This week on our fast Maass notes review, we’re going to look at the antagonist. What is an antagonist? The opposite of protagonist. (Yeah, thanks, Rach, big help!) Antagonist is the villain. The opposite of the hero. The trouble maker, the one who pulls against the protagonist to keep her from achieving her goal and dream. Some famous antagonist you might remember: Darth Vadar Lex Luthor Kryptonite The terrorist in Die Hard Biff in Back to the Future In Sweet Caroline, the diner, The Frogmore Café, was the antagonist. A broken down diner the heroine inherited. She could’ve cared less about the building, but the people who came with it tugged on her heart. In Dining with Joy, her secret – that she can’t cook – is like the antagonist. […]
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“PUT CHARACTERS IN OPPOSITE SITUATIONS.”
Continuing from my post last week on fast notes on characterization during a Donald Maass session. These are an eclectic gathering designed to make you think differently. Have fun! “These are the moments the characters become larger than his or her own life. Break out of box, out of character, do the unexpected. The are the moments we remember.” “A “wink” can be the most unexpected thing a character can do.” But it must be out of character. “Take your characters to places they would never go.” Eventually they have to become who they really are – reverse or repent of what they’ve done. Stop thinking about redeeming our characters. Can’t always be thinking of redeeming them. Redeem them from what? Take your characters to the bad/dark/confused place, wrong place, […]
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Fast Notes On Why Characters Matter
Hey all, I’m on a deadline but didn’t want to ask our handy-dandy David, assistant extraordinaire, to repurpose another old blog for me so, I found some notes I’d taken during a Donald Maass seminar and thought I’d pass them onto you. Nothing earth shattering here. Nothing we’ve not talked about already here in MBT Land but it’s good to be reminded. I sometimes like bullet points, don’t you? Or maybe an esoteric, eclectic gathering of ideas and thoughts that might jog a creative, off-the-beaten-path part of my brain. If we’re too linear, too sequential, we run the same worn path of our creative brain and forget their might be other less traveled paths to take and just might lead us to something extraordinary. So here’s my non-sequential, out-of-context, come […]
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Ask the Doc: How do I decide what scenes to put in the book?
Have you heard “let the action unfold on stage” while studying the craft of writing? If not, you have now. On stage means “on the page.” As you write your story and plot your scenes a critical choice you face is deciding what must happen on stage, and what can happen “behind the scenes.” I’m going to quote one of my favorite books, “Love Begins with Elle.” When I chose my on stage scenes, I always asked: What is important for the reader to invest in? No enough on stage action, and the readers don’t care. Too much, and I’ve bogged down the story with every little detail. The major scenes are easy. Like when the heroine meets the hero, when the heroine is proposed to, when the heroine realizes she’s […]
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