The Story Arc

When I started writing, as with most authors of my acquaintance, any conversation with either agents or publishers always included the phrase, ‘What is your story arc?’

Most authors, especially novice ones, have only a general idea in their head when they begin a story. A character, a place, and in the case of historical authors, an event on which the story pivots.

I tend to follow the craft rules more closely these days, and have to pay attention to the rule that ‘If it doesn’t move the story forward’ or is ‘an info dump’ it must go, although there is always a fascinating snippet or a piece of history which is difficult to ignore. 

Specifically, my story arc for Envy The Wind began with the era. I am writing a series of cosy mysteries set in the early years of the 20^th Century and have become fascinated with the time period so it was logical to set my Canadian story in 1905. This was a time of progress in all aspects of life from transportation, information gathering, telecoms, politics and a changing social time, especially women.

I wanted my character, Grace, to have determination and a sense of self who has to manage alone in a very different country. I won’t call it strange, as the population at this time was made up of third and fourth generation English, Scots, Irish etc, so for my character the country wouldn’t have seemed quite so alien.

However as a woman, Grace will face obstacles and local prejudice, to being firstly a woman alone, and then a businesswoman trying to make a living. These aspects will form the main conflict in her search for an independent life. Then there are factors like the extreme weather, the attitudes of society of the time and how she establishes friendships and handles opposition.

The main goal, which is synonymous of everyone in history, is to establish a happy life where Grace can make her own choices without having to make major compromises.

There will, of course, be unexpected bumps in the road. For example, a romantic element, unwanted attention from someone, maybe, a jealous rival, a close friendship, a misunderstanding which threatens that friendship, or a natural tragedy. All these things add to the character’s growth and keeps the reader turning pages to see what happens next. 

The last 30% of the story is where all misunderstandings are resolved, apologies are made, true feelings are revealed and the final solution is satisfactory to all parties.

Envy The Wind – will be released in Spring 2018, and isn’t a romance per se, rather the journey of a young woman determined to go her own way in a different society to the one we are in today. The main question is will she find what she is looking for by the end, or was she searching for the wrong things in the wrong place all along?

I am an inveterate plotter, partly because I am easily distracted and can go off on a tangent very easily, resulting in a disorganized plot which at times appears not to go anywhere.  Thus I set out every scene with a starting point and a goal so I know what my character will achieve by the end of the scene. This is not necessarily definitive, maybe the outcome is a misunderstanding, misplaced loyalty, confusion, even fear.

I cannot summarize my story arc without over simplifying or making it too detailed – also the novel isn’t finished yet, so maybe the story arc will change?  

SS Parisian

The Challenges of Historical Fiction

Grace Aitken MacKinnon

A major problem with writing my novel for this series, was my character, Grace MacKinnon’s escape from her oppressive family to Canada How do I get her there? 

In the early 20^th century the larger, steam turbine driven vessels sailed for Halifax Nova Scotia, which is  155 miles [250 Km] from Prince Edward Island, over half of which is a landmass, with another stretch of water in between.

With some digging, I found a list of ships that called in at Charlottetown, but few, if any were passengers vessels coming direct from England. There was, however – and in fact still is, a regular ferry service from the mainland which took in all the major cities along the St Lawrence River and called in at Prince Edward Island.

What I had more difficulty discovering is how a young woman with only a basic knowledge of this far off country and its complicated geography would have even heard of Prince Edward Island, let alone aim to go there. It's hardly a direct route and maybe not one many people would think of when planning their emigration to Canada.

Because I had chosen a real steamship, one which needed to be equipped with wireless telegraphy, I wanted to be accurate, so I had to work out how Grace would cross that extra distance – and why would a young woman starting a new life  in a foreign country choose one place over another?

I went back to my historical research, and found an actual event which provides Grace with a means and opportunity to change her plans. I hope readers of this blog are intrigued enough to want to know what brings Grace to her Island home, the famous island character she befriends there and the life she carves for herself in Envy The Wind.

The Prince Edward Island Bride-Anita Davison

Grace Aitken McKinnon

Grace Aitken was from an affluent, middle-class background, whose life changed dramatically at the age of 12 when her parents were killed in a carriage collision in a London street.

She became the ward of her father's business partner and attended the North London Collegiate School in Camden, London, run by Miss Frances Buss, which provided her with a progressive education; unusual for late Victorian girls and with her home life so restrictive, Grace always wondered why the pious Herbert MacKinnon allowed it.

At seventeen, Grace's guardian convinced her that she owed him a debt of gratitude which could be expunged by marrying his son. Grace saw no other option for herself but to comply, although she developed a brotherly relationship with her husband, Frederick. Life in the MacKinnon home is stilted and unenlightened - newspapers are not for general consumption and local society restricted to church and tea with her in-law's like-minded acquaintances.

Frederick's delicate health prevented him challenging his father, and after six years of childless marriage – a fault placed squarely at Grace’s door, he contracted diphtheria and died. As his widow, her in-laws assumed she would take on the role of dependent housekeeper to her semi-invalid mother-in-law; a condition Grace suspects she has chosen, and Herbert MacKinnon's two spinster sisters, all of whom are critical of Grace's ‘wicked ways’, none of which were more outrageous than walking in Hampstead village without a maid, to reading a Women’s Suffrage pamphlet.

It is 1905, Grace is 23 and Frederick has been gone over a year when she finds a note from her husband amongst his things with a solicitor's letter detailing the inheritance from her parents which was kept in trust for her until her 21st Birthday. Beneath the guise of running an errand, Grace visits the solicitor’s office and it is there learns she is not a penniless, powerless widow after all. Grace's inner rebellion emerges and she formulates her escape by booking passage to Canada.