Yesterday we talked about how to get your Hero to talk! Today, I thought I would give you a few pointers on WHAT to ask him once he starts talking! There are a few pointed questions to ask your hero (and it’s not what kind of car does he drive!) to unearth his deep issues and those things you can use to develop his character. Here are 3 Top Secret Questions to ask your hero: 1. What is the nightmare in your past that has made you the person you are today? Okay, so not everyone has turbulent pasts, but often, some decisive moment, a mistake, a tragedy, a misunderstanding, even a childhood prank can so deeply affect a character that he/she is still making choices based on that nightmare. […]
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Ask the Doc – Make him talk!
Q: My hero refuses to cooperate. He will only disclose bit and pieces about himself and it certainly inst’ about his dreams for his life. I do know his greatest fears. How do I get him to talk, or at least cooperate a little. Give me something to work with? A: I love this question! Yes, those dark, silent heroes can be the quiet types! And getting them to talk might need a little prompting. Get him started by giving him an identity – something or someone he stereotypes. Then, you can ask yourself what kind of issues might this kind of person have. For example, let’s say your hero is a forest ranger. But his identity is that of a hermit woodsman. Why? Maybe he prefers the quiet of […]
Read the RestPrescriptions: How to Hook your reader Wk 3
USE PERSONAL STAKES! Last week in Prescriptions we talked about finding the Public Stakes for your story to build a hook for your reader. But, what if my story doesn’t have Public Stakes? What if Ben Affleck isn’t saving the world from a terrorist’s bomb, but is just about a prairie girl who wants to win a horse race? There’s no public stakes there… Who remembers the story of Laura Ingalls Wilder where she rides her horse Bunny in a race against evil Nellie? Why does this story matter? Well, of course, evil Nellie hates that Laura has a horse, and persuades her mother to buy her a fancy horse from Mankato. Laura doesn’t have a chance. What’s worse, Mrs. Olsen mocks Caroline for being poor, and refuses to sell […]
Read the RestDoctor’s Notes: Passive Writing
I’m reading a book by Francine Prose called, “Reading Like a Writer.” While her focus is large literary and academic, Prose caught my eye with many of the excerpts she chose from renown writers like Hemingway, Virginia Wolf and Rebecca West, among others. What stood out to me? Passive writing. Here’s a snippet from Rebecca West: He could not see her. She was sitting on the bottom of the step, and she was content that it should be so, as otherwise he would have told her either to sit up straight or not so straight. His criticism was not so urgent as other people’s was apt to be, but it was continuous. This short piece is from the middle of a longer paragraph with much of the same phrasing: it […]
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