By Cindy Sproles @CindyDevoted

Writing a story and being a storyteller are two different animals. Many can pen a story but those who learn how to tell a story are the ones who captivate a reader. 

Learning to tell a story is not just a gift. It’s the product of a lot of work. Tweaking, crafting, and rewriting always play a role in how a story reads but what takes a story from just a nice read to enticing?

I wish I could take credit for the next few items, but I can’t. I learned them from a wonderful teacher at this very conference. Not only were his classes excellent but the late Ron Benrey was always willing to sit down by the fireplace and walk you through a paragraph.

It was always a treat to sit with him and have his enthusiasm draw you into his world of fiction writing.  I asked Ron once, what makes a good storyteller and his reply was this. “Create a fictional bubble that the reader never wants to leave. Don’t create a story, create a bubble – a world so descript, so enticing, so detailed that the reader can’t bear to leave.”

That seemed easier said than done but it was something I wanted to learn so I took him seriously.  Here are the steps Ron taught to write a story that resonates.

*Create the fictional bubble

As you craft the story don’t allow the words to fall to a flat page. Make that page 3 dimensional. Remember, you are looking through the eyes of a character so don’t skimp on all the reader sees, hears, or thinks. Pick and choose, but don’t skimp. Learning to find the right balance of detail takes practice and a good way to do that is to put yourself in the eyes of the character. For example, it’s not uncommon for me to stand in front of a mirror and look myself eye-to-eye. Carry on the conversation I might be having with another character. Then as I craft that conversation, I note my expressions, my emotions, and my truthful answers and feelings. So often, we dumb down our readers but not giving them the essence of our emotions. Don’t do that. Allow your reader to feel the knocks and bangs of every situation. Let them respond the way they would in real life and don’t water down the response. Because we write in the Christian market we think readers want sweet, tied-up-in-a-bow responses. When in truth, they want the real expression. Renowned author, Cecil Murphy, recently reviewed my newest novel on Amazon. He was quick to say, “I rarely read Christian fiction because the writing just isn’t of a high caliber and too often focused on squeezing in the Gospel instead of relating a good story. What Momma Left Behind is different. Sproles gives us strong writing and an intriguing plot. ”  Readers want a great story. Of course, as Christian writers we want folks to see God but that seems to be what we focus on, forgetting the story. Some of you are going to cringe when I say this, but spoon-feed the Christian aspect of your story. Don’t force it down a reader’s throat. Instead, allow a steady progression of faith to happen. After all, when you see someone on the street corner thumping their Bible and shouting their message, you are immediately turned off. When you see the progressive change in a person’s life and how they live, you want what they have – the happiness found in a relationship with Christ. It’s the same thing with your readers. Show them the love of Christ through the ups and downs of learning to know Him. That’s how life is. Rarely do we accept Christianity from a slap in the face. Build that fictional bubble. Entice your reader. Invite them to walk the road with your character.

*Learn the Magic Paragraph

Signal whose head you are in. Twang a sense. Show the character’s experiences. Start the character thinking. These four things will yank your reader out of their seat and put them smack dab in the middle of the bubble. You are looking through the eyes of your character, what does that character see? What do they smell? What memories or thoughts are triggered. What do they feel?

*Learn emotion

Learning emotion means more than adding tags that say, she laughed or he nudged. I like to think of learning emotion like this. Anytime we get those little annoying scabs on our skin, we scratch them and we usually scratch them until they bleed. Look into yourself, find the scab, and then scratch it until it bleeds. When you latch onto that place where your internal emotion peaks, you will write an amazing description, pen scenes, make dialogue that burns the soul, but you have to seek out that part of you. Finding this spot is not always depressing, it may be a joyous thought (remember your happy place), it may be taking yourself back to a loss that made your chest hurt, but when you find that spot and access it, an almost untamed emotion will erupt. Then you learn to control it. Write with emotion. Again, don’t let your words lay flat on the page. Lift them up and give them life.

*Learn when to insert depth

It’s important to learn when to let your new-found emotion fill page. Just because you find it does not mean you overuse it. Learn when and where to be description or emotional. Remember your reader wants to feel your story. They want to walk on the heels of your characters, lean over their shoulder, and cock a listening ear. Let them see the internal thoughts of your characters and allow your characters permission to be real people, not manufactured. Master deep point of view. Study it. Use it.

*Let God take control

I have yet to have God allow me to make Him preachy and finger-pointing. When I allow Him to be real and I allow my characters the opportunity to spar with Him, to question why and how come, then my characters grow in their faith. It happens without preaching. In a world where fewer and fewer know Christ, we cannot shove God down their throats. Instead, we have to SHOW Him and His ways by allowing our characters to meet him gently, suffer the consequences of their mistakes, and then find peace in the forgiveness and grace we are afforded. Write a good story and let God interject Himself where and how it is important. We Christian writers tend to preach “let God take control” but we rarely let Him have the reins when we write. We are in this Christian writing world so that we glorify Him, not ourselves.

When you learn these steps you will begin to master the art of telling a great story. It’s a process. One that takes time but I have great faith you will succeed.

Cindy K. Sproles is an author, speaker, and conferenceteacher. She is the cofounder of ChristianDevotions.us and the executive editor of ChristianDevotions.us and InspireaFire.com. Cindy is the managing editor forStraight Street Books and SonRise Devotionals, both imprints of Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. She is an award-winning and best-selling author and the director of the Asheville Christian Writers Conference. Visit Cindy at www.cindysproles.com. @cindydevoted