Take the U Out of Clutter

I will use the book I co-authored with Mark Brunetz, Emmy award-winning co-host of Clean House on Style Network. Our book was divided into three sections and we used a different structure in each part:

Part One: You Make the Meaning / We used the Developmental Model

Part Two: Stories That Hold Us All Back / We used the Modular Model

Part Three: Clear the Clutter from the Inside Out / We used the Step-by-step Model

Even though the book used different types of book structure, our chapters followed a similar pattern, except for the first and last chapters. In the first chapter, we introduced ourselves and told our own stories about clutter to engage the reader. In the last chapter we briefly summarized the book and invited readers to contact us through our web sites.

For the chapters in between, we selected one story to be used throughout that chapter. Usually the story opened the chapter, but occasionally we made a few points prior to starting the story. Each story was presented in the first person by the main character in that story and a client of Mark’s and included details of their interaction. The stories we used were based on real clients that Mark or I had worked with, but the identifying features were changed. Our chapters were short and easy to read with a structure that followed this basic pattern:

* Opening Story

* 2 or more points we presented that were identified by chapter subheads

* Practices to Live Out, Follow, or Apply (Exercises)

* Affirmations

Here is the opening of chapter 7: Sort Your Stories, Not Your Stuff

An airline pilot who has traveled the world many times over, Jorge has collected souvenirs from every place he has flown. When we met him, many of these items were still in their boxes, unopened. In addition to his stash of mementos, Jorge’s garage held furniture, boxes of photos, gardening tools, and just plain junk.

Jorge told us:

I know that Mark has worked with a lot of people with clutter problems, but I think even he was surprised at how many things I was able to get into my garage. My wife, Arianna, is so irritated with me. We just bought her a new car and she wants to be able to park it in the garage. She told me if I didn’t have it cleaned out by her deadline, she’d call in an expert. I missed the deadline. The next thing I new, Mark was here

Mark said, “Don’t worry, Jorge. We’ll get this garage in order in no time.”

I liked his optimism but I had one question. “Where do we start?”

So, how many stories did Mark and I need for our book? We needed our two stories and then one story for chapters 2 – 15. Due to the fact that our book was highly structured, it was very easy to determine how many stories we needed. We needed 13 stories.

4-Hour Workweek

In contrast, is the 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss. Tim writes with high-powered sales energy from start to finish, with a style all his own. Before his first chapter, he includes three introductory pieces that focused on his personal success story. Due to their unique nature, each piece had its own structure. They are:

FAQ-Doubters Read This

My Story and Why You Need This Book

Chronology of a Pathology

The remainder of his book is divided into four steps. The first letter of the titles of each section spell out the word DEAL. His last chapter is three pages long. It starts with an email, has a few remarks from Tim and then ends with a poem.

After the “last chapter” he includes a reading list and 7 bonus chapters. When you flip to the back of the book to read these bonus chapters, Tim informs you that in order to get them, you’ll have to visit his web site. Very clever.

Without following the rules too stringently, most of his chapters are short, usually opening with a quote with two or more subheads. He ends most of his chapters with “Q&A: Questions and Actions” in which he gives assignments, answers FAQ and gives a pep talk to the reader. The stories Ferriss includes, and the way they are presented, are as varied as the rest of his book. Some chapters are devoted to one person’s story. Other chapters he uses snippets of he tells in the first or third person.

Here’s a short sample:

I once asked my mom how she decided when to have her first child, little ol’ me. The answer was simple: “It was something we wanted, and we decided there was no point in putting it off. The timing is never right to have a baby.” And so it is.

How many stories did Ferriss need? Since he used so many different approaches throughout his book, it would be very hard to predict all of the stories included. If your book follows in Ferriss’s footsteps, a more accurate way of determining the number of stories you will need is to walk through a chapter and make a notation whenever you think one is needed.

The choice is yours to make. Will you use different stories in every chapter? Will you use one story per chapter? Will you use the same stories in all of your chapters? Decide upon a story strategy that aids your reader to better understand and apply your program.

Writing stories is my favorite part of authoring a self-help book. They bring a dimension of real life drama into an otherwise “instructional” narrative.

To learn how to get your book published download my free article, “The 3 Most Important Questions You Must Answer to Land a Book Contract” at http://www.carmenreneeberry.com/untitled16.html

Carmen Berry, MSW is a New York Times bestselling author who has taught aspiring authors how to get published for 10 years. Her coaching draws, not only from her successes, but also from the many mistakes she has made during her 25-year writing career. As a result, her clients can avoid making common-sense blunders that many first-time authors make. It’s okay to be a first-time author as long as you don’t act like an amateur. She works with aspiring writers who love helping people such as mental health professionals, educators, medical professionals, pastors, fitness experts and craft enthusiasts.

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Theme

When writing a short story, our attention might be fastened to one side only, such as creating characterization, depicting the available things, dialogue or whatever. That is why, we have to remember that flowery words can bury the core of the story itself.

A good story is that which follows a border line. Determine what the core of your story is.although the theme is highly prompting to augment. You must still focus on the core you have made if you don’t want your writing to end like the opening of a novel or a compilation of complicated ideas with no explanation.

Period of time
The story in an effective short story usually presents a short period of time. This can be in form of an event in your main character’s life span or a story of events going on in one day or one hour. And the short period of time, make the events you are telling about can give rise to your theme.

Setting
Since you singly have a limited number of words to set forth your messages, therefore you must be able to select conscientiously the setting of the story. This means that a setting must also serve to participate in supporting the course of the story. This doesn’t mean that you must select a typical or guessable setting. For instance, few most frightening settings for horror stories are not graves or old houses, but common places the readers frequently find in their daily lives.

Make readers as though they felt the mood of the story through the setting having been selected.

Characterization
To keep the effectiveness of the story, a short story amply has some three main characters only, because too many main characters can blur the course of the story. Don’t be too lost in depicting the detailed background of each character.

Determine which character is the most important in supporting the story and focus on them. If you really fall in love with your characters, make use of them as the basis of your next novels.

Dialogue
Don’t underestimate the power of dialogues in supporting your characterization, on the reverse, dialogues must be able to partake in telling and developing your story. Don’t just make dialogues complements to enliven your characters.

Any word put in your character’s mouths must also be functional in giving rise to the theme of the story. If the dialogues are found to be unable to support themes, just eradicate them.

Plot
Create an opening paragraph interesting enough to make readers curious to know what happen next. Make sure that your plot is complete, there must be an exposition, climax and denouement. Nonetheless, You don’t necessarily take a long time in building up stories, so that the climax or denouement only emerges in one short sentence, and makes readers troubled and confused in a negative meaning, not charmed.

Don’t also make a ‘twist ending’ (unpredicted ending) which can be read too early, keep readers guessing until the final seconds. If you make a story move very fast, for instance a story of criminality, keep your paragraphs and sentences short. This is a trick to regulate speed and condense the nuance you want to serve to your readers.

Rereading
Readers can easily influenced by irregular format, use of wrong punctuations and grammar. Don’t let these all interfere with your story, check them up repeatedly.

1.Get to the main point
Don’t waste your reader’s time by presenting lengthy stories of the character’s past, the opening of long stories or funny things. Reduce the noise and talk less. King has a direct and fast technique on conflicts or tensions. Do this fast before the readers lose their temper and get rid of your works.

2.Draft the story and pour out for a while.
King suggests you to write a story draft and then keep it in a drawer. Let it have a rest there!, as long As you wish. King keeps his scripts for months before the editing process and rereading. This method is to get rid of confused thoughts when writing scripts and getting thoughts or clear view points over the scripts we have made. Thus, editing, correcting, adding or even cutting off the unnecessary can be easier. The result is inevitably better and sharper.

1.Draw up a definite theme

Never start writing if the theme is not yet definite. A  definite theme facilitates writers in giving birth to characters or plots. Find a light theme and develop it. You can develop this light theme to be a heavier one. Insert definite messages for readers so that they can grast the meanings. The sequence of plot must be in order, so that it can flow like water.

2.Use an effective plot

Simplify the events. Since this is a short story, one important event happening to its characters is sufficient. Limit the subject matters in order not to lead to the format of novel.

3.Use few characters only

Every new character will establish a plot. Many different new characters will be capable of weakening a theme. Bear in mind! This is a short story not integrated  story or novel. Use just few characters to strengthen the theme and plot.

4.Make every word valuable

There is no place for unnecessary words. If there are words not guiding readers to a theme, you’d better get rid of them. Hence, an effective choice of words is significantly important in short stories.

5.Focus

A story is that which follows a narrow characterization. What is the goal of your story?. The goal is the theme, if you widen the theme, the focus will be biased, for instance, failed novels contain gado-gado with a pile of indefinite themes. Thus, don’t widen the theme and go directly to the goal of the story.