By Sara Beth Williams @WilliamsSaraB
What makes a great story?
A well-developed plot.
What helps drive the plot forward, besides a character’s strong, identifiable goal?
Mistakes.
Mistakes in fiction can vary in severity and are extremely relatable to readers. Mistakes can be purely accidental, due to poor judgement or anything in between. Mistakes can be the inciting incident, or they can occur near the end, creating a climactic moment, or they can occur all the way through a protagonist’s journey. As always, there are a plethora of examples of novels and movies with mistakes. Below are a handful of examples where the protagonist made mistakes in the beginning.
Spoiler Warning Ahead!
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Examples of stories with Mistakes
Home Alone: Lost in New York (1992)
In the first installment (1990) Kevin ends up oversleeping and is left home alone by accident.
This time, he wakes up on time, is packed up and ready to go. But the family is late again, and while they’re rushing through the airport, he stops for a minute to try and put some batteries into an audio recorder/tape player. Then, he spots his dad in the crowd and rushes after him. Only, he saw the wrong person, and ends up boarding a flight headed for New York while the rest of his family is on their way to Florida.
The rest of his journey of course, is spent trying to survive in New York alone, and somehow reconnect with his family.
In Spite of Ourselves by Jennifer Rodewald
One of the best novels that I have read by Jennifer Rodewald, this beautiful, emotional and heartwarming story tells of the aftermath of what happens when two people mistakenly decide to get married while stone drunk.
A Bug’s Life (1998)
Do you remember this one? Our dear little protagonist, an ant named Flik who is an an inventor, is kind of a klutz. His latest invention ends up destroying the stored-up food supply that was supposed to be a tribute to the grasshopper leader, named Hopper. As a result, the entire colony freaks out because winter is coming, and they won’t have time to collect more food for the tribute, along with food for themselves.
Sweetbriar Cottage by Denise Hunter
After abandoning his former life and isolating himself on a ranch, recently divorced Noah discovers that he and his ex-wife are not divorced after all. When he confronts Josephine for the first time in months, they discover that she missed the final step in filing the paperwork and they are, in fact, still married.
Well, that presents a whole slew of problems, and when severe weather traps them together, they begin to peel back the layers of their past wounds—and maybe, just maybe, that huge mistake could be the best one to be had after all.
Giving Grace: by Jennifer Pierce
This truly adorable Christmas Romance begins with the heroine’s dog peeing over the new mailman’s boots—so of course, she invites him inside to hear news about her mailwoman friend’s recent injury. Then later, when she is getting ready to leave her house, she nearly backs over him with her SUV. From there, attraction between them sizzles as they continually run into each other around town. Here, the mistakes serve as an ice breaker, drawing the reader in from the very moment you read the book summary.
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A grand or awful mistake often serves as a catalyst for the story (the inciting incident) and thus results in putting the characters in a high stakes situation, as in “A Bug’s Life” (1998) But mistakes can also be made throughout, at crucial points, creating disasters that need to be remedied for the story to continue and resolve.
As I mentioned with Giving Grace, the moment I read the book summary, I laughed out loud and looked for the buy link. That’s the mark of a compelling story, and that’s what you want to do for your readers.
Can you think of any other books or movies where crucial mistakes are made?
Check out the rest of the What Makes a Great Story? series posts
Sara Beth Williams is a published author, an ACFW and CIPA member, wife, mother of two daughters, and dog mom of a lovable, spunky Pomeranian-Shih Tzu mix. Her third novel, Anchor My Heart, was a 2022 Selah Award finalist. She lives in Northern California and also works as a freelance publicist. When she’s not held hostage by the keyboard, she enjoys playing guitar, reading, and spending time with her family. Get to know her better on her website, www.sarabethwilliams.com
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