my ears, they indeed felt alive. Also, this time, the ball was in my court as I had plenty of real life conversations to play with. (winks)

A narrative story without personal feelings would be blatant boring, isn’t it? Being a descriptive writer where you infuse personal feelings/ raw and vulnerable emotions into writing by using analogies, metaphors, adjectives and figurative language, I had to MAKE THE ENVIRONMENT COME ALIVE.
My aim was to evoke a particular image in the readers mind by focusing on the five senses: sight, sound, touch, smell, taste. To paint a picture with incorporating imagery and specific details that compliments my story. Which story is beautiful if you can’t picture it in your mind?

“If it isn’t a happy ending, then it isn’t an end.” How often have you believed that?
I beg to differ in this case. I was never fond of a happily ever after, because it leaves your story under a false impression. All I did was, made my tale as realistic as it may sound, and hopefully left the reader with an everlasting connection with my characters.

I remember, one evening, I was sitting by a seashore with a friend, and he asked me, “So, how far has your story with the Sailor progressed?” I assumed he asked about the Mariner Wanderer series. He pressed on the subject at hand, the Sailor, and that’s when I understood, he was interested to know how interested I was in the main character. I remember, I promptly replied back by saying, “I am not in love with the Sailor, I am in love with the idea of him.”
And, thus, formed the crux of the major obstacle amidst them.
Here I am, asking you again, what are we if not for our stories?