While there are a lot of frameworks out there for structuring your novel, almost all fiction has a central thesis: your character must transform.
With Thanksgiving so recently past for those in the U.S., I thought I’d share a short & sweet strategy on how you can use thankfulness to craft or clarify a character arc.
Simply ask this question at two different times in your story, and ensure the answers are different:
What is your protagonist thankful for on Page One?
What are they thankful for on Page ‘The End’?
Thankfulness on Page One…
Your character is going to start the story in a particular state of self-awareness. …
When Do You Introduce Backstory?
This came up twice in the past week, once in a blog, once with a coaching client, which made me think, “Clearly EVERY WRITER IN THE WORLD IS DEALING WITH THIS ISSUE,” so I thought I’d do a little post about it.
A Question To Ask
When trying to decide if you really need that beautiful, angsty backstory tidbit right now, ask:
“How will this bit of backstory info make the character’s situation more difficult — or their success more questionable — in the very next scene?”
Why It Can Help
It can prevent us from dropping in unnecessary bits of backstory, or dropping it in when we don’t really need it. …
Plot Isn’t About Plot
Writers spend a lot of time plotting.
It may be when we first start writing — or even before we start :eyes plotters with an envious gaze: Or it might be 50% (or 100%) of the way through, when we stop writing ‘hot,’ look back over the story, and realize with a sinking heart, “OMG, I need a plot…”
But at some point, we plot.
It’s not enough to come up with a nasty, cruel plot that gives the protagonist a vital goal then makes it impossible to accomplish.
For great stories, you need more than that.
Or rather, you need a way to connect the thread of suffering you wrap around your protagonist to them personally. It has to be meaningful beyond the plot. …
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