Lee Rene's Blog - Posts Tagged "split-desires"
Creating split desire for your characters
I saw this pip on Novel Suite and thought I'd share it.
Today we’d like to share with you, the single, most effective tip we have, one we feel adds the most depth to both character and storyline.
The Tip – Creating a split desire.
What is a Split Desire? – A split desire is created when a character is pursuing one desire, but then another desire (which is mutually exclusive) gets in the way. Both desires are equally as important to the character, but they simply cannot have both. As a result they are forced to dig deeper into themselves and work out a way around this.
Why Does this Work? – Because people love suspense. They love to feel empathy for the character and root for them. When they are observing a character seek what they desire, they want them to obtain it. Then a spanner is thrown in the works when they see something else the character desires equally as much. The reader is then torn between, and they are gripped with suspense as they try to figure out what the character will do.
Let’s look at some examples
Twilight
Desire – Bella is falling in love with Edward.
Split desire – She realizes her life is in danger if she is with him.
The Hunger Games
Desire – Katniss wants to live.
Split desire – She doesn’t want to kill Peeta.
Water for Elephants
Desire – Jacob needs to keep his job in the circus.
Split desire – He wants to protect the elephant from harm, and this is in direct conflict with his ability to keep his job.
Shutter Island
Desire – Teddy wants to leave the island and maintain his sanity.
Split desire – He also wants to discover the truth about his wife and children.
The Memory Keeper's Daughter
Desire – David wants to protect his wife from the pain of loosing a handicapped child.
Split desire – He realizes he has in turn caused her that pain, and he wants to give her the chance to reunite with her daughter.
How You Can Incorporate this into Your Writing Today?
Examine a story you are working on and look at one of the strong desires your character has. Take it to a point in time when the character is almost in reach of their goal, and then give them a split desire. Play around with ideas.Give them something that will throw them off course and wreak havoc with their plans.
Hopefully this gives you something to work on throughout the week.
Today we’d like to share with you, the single, most effective tip we have, one we feel adds the most depth to both character and storyline.
The Tip – Creating a split desire.
What is a Split Desire? – A split desire is created when a character is pursuing one desire, but then another desire (which is mutually exclusive) gets in the way. Both desires are equally as important to the character, but they simply cannot have both. As a result they are forced to dig deeper into themselves and work out a way around this.
Why Does this Work? – Because people love suspense. They love to feel empathy for the character and root for them. When they are observing a character seek what they desire, they want them to obtain it. Then a spanner is thrown in the works when they see something else the character desires equally as much. The reader is then torn between, and they are gripped with suspense as they try to figure out what the character will do.
Let’s look at some examples
Twilight
Desire – Bella is falling in love with Edward.
Split desire – She realizes her life is in danger if she is with him.
The Hunger Games
Desire – Katniss wants to live.
Split desire – She doesn’t want to kill Peeta.
Water for Elephants
Desire – Jacob needs to keep his job in the circus.
Split desire – He wants to protect the elephant from harm, and this is in direct conflict with his ability to keep his job.
Shutter Island
Desire – Teddy wants to leave the island and maintain his sanity.
Split desire – He also wants to discover the truth about his wife and children.
The Memory Keeper's Daughter
Desire – David wants to protect his wife from the pain of loosing a handicapped child.
Split desire – He realizes he has in turn caused her that pain, and he wants to give her the chance to reunite with her daughter.
How You Can Incorporate this into Your Writing Today?
Examine a story you are working on and look at one of the strong desires your character has. Take it to a point in time when the character is almost in reach of their goal, and then give them a split desire. Play around with ideas.Give them something that will throw them off course and wreak havoc with their plans.
Hopefully this gives you something to work on throughout the week.
