A Walk to Remember: Synopsis (13 Chapter)A Walk to Rememberis anovelby American writerNicholas Sparks, released in October 1999. The novel, set in 1958-'59 inBeaufort, North Carolina, is a story of two teenagers who fall in love with each other despite the disparity of their personalities.A Walk to Rememberis adapted in thefilm of the same name.The title A Walk to Rememberwas taken from one of the tail end pages of the novel: "In every way, a walk to remember." The novel is written in first-person, and its narrator is a seventeen year-old boy, living in the 1950s. The novel was inspired by Sparks' sister, Danielle Sparks Lewis, who later died ofcancerin June 2000. Although the story is largely fictional, certain parts were based on real experiences.The Characters: Jamie Sullivan-Carteris the daughter of the Beaufort church minister Hegbert Sullivan. She is very religious, sweet, and kind. Landon Carteris a son of a rich family, the narrator of the novel. Hegbert Sullivanis Jamie's father. He is the Beaufort church minister.[55]His wife died shortly after giving birth to Jamie. He is very old with "translucent skin";he is often crabby but his daughter describes him as having "a good sense of humor" .He wrote the local play,The Christmas Angelbut he maintains a strong dislike for Mr. Carter due to his father's choices. Mrs. Carteris the mother of Landon Carter. "She [is] a nice lady, sweet and gentle." Mr. Carteris the father of Landon Carter. He is a congressman inNorth Carolinaand is gone nine months out of the year because he lives inWashington D.C

Prologue:

A Walk to Rememberis set in North Carolina. It begins with the narrator, fifty-seven-year old Landon Carter, announcing that he is going to look back on a life-changing event that happened to him when he was seventeen years old.

Analysis:

Sparks here uses the literary technique known as the frame. He tells a story by framing it, like a picture inside a frame. The frame, to which he will return at the end of the story, is that of the middle-aged man who looks back on an event earlier in his life. Sparks uses the first chapter to set the scene at a leisurely pace. He creates something of a Southern feel to it, without going into much detail, and he also creates a sense of the history of the area and period (only three television channels available), particularly with the story of Landons grandfather. He also lays out the initial characterization of Landon, Jamie, and Hegbert. Landon is a rebel without much taste for academic work, but it is clear that he is not too wayward a kid, just a boy who has lacked a father as a role model to emulate. Jamie is characterized as the product of her religious home environment; as the ministers daughter, it seems that she is almost too good to be true. The minister Hegbert is seen through Landons unsympathetic eyes, but it is clear that he has endured much hardship and suffering. Sparks also cleverly characterizes Landons best friend Eric Hunter with one deft touchEric quite openly goes through Landons lunchbox looking for his candy bar (which he will no doubt eat over Landons protests). Throughout, Sparks manages to maintain the tone of an older man looking back on the immaturity of his youth.

STUDY GUIDE FOR A WALK TO REMEMBERSTUDY QUESTIONS / MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUIZ Landon warns the reader that his story willMake us laugh and cry.

This warning is an example ofForeshadowingFORESHADOWINGThere are several other literary devices that pop up at various times in the story. One of the most prevalent ones is foreshadowing which frequently presents clues of something that will happen later in the novel. Some examples of foreshadowing include:When Landon opens the story with the words that his life changed when he was seventeen years old, he is preparing us for profound events that hes never forgotten.When Landon warns us that we will laugh and we will cry, he foreshadows the loving relationship that will develop between him and Jamie.The fact that Jamie has underlined one particular Psalm in her Bible foreshadows that she knows Landon will need those words to carry on in the face of her death. Landon finally fulfils Jamies wish byMarrying her before all the people they love.IRONYAnother element that is important to note is irony - when something happens, or is seen, or is heard that we may know, but the characters do not, or that appears opposite of what is expected. Some examples of irony include:

Landon promises Jamie that he wont fall in love with her if shell go to the homecoming dance with him, but thats exactly...........As winter begins to turn into spring, Landon is struck by how life comes back even as Jamie lays dying.

CREATIVE LICENSEAnother literary device used by the author is creative license. This device allows the author to imagine obviously impossible things and make the reader suspend his disbelief. Nicholas Sparks uses creative license when he has his main character, Landon, see anthropomorphic changes take place in his body and in the town he lives in, so that he is no longer imagining his past; he is actually there.

Best Quotes from the Novel/Movie: Love is like the wind, you can't see it but you can feel it. Love is always patient and kind. It is never jealous. Love is never boastful or conceited. It is never rude or selfish. It does not take offense and is not resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other peoples sins, but delights in the truth. It is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes. Maybe God has a bigger plan for me than I had for myself. Like this journey never ends. Like you were sent to me because I'm sick. To help me through all this. You're my angel. There are moments when I wish I could roll back the clock and take all the sadness away, but I have the feeling that if I did, the joy would be gone as well. Landon: [voiceover] Jamie saved my life. She taught me everything. About life, hope and the long journey ahead. I'll always miss her. But our love is like the wind. I can't see it, but I can feel it.

Novel and Movie Guide:A Walk to Remember was made into a movie in 2002, starring Mandy Moore and Shane West. There were many changes made to the story in the book, which always happens when a book is transformed into a movie. Novel and film are different artistic genres and need to be approached in different ways.Theme Analysis

The Discovery of FaithIn the early part of the novel, religious faith is presented only in the form of Jamie Sullivan as seen through the immature eyes of Landon Carter. He mocks her for her Christian faith, pointing out that whatever happens in life, good or bad, Jamie always attributes it to the Lords plan. Jamie has faith in God no matter what happens, and she shows it by carrying her Bible with her at all times. In breaks at school, rather than chatting with friends, Jamie prefers to read the Bible. Landon, on the other hand, has no interest in religion. He attends church only because everyone is expected to do so. It means nothing to him personally. But as he gradually gets to know Jamie his attitude slowly begins to change. He first mentions faith in chapter 10, after Jamie has confessed that she does not always understand what the Lords plan might be. He replies that one must have faith, although he does not really know what he is talking about, and he knows that he does not, and he soon steers the conversation away from God and toward romance. But after Jamie tells him she is dying, he faces his own personal crisis and turns with all sincerity to religion. He prays for a miracle and starts reading the Bible. Later, he and Jamie read the Bible together. It is when Landon reads a particular Bible passage that he finds the answer to the question that has been troubling him: what more can he do for Jamie? He feels that he has finally received an answer from God, and this shows his faith has been rewarded. For her part, Jamie never for a moment loses or even questions her faith.Coming of AgeThe novel covers only a few months in the life of Landon Carter, but these are vitally important months because they mark his coming of age, his rapid transition from an aimless and rebellious adolescence to a mature adulthood. Landon is forced by circumstances to grow up very quickly. At the beginning of the novel, he is a senior in high school with no real ambitions, no record of achievement, and a reputation for indulging with his buddies in immature pranks. He thinks it is fun to mock Jamie Sullivan for her unconventional appearance and her religious faith. He takes the drama class only because he is expecting to be able to sleep though most of the classes. Hegbert Sullivan thinks he is irresponsible, and his judgment is accurate. But hiding underneath Landons irresponsible exterior is a young man who has a capacity to feel deeply and to rise to exceptionally difficult challenges. He first has to shake himself loose from peer pressure, the pressure exerted on him by his peer group to be just like them. This is a difficult thing for him to accomplish. Jamie Sullivan has always been a girl who attracts the ridicule of Landons friends, so how is he to be any different? But gradually, he finds the strength of character to express his devotion to Jamie no matter what others think. He is learning to follow his own heart and moral conscience, even if this means acting contrary to what his circle of friends approves of. This kind of independent action is quite different from the deliberate rebelliousness he has cultivated up to this point in his life. As his love for Jamie deepens, Landon learns how to behave selflessly, to be generous to others, and to survive a test of character in the severest of circumstancesthe fatal illness of the girl he has fallen in love with. In the way he handles himself during these difficult months he shows he has taken a huge step toward becoming a responsible adult, knowing how to love another and being aware of his obligations to himself, his family, and his community.

Forgiveness and ReconciliationWhen the novel begins, there are some deep-seated, long-held family wounds in the town of Beaufort. Landon is estranged from his father, Worth Carter, the Washington D. C. politician who is hardly ever at home. It is as if Landon has grown up in a one-parent home. Not only this, Worth Carter and Hegbert Sullivan are at odds. Hegbert has not forgiven the Carter family because he once worked for Worth Carters father, who built up his fortune through ruthless business practices. But Jamies illness effects reconciliation in both these situations. The wealthy Worth Carter persuades Hegbert to accept financial help to meet Jamies medical expenses, as a result of which Landon drops his resentment of his father. His father acts as best man at his sons wedding, and Landon says he knows he can count on him. Worths generosity also effects a reconciliation with Hegbert, and fulfills at least something of what Jamie once mentioned to Landonthat the Carter family might one day give back some of the money that Landons grandfather made by unethical means.

Essay Q&A

1. How does the 2002 movie version compare to the book?A Walk to Rememberwas made into a movie in 2002, starring Mandy Moore and Shane West. There were many changes made to the story in the book, which always happens when a book is transformed into a movie. Novel and film are different artistic genres and need to be approached in different ways.The movie was updated from the 1950s to the late 1990s. The filmmakers wanted to ensure that teenagers would go see the movie, and they decided that if it was set in the 1950s, teens would not be attracted to it. The device in the book whereby the narrator looks back to events that took place forty years ago is therefore scrapped.Another change is in the character of Hegbert Sullivan. In the film he is still a minister, but he is much younger than the seventy-two-year-old in the book. Hegberts backstory is also altered. In the film the play the high school seniors put on is not Hegberts Christmas play; it is a drama set in the Prohibition era in the 1920s. There was no room in the movie for a subplot about how Hegbert had a crisis of faith, felt he was a bad father and wrote the autobiographical play A Christmas Angel. That would have been too much to explain during the mere 102 minutes of the movie.There are many other changes as well, the principle ones being that Landon and his friends get into much more serious mischief than they do in the novel. In the incident with which the movie begins, they play a trick on another young man that results in him sustaining serious injury (although this is not what they intended). Jamie is still a religious young woman who wears an old cardigan and carries a Bible, but she does not wear her hair in a bun and is very pretty from the beginning. She is also a more forceful character than her literary original and can hold her own against the teasing of the others. She is unwilling to tolerate any bad behavior from Landon.Unlike some authors who dislike how their works are treated in the movies, Nicholas Sparks has gone on record as saying he approves of the film, calling it wonderful. 2. Does Jamie live or die at the end of the novel?According to Nicholas Sparks on his Website, this is the most frequent question he receives from readers. Some readers appear to have convinced themselves that Jamie lived, and make references to the text to prove their point. Based solely on the text, however, it would seem highly unlikely that Jamie should be regarded as having miraculously recovered from an illness that was judged to be fatal by all medical opinion. The last chapter shows her becoming steadily weaker. Landon has been praying for a miracle but her condition continues to deteriorate. It is true that Landon does not say explicitly that she died, but surely, had she lived, this would have been such a startling conclusion to the story that the narrator could hardly justify leaving it out? Readers who claim that Jamie lived may point to Landons last words, in which he says, I now believe, by the way, that miracles can happen, the miracle being her survival. But this seems unlikely. The miracle was simply Jamies presence in his life and the changes she wrought in him. If Jamie had lived, and was still Landons wife forty years later, would Landon really say, I still love her, you see, and Ive never removed my ring. In all these years Ive never felt the desire to do so. A man does not speak like this about a wife who is still alive. However, on his Website Sparks claims that he was unable to write about Jamies death and deliberately left the ending ambiguous. He writes, Iwanted readers to finish with the hope that Jamie lived. . . . If you wanted Jamie to live, she lived. If you knew that Jamie would die, she died.3. What is the relationship between Landon and Eric? Why are they friends?Eric and Landon have known each other since kindergarten, and Landon refers to Eric as his best friend. In many ways they make unlikely friends. Eric is a jock; he is a quarterback who is captain of the football team, and he dates a cheerleader. He seems to move through life easily, and has no trouble obtaining alcohol from the local establishments, even though everyone knows he is underage. Landon, in contrast, is something of an underachiever; he doesnt play football or excel in anything, and he is not a leader. Sometimes, also, Eric does not seem like much of a friend to Landon, endlessly teasing him, sometimes with a cruel edge, about his growing friendship with Jamie. He seems to enjoy making his friend uncomfortable. However, there is a bond between the two boys that they understand very well, even if others might not. Landon, who lacks a father, appears to look up to his more successful friend, whom he describes as the most popular boy in the school: He was a stud. Even his name sounded cool. And Eric does repay the affection Landon feels for him. When Landon really needs support, Eric puts his teasing aside and does whatever he can to help. For example, when Landon runs for student body president, Eric gets all the athletes to vote for him; similarly, when Eric discovers that Landon is serious about acting in the play, he gives him his full support. The bond they formed when they were very young children proves to be an enduring one.4. MightA Walk to Rememberbe described as a Christian novel?Sparks notes with some pride on his Website thatA Walk to Rememberwas picked up by the Christian Book Club, Crossings. It is not hard to see why. The novel draws on a classic religious theme; the redemption of an unruly, secular, protagonist who does not know where he is going in life by the example of a strong Christian believer. The novel gradually changes its focus as this redemptive theme gathers force. During the first half of the novel, even though the small town of Beaufort, North Carolina, has eighteen churches, and our lives centered around the churches (as Landon puts it), the Reverend Hegbert Sullivan and his pious daughter Jamie are presented through the eyes of the narrator Landon Carter as unattractive, distasteful figures, the objects of ridicule and derision. This changes in the second half of the novel, however. Landon learns to respect Jamie, and then under the pressure of her fatal illness, he starts to read the Bible and develop his own faith. In the end he learns that if you put your trust in God, youll be all right in the end. This was the faith that Hegbert Sullivan tried every Sunday to instill in his congregation, and at the time Landon was not the slightest bit interested. But through Jamie he learns the truth of that assertion, and in that sense he is redeemed from his former state of ignorance. He also learns from Jamie the Christian value of forgiveness, since she holds no grudges against anyone for having treated her badly.5.A Walk to Rememberis popular, but is it good literature?Like Sparkss previous two novels,A Walk to Rememberwas a best-seller. But a popular book is not necessarily a good book. Reviewers of all Sparkss novels are aware that he has hit on a winning formula as far as sales are concerned. As the reviewer for Booklist wrote aboutA Walk to Remember, this bittersweet tale will enthrall Sparks' numerous fans and should be a big hit during the holiday season. However, thePublishers Weeklyreviewer was distinctly less enthusiastic, finding the book simple, formulaic, and blatantly melodramatic. This is the kind of criticism consistently made about Sparkss novels, even though they adequately fill a segment of the book-buying public that likes to read simple love stories that do not belong in the category of romance novel. Specific criticisms that might be leveled atA Walk to Rememberfrom a literary standpoint include the fact that the writing is at an eighth-grade reading levelif thatand is uninspired throughout. Just to give one example, any teacher of creative writing would wince at the vagueness of the following statement by Landon, which is supposed to express the depth of his feelings for Jamie: I was in love, and the feeling was even more wonderful than I ever imagined it could be. Also open to criticism are the characters and their relationships: Jamie might be seen as too good to be true, the relationship between Landon and Jamie unconvincing (given their great differences in outlook and temperament); and the dialogue also unconvincing, since teenagers do not in general speak in the manner that these characters do. Finally, the plot might be seen as predictable, with most of the surprises being easy to guess in advance.

The Four Basic Elements Of Any Novelby Nicholas SparksIt's critical to understand these elements and how they are related.Plot -- There are many definitions of plot, but plot is essentially the story, or the events that make up what the book is about. Plot, of course, is defined by conflict, either internal (Coming to terms with the loss of a spouse, for example) or external, (A stalker is watching through the window), and the best plots are both original and interesting. Complexity of the plot is a matter of taste, so is the setting (such as time period).No matter what other definition is given, the very best plots are defined by readers with the simple phrase, "I couldn't put the book down." In other words, a great story.Character Development -- Bringing the characters to life in the reader's mind. They can range from thumbnail sketches to deep, wordy, highly detailed biographies of each character. It's important to note that different genres and stories require different types of character development.Writing Style -- How the novel is written. Is the writing style efficient or complex? Does the author use an extensive vocabulary or get straight to the point? Are words used appropriately with regard to meaning, or do they seem written to showcase the "sound" of a sentence? Style should always be appropriate for the genre or story. An appropriate style adds to the texture of the novel; an inappropriate style does just the opposite. Literary fiction tends to lean toward complex sentences with original language. Thrillers tend to use shorter, more efficient sentences, especially as the pace quickens in the novel.Of course, basic writing rules always apply. Limit the use of adverbs when describing dialogue ("he said angrily" should read, "he said"), avoid words that add unnecessary emphasis ("he was a little tired" should read, "he was tired," or "she was very thirsty," should read "she was thirsty") avoid cliches (like, "It was a dark and stormy night,") use words appropriately and with their proper meaning, make the sentences clear and coherent, make them original without seeming to strain for originality. And most important of all, "show" whenever possible, don't "tell." In other words, don't write, "Max was angry." Show me his anger instead. ("Staring into the fire, Max balled his hands into fists. Not this, he thought, anything but this.")For a further look at Style and Rules of Composition, see The Elements of Style by Strunk and White.Length -- Just what it says. How long is the book? The length should be appropriate to the genre and be appropriate to the story. The Notebook, which in its final form was 45,000 words, was originally 80,000 words before I edited it down. Why did I cut so much? Because the story was so simple (only two main characters and two settings, and the majority of the novel was devoted to only a couple of days) that the additional words didn't add much; in fact, all they did was slow the story to a crawl. In The Rescue, I cut 20% from the original draft for the same reason. In A Bend in the Road, I cut 25%. In Stephen King's book, On Writing, he says his general rule of thumb is to cut 10%. According to what I've heard about Hemingway, his advice was to take the first fifty pages of your novel and cut them down to five pages. Sometimes when writing, less is more. (Ignore the use of the cliche, but it's appropriate here.)In most books on writing that I've read, this final aspect is often overlooked, though I don't know why. Length is critically important in novels. How many times, for instance, have you read a novel that seems to go "on and on?" I've read plenty. Too many, in fact.Books that are too long are the sign of laziness by the writer and also imply an arrogance of sorts, one that essentially says to the reader, "I'm the author here and I know what I'm doing, and if you don't like it, then that says more about you than me, and we both know which one of us is smarter." Not so. Who, after all, would have seen the movie Jurassic Park if the length of the movie was six hours? As much as dinosaurs are interesting and exciting, enough is enough sometimes. Why are so many books too long these days? Because being efficient is difficult and often time-consuming. It's a lot harder to capture a character's personality fully in one, original paragraph, than it is to take a page to do so. But efficiency is one of the characteristics of quality writing. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," is a much stronger opening than taking a paragraph or two to say exactly the same thing.Likewise with novels or scenes that are too short, and though this doesn't seem to happen as frequently, it does happen at times. Sometimes, characters scream for more detail about them, sometimes settings do as well. Sometimes adding "bulk" is important to the overall pacing of a novel. If too much length is bad, so is a book or scene that's too short.The Three CategoriesBroadly speaking, fiction can be divided into three varieties: literary, genre, and mainstream. The first thing you need to do when deciding what kind of novel you want to write is to come down in one camp or the other... Genre fictionis the most popular variety of fiction. It can be divided into categories such as mysteries, thrillers, and romances. If you decide to write genre fiction, you need to be aware that each category will have a particular set of rules (or conventions) that you, the writer, will need to more or less follow. For more on this, check out the article on theFiction Conventions. Literary novelsare generally far less commercial than genre ones - but only generally. If your literary novel happens to win a major prize or receive some positive word-of-mouth buzz, it could still make you very rich. Mainstream fiction, as you might have guessed, sits more or less halfway between the other two. In fact, it is often defined in terms of how it differs to literary and genre novels. The best definition of mainstream fiction, though, is that it is a category in its own right.Types of Characters in Fiction"What does characterization do for a story? In a nutshell, it allows us to empathize with the protagonist and secondary characters, and thus feel that what is happening to these people in the story is vicariously happening to us; and it also gives us a sense of verisimilitude, or the semblance of living reality. An important part of characterization is dialogue, for it is both spoken and inward dialogue that afford us the opportunity to see into the characters' hearts and examine their motivations. In the best of stories, it is actually characterization that moves the story along, because a compelling character in a difficult situation creates his or her own plot."

In fictional literature, authors use many different types of characters to tell their stories. Different types of characters fulfill different roles in the narrative process, and with a little bit of analysis, you can usually detect some or all of the types below. Major or centralcharacters are vital to the development and resolution of the conflict. In other words, the plot and resolution of conflict revolves around these characters. Minor charactersserve to complement the major characters and help move the plot events forward. Dynamic- A dynamic character is a person whochanges over time, usually as a result of resolving a central conflict or facing a major crisis. Most dynamic characters tend to be central rather than peripheral characters, because resolving the conflict is the major role of central characters. Static- A static character is someone whodoes not change over time; his or her personality does not transform or evolve. Round- A rounded character is anyone who has acomplex personality; he or she is often portrayed as a conflicted and contradictory person. Flat- A flat character is the opposite of a round character. This literary personality is notable forone kind of personality trait or characteristic. Stock- Stock characters are those types of characters who have becomeconventional or stereotypicalthroughrepeated usein particular types of stories. Stock characters are instantly recognizable to readers or audience members (e.g. the femme fatale, the cynical but moral private eye, the mad scientist, the geeky boy with glasses, and the faithful sidekick). Stock characters are normally one-dimensionalflatcharacters, but sometimes stock personalities are deeply conflicted, rounded characters (e.g. the "Hamlet" type). Protagonist- The protagonist is the central person in a story, and is often referred to as the story's main character. He or she (or they) is faced with a conflict that must be resolved. The protagonist may not always be admirable (e.g. an anti-hero); nevertheless s/he must command involvement on the part of the reader, or better yet, empathy. Antagonist- The antagonist is the character(s) (or situation) that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend. In other words, the antagonist is an obstacle that the protagonist must overcome. Anti-Hero- A major character, usually the protagonist, who lacks conventional nobility of mind, and who struggles for values not deemed universally admirable.Duddy, in MordecaiRichler'sThe Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, is a classic anti-hero. He's vulgar, manipulative and self-centered. Nevertheless, Duddy is the center of the story, and we are drawn to the challenges he must overcome and the goals he seeks to achieve. Foil- A foil is any character (usually the antagonist or an important supporting character) whose personal qualities contrast with another character (usually the protagonist). By providing this contrast, we get to know more about the other character. Symbolic- A symbolic character is any major or minor character whose very existence represents some major idea or aspect of society. For example, inLord of the Flies, Piggy is a symbol of both the rationality and physical weakness of modern civilization; Jack, on the other hand, symbolizes the violent tendencies (the Id) that William Golding believes is within human nature.

Direct presentation (or characterization)- This refers to what the speaker ornarratordirectly says or thinksabout a character.In other words, ina direct characterization, the reader istoldwhat the character is like. When Dickens describes Scrooge like this: "I present him to you: Ebenezer Scrooge....the most tightfisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner!" - this is very direct characterization! Indirect presentation (or characterization)- This refers to what thecharactersays or does. The reader theninferswhat the character is all about. This mimics how we understand people in the real world, since we can't "get inside their heads". In other words, inan indirect characterization, it'sthe readerwho is obliged to figure out what the character is like. And sometimes the reader will get it wrong.Ten (Direct or Indirect) Ways in which a Character Can Be Revealed

a. By psychological description.b. By physical description.c. By probing what s/he thinks.d. By what s/he says.e. By how s/he says it.f. By what s/he does.g. By what others say about him or her.h. By his or her environment.i. By her reaction to others.j. By his reaction to himself.Things to Remember:1. Literary characters may embody more than one of these character types at the same time. A dynamic character may also be the antagonist, and a protagonist can also be, say, a flat and stock character (i.e. the one-dimensional hero).2. Here's avery common mistake: while characters are often roundanddynamic, that does not mean these two terms mean the same thing. The former refers to a character'scomplexity, while the latter refers to a character'sdevelopmentover time. Students also make this mistake with flat and static characters.

THE 4 STORY STRUCTURES THAT DOMINATE NOVELSAll stories contain four elements that can determine structure: milieu, idea, character and event. While each is present in every story, there is generally one that dominates the others.Which one dominates? The one that the author cares about most. This is why the process of discovering the structure of a story is usually a process of self-discovery. Which aspect of the story matters most to you? That is the aspect that determines your storys structure.Lets take each element in turn and look at the structure that would be required if that were to be the dominant element in your story.STRUCTURE 1: THE MILIEU STORYThe milieu is the worldthe planet, the society, the weather, the family, all the elements that come up during your world-creation phase. Every story has a milieu, but when a story is structured around one, the milieu is the thing the storyteller cares about most. For instance, inGullivers Travels, it mattered little to Jonathan Swift whether we came to care about Gulliver as a character. The whole point of the story was for the audience to see all the strange lands where Gulliver traveled and then compare the societies he found there with the society of England in Swifts own dayand the societies of all the tales readers, in all times and places. So it wouldve been absurd to begin by writing much about Gullivers childhood and upbringing. The real story began the moment Gulliver got to the first of the books strange lands, and it ended when he came home.Milieu stories always follow that structure. An observer who sees things the way wed see them gets to the strange place, observes things that interest him, is transformed by what he sees, and then comes back a new person.This structure is most common in science fiction and fantasy, but it also occurs in other types of novels. James ClavellsShogun, for instance, is a milieu story: It begins when the European hero is stranded in medieval Japan, and it ends when he leaves. He was transformed by his experiences in Japan, but he does not stayhe returns to his world. Other stories are told along the waythe story of the shogun, for instancebut regardless of how much were drawn into those events, the real closure we expect at the end of the story is the main characters departure from Japan.Likewise,The Wonderful Wizard of Ozdoesnt end when Dorothy kills the Wicked Witch of the West. It ends when Dorothy leaves Oz and goes home to Kansas.As you conceive and write your own story, if you realize that what you care about most is having a character explore and discover the world youve created, chances are this structure is your best choice.When writing a milieu story, your beginning point is obviouswhen the character arrivesand the ending is just as plain: when she leaves (or, in a variant, when she decides not to leave, ending the question of going home).Such stories are typically most effective when seen through the viewpoint of the arriving character, as shell be surprised by and interested in the same strange and marvelous (and terrible) things that engage the readers.STRUCTURE 2: THE IDEA STORYIdea stories are about the process of seeking and discovering new information through the eyes of characters who are driven to make the discoveries. The structure is very simple: The idea story begins by raising a question; it ends when the question is answered.Most mysteries follow this structure. The story begins when a crime takes place. The question we ask is, who did it and why? The story ends when the identity and motive of the criminal are revealed.In speculative fiction, a similar structure is quite common. The story begins with a question: Why did this beautiful ancient civilization on a faraway planet come to an end? Why are all these people gone, when they were once so wise and their achievements so great? The answer, in Arthur C. Clarkes The Star, is that their sun went nova, making life impossible in their star system. And, ironically, it was the explosion of their star that the wise men saw as the sign of the birth of Christ. The story is told from the point of view of a Christian who believes that this must have been a deliberate act of God, to destroy a beautiful civilization for the sake of giving a sign to the magi.When writing an idea story, begin as close as possible to the point where the question is firstraised, and end as soon as possible after the question is answered.

STRUCTURE 3: THE CHARACTER STORYCharacter stories focus on the transformation of a characters role in the communities that matter most to him. Sure, in one sense, stories are almost always about one or more characters. In most stories, though, the tale is not about the characters character; that is, the story is not about who the character is.Take, for example, the Indiana Jones movies. These are not character stories. The story is always about what Indiana Jones does, but never who he is. Jones faces many problems and adventures, but in the end, his role in society is exactly what it was before: part-time archaeology professor and full-time knight-errant.By contrast, Carson McCullersThe Member of the Weddingis about a young girls longing to change her role in the only community she knowsher household, her family. She determines that she wants to belong to her brother and his new wife; they are the we of me, she decides. In the effort to become part of their marriage, she is thwartedbut in the process, her role in the family and in the world at large is transformed, and at the end of the story she is not who she was when she first began.The Member of the Weddingis a classic example of a character story.The structure of a character story is as simple as any of the others. The story begins at the moment when the main character becomes so unhappy, impatient or angry in her present role that she begins the process of change; it ends when the character either settles into a new role (happily or not) or gives up the struggle and remains in the old role (happily or not).STRUCTURE 4: THE EVENT STORYIn the event story, something is wrong in the fabric of the universe; the world is out of order. In classic literature, this can include the appearance of a monster (Beowulf), the unnatural murder of a king by his brother (Hamlet) or of a guest by his host (Macbeth), the breaking of an oath (Havelock the Dane), the conquest of a Christian land by the infidel (King Horn), the birth of a child portent who some believe ought not to have been born (Dune), or the reappearance of a powerful ancient adversary who was thought to be dead (The Lord of the Rings). In all cases, a previous ordera golden agehas been disrupted and the world is in flux, a dangerous place.The event story ends at the point when a new order is established or, more rarely, when the old order is restored or, rarest of all, when the world descends into chaos as the forces of order are destroyed. The story begins not at the point when the world becomes disordered, but rather at the point when the character whose actions are most crucial to establishing the new order becomes involved in the struggle.Hamletdoesnt begin with the murder of Hamlets father; it begins much later, when the ghost appears toHamletand involves him in the struggle to remove the usurper and reestablish the proper order of the kingdom.Almost all fantasy and muchperhaps mostscience fiction uses the event story structure. Nowhere is it better handled than in J.R.R. Tolkiens great trilogy.The Lord of the Ringsbegins when Frodo discovers that the ring Bilbo gave him is the key to the overthrow of Sauron, the great adversary of the worlds order; it ends not with the destruction of Sauron, but with the complete reestablishment of the new orderwhich includes the departure of Frodo and all other magical people from Middle-earth.Notice that Tolkien does not begin with a prologue recounting all the history of Middle-earth up to the point where Gandalf tells Frodo what the ring is. He begins, instead, by establishing Frodos domestic situation and then thrusting world events on him, explaining no more of the world than Frodo needs to know right at the beginning. We learn of the rest of the foregoing events bit by bit, only as the information is revealed to Frodo.In other words, the viewpoint character, not the narrator, is our guide into the world situation. We start with the small part of the world that he knows and understands and see only as much of the disorder of the universe as he can. It takes many daysand many pagesbefore Frodo stands before the council of Elrond, the whole situation having been explained to him, and says, I will take the ring, though I do not know the way. By the time a lengthy explanation is given, we have already seen much of the disorder of the universe for ourselvesthe Black Riders, the hoodlums in Bree, the barrow wightsand have met the true king, Aragorn, in his disguise as Strider. In other words, by the time we are given the full explanation of the world, we already care about the people involved in saving it.Too many writers of event stories, especially epic fantasies, dont learn this lesson from Tolkien. Instead, they imagine that their poor reader wont be able to understand whats going on if they dont begin with a prologue showing the world situation. Alas, these prologuesalwaysfail. Because we arent emotionally involved with any characters, because we dont yetcare, the prologues are meaningless. They are also usually confusing, as a half-dozen names are thrown at us all at once. I have learned as a book reviewer that its usually best to skip the prologue and begin with the storyas the author also should have done. I have nevernot oncefound that by skipping the prologue I missed some information I needed to have in order to read the story; and when I have read the prologue first, I have nevernot oncefound it interesting, helpful or even understandable.In other words, writers of event stories,dont write prologues. Homer didnt need to summarize the whole Trojan War for us; he began theIliadwith the particular, the private wrath of Achilles. Learn from Homerand Tolkien, and all the other writers who have handled the event story well. Begin small, and only gradually expand our vision to include the whole world. If you dont let us know and care about the hero first, we wont be around for the saving of the world. Theres plenty of time for us to learn the big picture.