The Secret to Organic Storytelling

Writers are often told their stories need to be organic. Sounds like something that makes sense when you hear it. But identifying elements that are inorganic, and even more challenging, trying to fix them, can be elusive. It can also be frustrating when you need a certain plot point for the progression of your story and it sounds like someone is telling you that you can’t have it. Let’s back up and define what organic means in terms of storytelling. An organic story is one where the plot reads natural and realistically makes sense within the story world. Inorganic elements seem out-of-place, forced, or coming out of nowhere. The plot isn’t believable. It’s jarring for the reader and pulls them out of the story.

So how can we write organic stories? Or fix something when we’re told it’s inorganic?

Put on your nerd glasses and let’s dive into some literary theory to get these answers.

The Growth of a Story

The genesis of a story begins in the mind, long before words take shape on the page. Something comes to the mind of the creative, perhaps a character, an interesting setting, or even lines of dialogue. It is in this nebulous state that the seed of the story is planted. Now the writer must water it properly to make it grow. That means building the story world and the characters before starting to write. Taking the time to develop this “understory” that gets peppered into your plot gives firm ground for everything else to come.

Some people have a writing style where they go straight to the page without any planning (pantsers). Everyone writes differently. However, if you have issues with your stories flowing organically, take some time to try the method discussed below to see if it helps improve the overall flow of your storyline.

Start with Character

Focus on your main character and go deeper than things like eye color and hobbies. Keep asking them why they behave a certain way or make specific choices. Jot down childhood events that formulated their beliefs about the world and themselves. Get to deep levels of motivation. For example, Lydia Bennet wants attention. If Jane Austin stopped there, it would just seem silly that Lydia flings herself at soldiers. Why does Lydia want attention? Because she doesn’t stand out in her family and get attention on her own. Why doesn’t she stand out? Because she has older sisters who are more beautiful and clever than she is. At this point, we realize it’s Lydia’s insecurity that drives her, so it is an organic event when she runs off with the questionable Wickham, trying to secure her place in the world.

Taking the time to keep asking why, why, why will allow you to build a complex character and make their choices genuine to their disposition.

Then Build Your World

It doesn’t matter what genre you write, taking the time to construct a layered setting is essential to having an organic story. Genuine conflict must arise from the world of the story you’ve created. This not only includes the physical location of the story, but the social norms and histories as well. What is this place, and who lives here? Drawing a map is one of the easiest ways to grow conflict from your world, even if it’s a contemporary setting. Think about things like: Who lives next door? What is considered the nice/not-so-nice part of town? What resources come from the river and who owns them? Include physical and human elements on your map. Pretty soon you’ll have tons of ideas for potential conflict. Another tip is to imagine the setting as a character itself—not only do characters react to the setting, but the setting reacts to the characters. It is a back and forth relationship where both shape each other.

Putting It All Together with Conflict

Organic storytelling occurs when conflict (1) is in direct opposition to a character’s motivation and (2) arises from the character interacting with the setting and the living beings in it. In other words, it is the interplay between authentic character motivation and natural circumstances arising from the environment. The character arc is the journey from old stasis to new stasis in the search for equilibrium in this world.

Another example with another classic: The Grinch despises Christmas and wants to take Christmas away from the Whos. Why? Because he wants everyone to be as miserable as he is. Why? Because he doesn’t know how to be happy. Why? Because he’s never experienced true joy. The world of the Whos is built, and they are Christmas enthusiasts, the happiest of happy people and the exact opposite of the Grinch. Think of all the wonderful worldbuilding with everything they have down in Whoville. This is excellent, organic conflict that is in perfect opposition to our character’s motivation. He interacts with the setting and people when he tries to steal Christmas with all the Who-pudding. He goes from old grouchy stasis while searching for equilibrium (stopping this whole thing from coming) to new loving stasis on his character arc. His revelation occurs when he witnesses the Whos experiencing true joy and realizes he can feel that way, too. That is from the deep dive of his motivation

Spending the time to build complex characters and a layered setting before writing is the key to having genuine conflict. When conflict, motivation, and setting interplay together, a story is organic. But what do you do when you’ve already written something and have been told an element is inorganic? Have no fear, you don’t need to toss your story out and start over. But you do need to go back to those roots of your story to justify why something is happening. You may need to add in more about the character’s past experiences, or a little about the social history of the area, or something else related to the character and worldbuilding. You may also need to adjust elements of an event to match the setting better and make the conflict come more realistically from the story world.

Writing organic stories takes time, practice, and most importantly, good feedback. Make sure your editor or critique partner tells you specifically what it is that seemed out-of-place to them so you can figure out how to address it. If you’d like more resources to help, check out these other articles below:

Creating Unforgettable Characters: Who Are They?

Place As Character

The Seven Types of Narrative Conflict