Characters: Who is the main character, and who are the most important secondary characters? Is there an antagonist? Who is writing the letters and who is receiving them? Setting: Where and when does this story take place? Paint a clear picture for the reader. “When” a story takes place might even refer to where the protagonist is in his or her life. For example — is your main character an adult reading old diary entries from childhood? A child writing letters to her future self? Mood: The reader wants to know what kind of story they’re reading. Comedies should be light-hearted from the beginning. If your main character is a tortured hero, you should hint at the angst from the beginning.
Internal conflict is the protagonist’s struggle with himself: regretting past mistakes, struggling with insecurities, grappling with important decisions. Judy Bloom’s books are excellent explorations of internal conflict. [2] X Research source Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume. Edited by Jennifer O’Connell. Pocket/Downtown. External conflict is the protagonist’s struggle with an antagonist, whether another person (Edmund in Shakespeare’s King Lear ) or an entire societal system (George Orwell’s 1984). Situational conflict arises from circumstances that get in the protagonist’s way. For example: your protagonist is rushing home to apologize to his mother before she dies. But he gets locked out of his apartment without his luggage, and then the taxi gets stuck in traffic. When he gets to the airport, the flight is delayed.
For example, say your protagonist confronts the school bully in your climax. The bully is the external conflict. But the main character’s insecurity and lack of confidence in the internal conflict. He will have to face both obstacles in the climax.
In a happy or comic ending, the main character ends up happier than he’s ever been before. Most children’s stories have happy endings — Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, for example. In a tragic resolution, though, the main character might lose everything. Hamlet, for example, overcomes his obstacles only to die at the end of Shakespeare’s play. [4] X Research source
Decide how much of the story you want to tell through letters.
Don’t let the writer forget about the person reading the letter. If letters start sounding like diary entries, the audience won’t enjoy reading them.
After major events, allow a little time to pass before you date the letters that address them. Have the writer speak of them in the appropriate tense: “Sorry I haven’t e-mailed in a few days. My sister’s been sick, and she’s in the hospital again. The doctors say she can go home next week, but I’m still so scared. ”
If you’re writing letters, you don’t have to format them like you would proper letters in real life. The reader might not enjoy seeing the return address listed on every letter.
When does the initial conflict that sets the plot into motion occur? Usually, it happens at the end of the exposition, and kicks off the rising action. What conflicts come into play during your rising action? Each conflict should raise the stakes and the tension, building toward the climactic scene. What information do you want to include in your denouement? Anticipate the questions the reader will have about loose ends that need to be tied up.
It may help to put this story aside for a while and write your way through other prompts. You don’t want to start another large project that might lead you to abandon this one. But free-writing about a fond memory or something interesting you say today will help get your hand moving. When you’re ready, you can come back to this story.
Do sections of the story drag? Shorten them! Are some transitions unreasonable? For example, is it unrealistic for the love interest to fall in love with the main character as soon as she breaks up with her boyfriend? If not, do the work of ironing out those transitions. Have you used the strongest language wherever possible? Read the whole draft aloud and look for sentences that sound awkward or weak. Focus on strengthening them.
