Susie’s note: So, we’re all crazy busy this time of year, so instead of digging deep into a series, I thought I’d finish the year by answering a few questions that have come in over the past year. Q: How do you come up with such a wide range of characters? Journalists, Cowboys, party-ers and missionaries are just a few and they are all so different. What makes you think of them? A: Oh, my favorite thing is to learn about people and their occupations. I love to discover their challenges and defeats, their special skills, their hopes and dreams – and I especially love hero types – spies, cowboys, soldiers, etc. So, it is a natural for me to take an occupation I’d like to learn about and […]
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Too Stupid to Live? Building Act 1 with believeable motivations!
Yesterday we talked about incorporating the first couple beats of your story into the first Act, and especially the first scene. Today, we’re going to continue the conversation by show how we might use Why/Why Nots to help move our character forward in his journey toward Act 2. ACT 1 Review: Life Inciting Incident The Big Debate (Romantic) Quest You’ve already established your character’s home world and had them meet in a way that helps the reader to feel sympathy for your characters. You’ve also shown that they have an interest/need for something more, namely, a romance. Finally, you’ve hinted at the stakes of the story, and perhaps even woven that in with the Why Not (or obstacles) between your characters. E.g., having your character say, “The […]
Read the RestI’m Important Too! (the care and feeding of Secondary Characters!)
The use of Secondary Characters: I’m important too!! So, I’m sitting here at my husband’s office, mulling over today’s blog, and the front desk guy (a friend named Jim) asks me, of course, what I’m writing about: Me: The Use of Secondary Characters in a book. Him: Or misuse. (he’s an avid reader). Me: (because I haven’t had my coffee yet…) Huh? Him: Well, think about it, just the name: Secondary Character. How would you like to be called a Secondary Character? They’re important, too! He’s brilliant! And right! See, secondary characters are key to a great story. Think of Watson, to Sherlock Holmes. And Danny Glover to Mel Gibson (sorry to bring him up, but again, I’m needing coffee), and how about um…Bert and Ernie? […]
Read the RestThe Final Battle: Finishing the Inner Journey for your Hero
We’ve been talking the past two weeks about the Black Moment, and the importance of it in our hero’s and heroine’s journey. Just to reiterate, without the Black Moment, there is no point to the journey of our character, no moment of change. It’s in the Black Moment that they discover why they’ve gone on this journey. In a romance, it’s when they lose the one they love, and realize they can’t live without them. It’s also when they learn they must change in order to get what they want. (or accomplish the goal they’ve set out to at the beginning of the story). Now that our hero has confronted his Black Moment and seen the light, then we’re NEARLY ready to finish our story. But, we have to […]
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