Angela Ackerman's Blog: Writers Helping Writers, page 122

Distracted Writing: Is It Sabotaging Your Career?

[image error]We’re pleased to welcome Alex from Astrohaus, the makers of the Freewrite Typewriter, which is one of the coolest devices for writers I’ve seen. In fact, it’s so helpful we’re giving one away, so stick around for more on that. But first, let’s talk about distractions that compete for our writing time, especially those we really must learn how to subdue if we want to succeed as writers. Over to you, Alex…

As writers in the modern world, we face endless time-stealing distractions throughout the day. Everywhere we look, little digital villains rob us of our focus, keep us from doing the research we need for our story, and stop us from editing that next chapter. The main culprit? The internet!

[image error]How many of you have a smart phone close at hand in your writing space? You know, to check Instagram and Facebook and post the occasional selfie so we stay connected with followers. Just a quick break, right? But wait, is that a funny picture of Jared Leto? And wow, our old roommate invited us to an event? Better see who’s going!

You get the picture. Social media is an insidious antagonist, playing upon our weaknesses, our curiosity. Losing the phone doesn’t end the problem. Even on a laptop or desktop we end up surfing far too much because distractions are a click away. Our entire workflow is disturbed. They used to call it “Internet Addiction.” Now it’s just routine…but for a writer, it can destroy your career.

Author Alain de Botton has particularly strong words on this subject:

 “The internet to this generation of writers is as alcohol was to previous ones: anxiety suppressant, enemy of talent, challenge.”

So what’s the solution: Airplane Mode? Stronger willpower? Or maybe we can follow in the footsteps of these master writers as they wall themselves off from writing distractions.

[image error]George R.R. Martin: A giant of the literary world, Martin has produced the outlandishly successful A Song of Ice and Fire book series, which spawned TV’s Game of Thrones. While Martin may use a standard computer to “cruise this interwebby thing,” everything changes once writing time comes around. As he states on his old school LiveJournal blog, “I still do all my writing on an old DOS machine running WordStar 4.0.”

DOS? Really? But Martin’s Internet-free setup has allowed him to spin out over two million words. Try to match that when you’re playing Candy Crush all day!

Jonathan Franzen: Franzen, the author of Freedom, The Corrections, and other award-winning novels took the WiFi card out of his laptop. Then, just in case he ever felt tempted, he plugged an Ethernet cable into his laptop’s port–using crazy glue–and then hacked off the cable’s head, thus permanently blocking access to that little route. There’s a man who doesn’t trust his own will power!

William Gibson: Ironically, the cyberpunk author of Neuromancer claims, “I’d never so much as touched a PC when I wrote Neuromancer.” Indeed, he typed his groundbreaking, futuristic novel on a 1927 portable typewriter! Not what I would’ve expected from the man who invented the term “cyberspace” back in 1982 in his story “Burning Chrome.”

Okay, these drastic measures might be over the top…but at the same time, we have to do something. 

If we don’t plug the hole on distractions, that novel will never get written and rather than build strong writing habits that will turn our dream into a career, we’ll continue to waste time on internet fluffery.

4 modern tools to try to free yourself from distractions:
CalmlyWriter

Calmly Writer is an online text editor, “designed to help you focus on writing.” As you start typing, all distracting options disappear from the interface and it offers a “focus mode” to let you work on one paragraph at a time. If you find minimalism helpful, this might be a fit for you.

Sprinter

Similar to the above, Sprinter is another option but is also terrific for writing sprints. And if you struggle with “butt-in-chair” syndrome, Sprinter encourages you to focus by providing a non-distracting counter set to 15 minute increments. The counter allows you to turn writing sessions into bite-sized pieces if you wish, which can be easier to fully commit your focus to.

Write Or Die 

Write or Die is a unique, fun spin on writing software where you can set up challenges to force yourself to take action. If you are really serious, you can set it to a mode where it deletes what you write if you pause too long! Lots of bells and whistles, but perhaps the program itself is a bit of a distraction.

The Freewrite Distraction-free Typewriter

[image error]We at Astrohaus built Freewrite to help writers get into a writing flow and stay there. The Freewrite is a word processor designed for the current digital age. Featuring an E Ink screen, full mechanical keyboard, sturdy aluminum housing, and room for one million pages, it’s the ultimate drafting machine.

Unlike cheap-feeling laptop keyboards, this smart typewriter uses high quality mechanical technology for a more tactile experience (typing on the Freewrite keyboard feels similar to playing the piano). Screen-wise, Freewrite utilizes high-contrast, easy-on-the-eyes E Ink (think Amazon Kindle e-readers), meaning you can type outside on the brightest of days.

Use it anywhere, anytime, completely off the grid. Take it to work. Camping. On a road trip. Anywhere! Freewrite is a distraction-free tool that fits your lifestyle. Connect your Freewrite to WiFi to have your drafts automatically backed-up and synced to DropBox, Google Drive, or Evernote.

So…is it time to invest in a new way of writing? This week we are giving away a Freewrite to a lucky reader. Read on to learn more!

Want to Win Your Very Own Freewrite?
(International Giveaway!)*

[image error] Imagine using this smart typewriter during your lunch hour (with no temptations to check email or Facebook), while your child is at swimming lessons, or even to grab a quiet hour to write on the back porch.

To enter, fill out THIS FORM. 

And please swing by the Freewrite site as they’ve got so much more great information on this innovative tool.

*This giveaway is open to anyone over the age of 18, in countries, states, and provinces where such giveaways are legal. Full legal rules are here. We’ll draw a winner and announce it on July 13th, 2017. One entry per person.

I think we all agree…with everything competing for our attention, we need to be more protective of our writing time.

If you could use the Freewrite to write anywhere, where would you do it? Let us know in the comments! 

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

How to Add Meaningful Subplots to Your Novel

[image error]Many people are familiar with subplots. They are those side stories that give a novel’s plot depth. A subplot may involve the main character or minor characters, but they enrich the story if done well.

Subplots are everywhere. We see them in the movies we watch, and they are usually in every novel we read. We may instinctively know how they work in story structure.

If you’re writing a novel or planning on writing one, you maybe have considered adding in a subplot or three. Okay, so where do you start?

There isn’t much written on crafting subplots—which I find odd.

Is there some secret to coming up with a great one? And does every novel need a subplot?

Let me answer the second question first.

I can’t speak for every novel, but I will say that a novel with merely one main plot may come across shallow or one-dimensional. While your best-selling thriller, like The Bourne Identity, won’t often have a subplot, readers aren’t looking so much for depth or theme as they are for the ride. A subplot might slow down pacing and distract.

[image error]I’ll venture to say, though, that even genres that don’t “need” subplots can often benefit from one, if it’s pertinent to the overarching plot and point of the story. What’s the point of a thriller aside from the thrill?

We’re talking about theme here. Even a Bourne Identity can have themes of integrity, loyalty, doing the right thing, risking life and safety for others, exposing evil.

But this brings me to my point, in order to answer the first question. No, there isn’t a “secret” method to come up with a great subplot, but find your main theme, and that will point the way for you.

Before I elaborate, let me say this . . .

Writers need to be careful not to throw any old subplot into a story in the hope it will just add some interest. If you keep in mind that everything that goes into your novel must serve the advancement and complication of the main plot, you will fare well.

Subplots Serve a Purpose

What do I mean by “serve the advancement” of the main plot? Your main plot is all about a protagonist going after a goal in the midst of conflict and high stakes.

So, if you keep in mind that any subplots you create should add to the main plot in a meaningful way, that can help you come up with some interesting and helpful subplots.

Subplots can involve your protagonist and/or your secondary characters. Regardless, whatever side stories you weave into your novel, they need to impact your protagonist.

I have read numerous novels, some by best-selling authors, who have subplots thrown into their stories that don’t fit at all. These subplots feel dropped in as noise and distraction, and I’ve sometimes found myself skimming pages to get past them in order to get back to the gripping main plot. That’s a bad thing.

In addition to being irrelevant to the novel’s purpose and premise, they are often boring, featuring mundane concerns and activities that don’t add anything of interest. And that makes for a dissatisfied reader.

Plot Layers That Mimic Real Life

We want our characters to have lives that feel real and similar to our own. Novels should be portraying a slice of real life (but just more interesting, we hope). Our lives are multilayered with different objectives or goals, and if you look at your life in these terms, you can identify numerous goals you are pursuing each day, year in and year out.

[image error]Some of these goals are big and cover years of your life. The “big” goal in your life may be to find a person to marry, raise a family, get a college degree or a great job, scale Mount Everest. Much of your time, effort, and thinking may wrap around a big goal.

However, life is not one main plot. Life is full of short-term and long-term goals. You may have some more immediate goals of trying to write a paper for a class or put a presentation together for your job. You may have the goal of losing ten pounds over the next few months. These are also goals that you could think of as “subplots” in your life.

And then you have small daily goals, like getting the grocery shopping done or finding a company to come shampoo your carpets. Life is made up of layers of goals. Layers of plot in the story of your life. Some goals may be boring; others exciting. But it’s all part of life.

How to Show Ordinary Life in a Meaningful Way

Now, since you don’t want your novel or characters to be boring or involved in boring activities, this begs the question:

How do you make your characters feel real and have their experiences mirror real life if you don’t have similar plot layers, including some of the daily mundane, boring ones?

Glad you asked. And this, to me, is the secret to writing great subplots. Make this the word you associate with subplots: complicate.

If you make it your objective to use your subplots to complicate your story, you’re on the right track. That doesn’t mean you want to throw in side stories that are only messy situations.

So with every subplot you add in (and often, the more the better), utilizing any number of secondary characters, find a way for this additional story line to be a complication.

For whom? Ultimately, for your protagonist. For, even if the subplot is about another character, the impact of what that character is going through has to affect your protagonist.

Don’t throw random subplots into your novel just for filler or because you think they are neat ideas. They really must serve a purpose in your story.

Sure, make some of them entertaining, even providing comic relief. Subplots really help to bring out your characters and all their issues, and they help make your characters clash, which, to me, is the best reason for layering plots.

[image error]Subplots are great devices for showcasing theme, with your secondary characters embodying an opposing view from that of your protagonist.

Take some time to brainstorm lots of ideas for your subplots. Think about the allies and antagonists in your novel, who are there to help or hinder your main character in reaching her objective for the book.

If you make it your aim to make it as hard as possible for your hero to reach his goal, subplots can be very useful in this way. Don’t settle for a boring, wimpy subplot as filler. A great subplot can turn a good novel into a great one.

Can you think of any great subplots in a novel you read recently? Share in the comments!

To further help you (since space is limited here), I wrote a number of blog posts last year on Live Write Thrive on subplot structure. You can download my handy 20-Scene Subplot Structure chart here, which gives you ideas on how to develop your subplot and interweave it with the main plot. [Note: the subplot scenes on the chart are numbered 11-20, as they are layer in with the first layer of the ten key scenes. Again, if you want to learn more about layering scenes, check out my blog posts on the topic.]

[image error]C. S. Lakin is an award-winning novelist, writing instructor, and professional copyeditor who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her award-winning blog for writers, Live Write Thrive, provides deep writing instruction and posts on industry trends. In addition to sixteen novels, Lakin also publishes writing craft books in the series The Writer’s Toolbox, and you can get a copy of Writing the

Heart of Your Story and other free ebooks when you join her Novel

Writing Fast Track email group. Find out more about Lakin here and connect with her on social media.

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

Be sure to join my Novel Writing Fast Track email group! (No participation necessary.) You’ll get lots of free ebooks and PDFs on the writing craft, as well as tips on writing and marketing to help you fast track to success!

Save

Save

Character Motivation Thesaurus Entry: Reconciling with an Estranged Family Member

What does your character want? This is an important question to answer because it determines what your protagonist hopes to achieve by the story’s end. If the goal, or outer motivation, is written well, readers will identify fairly quickly what the overall story goal’s going to be and they’ll know what to root for. But how do you know what outer motivation to choose?

If you read enough books, you’ll see the same goals being used for different characters in new scenarios. Through this thesaurus, we’d like to explore these common outer motivations so you can see your options and what those goals might look like on a deeper level.

[image error]

Character’s Goal (Outer Motivation): Reconciling with an Estranged Family Member

Forms This Might Take: Reconciling with an ex-spouse, a sibling, parent or grandparent, son or daughter, or extended family member (cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, etc.)

Human Need Driving the Goal (Inner Motivation): love and belonging, esteem and recognition

How the Character May Prepare for This Goal:

Talking to other family members to get a feel for how receptive the loved one might be
Making a list of “safe” topics to talk about
Examining the loved one’s schedule to decide on the best place or time to approach them
Calling or sending a text to get the ball rolling; starting small
Practicing what one will say when the time comes
Getting into a positive mindset by mentally focusing on the person’s good traits
Replaying the past confrontation that ended the relationship to make sure one has the facts straight
Preparing arguments
Taking steps to look one’s best (buying a new outfit, getting a haircut or pedicure, dieting, etc.)
Seeking advice from wise counsel
Preparing a “peace offering” gift
Asking someone to accompany one to the meeting for moral support, even if they just sit in the car or wait in the lobby

Possible Sacrifices or Costs Associated With This Goal:

Being rejected again by the loved one
Hurtful memories being dredged up
Being tempted into old habits and addictions associated with the person
Losing friends or family members who don’t understand one’s desire to reconnect with this person
Added stress and heightened emotions as one tries to reconcile
Decreased productivity at work due to distractibility 

Roadblocks Which Could Prevent This Goal from Being Achieved:

Physical distance (if the loved one lives far away)
Loved ones (of the character’s and/or the estranged person’s) who don’t want the reconciliation to happen
Defense mechanisms and other forms of shielding that make it hard to let down one’s guard
Defensiveness, bitterness, and anger that make forgiveness difficult
Wounding events associated with this person that haven’t been dealt with
Other life pressures that add to the stress of the reconciliation (deadlines at work, an argument with one’s spouse, sickness, etc.)

Talents & Skills That Will Help the Character Achieve This Goal:

Good Listening Skills, Gaining the Trust of Others, ESP (Clairvoyance), Empathy, Charm, Hospitality, Making People Laugh, Reading People

Possible Fallout For the Protagonist if This Goal Is Not Met:

Debilitating regret or guilt upon the estranged person’s death
Being robbed of the chance to get to know extended family related to the person (nieces, nephews, grandchildren, etc.)
Lack of closure from not being able to address old wounds
Hurtful defense mechanisms being reinforced rather than overcome (running from conflict, ending relationships at the first sign of trouble, etc.)
Always feeling like an important part one’s soul or happiness is missing

Clichés to Avoid: 

A grave injury or diagnosis for the estranged party being the motivation for the character to try and reconcile
Discovering at some point that the estranged party has a terminal illness
Parallel subplots of estrangement (e.g., the character’s distant relationship with his son prompts him to make amends with his father)


Click here for a list of our current entries for this thesaurus, along with a master post containing information on the individual fields.

Your 3-Step Plan for Outlining A Novel

There’s only one reason writers ever talk about outlining. It’s a tool that’s supposed to make our jobs easier. But it isn’t always clear how to accomplish that. Do you just start writing a list of events that might happen in this story? Do you create an actual Roman-numeral outline like you were taught in high school? But… isn’t that awfully arbitrary? And, as such, how exactly is it supposed to give you a great story right out of the gates?

Good questions, all. Perhaps it’s time we stop thinking about outlining as outlining and, instead, call it structured brainstorming. Outlining is a period of discovery, in which you get to explore the far boundaries of your story from a safe observatory post before diving headlong into the hurly-burly of the first draft.

[image error]Over the past decade, I have taught thousands of writers how to outline, through my website and books (and now my brand-new Outlining Your Novel Workbook software!). The system I’ve created starts with the big picture and slowly narrows its focus until you know enough about your story to do it justice in the first draft. The following three basic steps will help you create an easier writing process and brainstorm a better book.

Step #1: General Sketches

Before you can create a tightly structured scene outline, you must first discover your story’s big picture. You can do that by asking yourself the following questions:

[image error]

What do you already know about this story?

Start by writing down everything you’ve already daydreamed about this story: full-blown scene ideas, characters, images that have flashed through your head, snippets of dialogue. These are the known points in your story, and from here, you’ll start filling in the blanks to create a cohesive and resonant whole.

What are the plot holes?

Once you’ve laid out all your existing pieces, you can examine the blank spaces in between and then start connecting the dots.

This is where you start asking yourself, “What don’t I know about this story?” If you know you want this to happen before that happens, then what must occur in between to create a realistic causal link?

Keep asking and answering questions until a well-formed story begins to emerge.

Who are the characters?

Purposefully explore your characters. Who are your leads? What do they want and why?

Pay special attention to your antagonists, since they will frame the entire conflict. They’re the ones who begin the conflict by standing in the way of your protagonist’s goals. But why are they standing in the way? What are their motives?

At this point, you don’t need to know everything about these characters. But plot, character, and theme must all evolve symbiotically. You can’t write a cohesive plot without also knowing how your characters are driving it in thematically meaningful ways.

What is the conflict?

The deeper you get into your exploration of character, the more clearly your conflict will begin to emerge. Conflict is not arguments or violence or even confrontation. Conflict is simply an obstacle placed between a character and his goal. When two characters’ goals interfere with each other, that’s where truly thematic conflict begins to arise.

What is the theme?

Theme arises from the intersection of plot and character. Theme is the summation of the character’s inner evolution, which, in turn, both drives and is driven by the outer conflict in the plot. As you begin to explore your characters’ inner needs and their outer desires, start looking for the corresponding Lie and Truth that will tell you what your theme is.

Step #2: Character Sketches

Once you’ve finished working through all the major story questions in the General Sketches, you’re ready to get down and dirty with your characters. I recommend interviewing them. You can do this “freehand,” simply by throwing them onto the page and starting a conversation. However, I find my best results when I use a guided interview process with specific questions. I have curated a list of over 100 questions, which I use on all my POV characters and antagonists.

This can be a lengthy process, but fully understanding your characters is key to bringing them to life on the page in purposeful and meaningful ways.

Step #3: Scene Outline

Finally, you’re ready to write the scene outline. When most people think “outline,” this is usually what first springs to mind. But as you can see, you’re not ready to write a scene outline until you’ve first thoroughly explored your story and brainstormed your way to its best options.

Your scene outline can be as simple as a sentence-long description. Or, like me, you may prefer to go seriously in-depth, working your way through the full cause-and-effect of proper scene structure, exploring your character’s motivations and reactions scene-by-scene, and equipping yourself to fully choreograph each scene when the time comes to actually write it in the first draft.

Your outlining process should be highly personalized. Figure out what you’re trying to accomplish and dig down to whatever level of information will best optimize your creativity in the first draft. Outlining is a tool to help you better understand and control your stories. But it should also be fun. Surrender to the wild possibilities of brainstorming and enjoy the ride!

Special Offer: This week only, if you purchase the Outlining Your Novel Workbook software, you can get free copies of my books Outlining Your Novel and the Outlining Your Novel Workbook! After purchase, just submit your Order # here to receive your free books.

[image error]K.M. Weiland lives in make-believe worlds, talks to imaginary friends, and survives primarily on chocolate truffles and espresso. She is the IPPY, NIEA, and Lyra Award-winning and internationally published author of Outlining Your Novel, Structuring Your Novel, and Creating Character Arcs. She writes historical and speculative fiction from her home in western Nebraska and mentors authors on her award-winning website Helping Writers Become Authors.

Overcoming Negativity Bias

As human beings and writers, we all struggle with maintaining a healthy balance between the positives and negatives of life. A disappointing review, a less-than-successful launch, critique feedback that wasn’t what we’d anticipated, a manuscript disfigured by an editor’s red strokes—it’s so easy to get stuck focusing on the “bad” rather than the good. I find it encouraging to know that this isn’t us just being sulky and self-centered; this propensity is part of who we are. Elizabeth Foster is here today to explain the psychology behind negativity bias, and how to beat it.

I am, by nature, an optimistic person. Like everyone else, I am averse to pain. However, writing comes with its very own set of pain receptors. As the release date of my first book draws closer, I have been struck down with launch flu: an emotional throwback to those early days of writing, in which I navigated a whole constellation of self-doubt, during which my sentiments toward my own writing seesawed from wild hope to utter despair.

So what exactly is this propensity of ours to let positive feedback slide on by, while being negativity sponges? I’m not one to reject praise outright. I welcome and appreciate it, but a bouquet just doesn’t have the sticking power of a brickbat. Am I particularly thin-skinned? Do I need to develop a thicker one? Being psychologically-minded, I went hunting for answers.

I was surprised to discover that there’s nothing unusual about our acute sensitivity to criticism. It’s completely natural to obsess more over bad news than good. It’s built in to us, and it’s called the negativity bias.

[image error]

As humans, we are hard-wired to react more strongly to negative stimuli. From an evolutionary viewpoint, we are less advanced than we think. Our amygdala is vigilant, always on the lookout, primed to detect threats. Early humans had to focus on the negatives – the nearest threat – at all times, or they would perish. Research on memory has shown that negatives burrow right in to our brains, transferring immediately to implicit (long-term) memory. Positives do slide right on by, literally – unless we hang on to them. In fact, it has been shown, through research, that it is only when positives are held in awareness for a dozen or more seconds that they move from short-term to long-term memory.

So how do we hold on to positive news for more than a millisecond? How do we train ourselves to focus on the good stuff, rather than just ruminating on the bad? Plenty has been written on combatting the second, but not much about the first.

Here are some suggestions:

Give yourself permission. We are so primed to deal with negativity and threat that we don’t often let ourselves ‘waste’ time enjoying positivity. If you’re a true workaholic who finds this hard to do, think of it as a future ‘investment’: a brain that’s not weighed down with self-doubt and anxiety is, in the long run, a far more productive one!

Next, do a stocktake. Gather up positive sentiments about your writing or other achievements – maybe even in a single file on your desktop or in a journal, so you can dip into it whenever criticism gets to you.

Finally, link the positivity with emotion. Positive experiences which carry an emotional charge are the ones that make it into our long-term memory banks. The rest, untethered, float away.

According to psychologist Rick Hanson, this linking process is a seemingly simple one: you have to literally let that initial feeling of warmth from good news sink into you, and hold it there. In theory, this sounds effective, but how do we put this into practice? How, exactly, do we ‘hold on’ to something as ephemeral as the warmth of praise for as long as a dozen seconds?

Well, we actually do something similar all the time, whenever we ruminate on negative criticism. When we are criticized, we feel it in our body: we go into shock, our heart rate spikes, as we examine critiques from all angles, questioning how we could have done better. The trick to retaining positive sentiment is much the same: take the time to mull over compliments about your writing, and allow your body to experience them as well, creating a sensory association which will carry those memory traces all the way into implicit memory.

[image error]

For example: as you absorb a compliment, imagine the enjoyment of sinking into a warm bath, or the sun on your skin on a winter’s day, or your hands cupped around a warming mug of something. Or literally take yourself somewhere else – go for a walk in a nature, near water, anywhere that predisposes you to a pleasant reverie. Spend a few moments immersed in the beauty of your surroundings, and link it to the beauty of someone’s kind words to you. As writers, we strive to immerse our readers in a sensory world – there’s no reason we can’t apply the same techniques to our harried writerly selves!

Immersing yourself in this feel-good soup isn’t a waste of time or an act of conceit: it’s an act of self-care, which helps build your resilience. The point of this exercise isn’t to ignore criticism, which can be incredibly helpful at times, but to provide a buffer of positive experiences to fall back on when you feel attacked. If you develop an internal sense of balance, you’re less likely to swing from proud highs to abysmal lows with each review, and more likely to take criticism in stride, improving your writing in the process.

As the launch of my own debut novel draws closer, the question remains: will I be able to deal with the snark which, in our current climate, inevitably comes the way of almost all authors? I don’t know – I’m not there yet. What I do know is that I want to enjoy my future writing life, and not be always looking over my back for slings and arrows. Maybe by practicing these habits and actively embracing the positive, I’ll be able to do just that.

Keep a green bough in your heart, and a singing bird will come. Lao Tzu

Are there any compliments you’ve received about your writing, or other accomplishments, that you’ve never really taken the time to appreciate? Don’t be shy – I’d love to hear them. Share below!

[image error]Elizabeth Foster hails from Sydney, Australia, and on her way to becoming a writer, picked up a degree in psychology: hence her fascination with behavior and the brain. She now spends her days spinning stories about other worlds. Her first novel, Esme’s Wish, a fantasy/mystery for younger teens, will be published by Odyssey Books in September 2017. You can find out more about her journey here, and connect with her on Twitter or Facebook.

Character Motivation Entry: Escaping a Dangerous Life One Doesn’t Want

What does your character want? This is an important question to answer because it determines what your protagonist hopes to achieve by the story’s end. If the goal, or outer motivation, is written well, readers will identify fairly quickly what the overall story goal’s going to be and they’ll know what to root for. But how do you know what outer motivation to choose?

[image error]If you read enough books, you’ll see the same goals being used for different characters in new scenarios. Through this thesaurus, we’d like to explore these common outer motivations so you can see your options and what those goals might look like on a deeper level.

Character’s Goal (Outer Motivation):  Escaping a Dangerous Life One Doesn’t Want 

Forms This Might Take:

Extracting oneself from a criminal group one works for
Retiring as an assassin
Leaving a deep cover role as a detective
Extracting oneself as an advisor to a powerful, corrupt company or organization
Escaping a marriage to a violent spouse
Leaving an environment that is lawless and violent
Leaving a prominent yet highly classified government group
Escaping a guardian who is abusive
Ending one’s association with a powerful group of people who are untouchable by law (cartels, etc.)
Entering into protective custody in exchange for testifying against a high profile criminal
Leaving a location that is overrun with crime and corruption
Escaping slavery
Escaping incarceration
Leaving employment that is high risk (toxic waste disposal, working in a coal mine, etc.)
Leaving a war-torn country or unstable political climate

Human Need Driving the Goal (Inner Motivation): safety and security

How the Character May Prepare for This Goal: 

Doing extra jobs for money that one can stockpile
Stealing money or items that can be sold or traded
Sketching out plans, making maps or lists as needed
Hiding one’s plans or maps so they will not be discovered
Gathering supplies and resources one will need
Asking key people for help
Stashing a bug-out bag that has everything one needs to make a quick escape
Observing the patterns and behaviors of those who will try to prevent one from escaping
Planning how to neutralize any threats (through violence, drugging, distractions, etc.)
Cashing stocks or mutual funds slowly as to not attract notice
Siphoning cash from one’s accounts slowly over time
Setting up new bank accounts in another name
Researching a suitable place to live where one can become invisible
Make plans as normal to ally suspicions
Obtain documents (a new passport, driver’s license, social security, etc.)
Paying for a digital history wipe, erasing one’s information online
Paying for a new history to be written so one can integrate quickly to a new life
Arrange transport out of the area or country
Secure bribes as needed
Coach family members who will join one in the escape
Behaving upbeat or emotionally stable to protect family and friends remaining behind if they are questioned
Faking one’s own death if required

Possible Sacrifices or Costs Associated With This Goal:

Leaving behind family and friends


Leaving behind property and assets one can’t take along


Being forced to let go of mementos and special items


Giving up what’s known for what is not


Burning bridges with people who gave one protection in the past


Bearing the weight of guilt for one’s choices (especially if leaving has put others in danger)


Sacrificing justice for safety (rather than staying and ensuring one’s enemies pay for their crimes)


Having to leave behind a loved one because they are unable to make the journey (due to age, illness, fragility, etc.)


Making powerful enemies by leaving

Roadblocks Which Could Prevent This Goal from Being Achieved: 

A powerful enemy who has the resources to track one down
An injury or illness that hits as one is trying to escape
Being victimized by others as one escapes (extortion for safe passage, trading one dangerous associate for another, etc.)
A breakdown in transport
Documents that don’t pass inspection
Running across someone who can’t be bribed
Having a conscience or a line one won’t cross
Meeting up with others who need help escaping also but who also slow one down
Having one’s resources stolen (bank accounts, equiptment, etc.)
Discovering one is being tracked in some way (an unknown implant, facial recognition, drones, etc.)
A natural disaster on one’s route to safety (a mudslide, a forest fire, a war breaking out, etc.)
Being unable to access one’s bank accounts or resources
Discovering someone back home has been captured by one’s enemies to flush one out
Escaping initially but not fully and therefore being forced to live on the run (never fully achieving safety and security)

Talents & Skills That Will Help the Character Achieve This Goal

A Knack for Languages
Basic First Aid
Blending In
Gaining the Trust of Others
ESP (Clairvoyance)
Enhanced Hearing
Foraging

Haggling
Charm
Hot-Wiring a Car
High Pain Tolerance
Knife Throwing
Knowledge of Explosives
Lip-Reading
Lying
Making People Laugh
Mechanically Inclined
Mentalism
A Knack for Making Money
Multitasking
Organization
Parkour
Photographic Memory
Psychokinesis
Reading People
Predicting the Weather
Regeneration
Repurposing
Self-Defense
Sharpshooting
Sleight-of-Hand
Strategic Thinking
Super Strength
Survival Skills
Swift-footedness
Throwing One’s Voice
Wilderness Navigation
Wrestling

Possible Fallout For the Protagonist if This Goal Is Not Met:

Being captured and enslaved
Being forced to continue doing what one did before under threat of death
Having family members be hurt or killed for crossing one’s employer
Being tortured or disfigured
Being killed


Click here for a list of our current entries for this thesaurus, along with a master post containing information on the individual fields.

Save

Save

Keep It Fresh: 10 Ways To Show Your Character’s Emotions

Years ago, Becca and I grumbled about how our characters always expressed emotion the same way. My big thing? Frowning. Did my characters EVER know how to frown. They were savage at it. Becca’s characters? Smilers, all of them. SO HAPPY.

[image error]Unfortunately, our inability to express emotion in a fresh way was dragging down the quality of our writing. So, in 2012 we published The Emotion Thesaurus, hoping it would help writers get out of this boring rut when it came to expression.

Then we, er…got AMBITIOUS. We decided to make this thesaurus even bigger and create 12 more description thesauruses while we were at it. That’s when One Stop For Writers was born, and the online Emotion Thesaurus located there has 98 entries and nearly 20 “emotion amplifiers” that are often mistaken for emotions. So, lots of help there in the emotions department!

[image error]Book or site, our mission is the same: offer brainstorming tools that will trigger an avalanche of fresh description. We provide the ideas and you weave your magic to turn them into story gold.  

 

But here’s the thing about a tool…it works better when we know how to use it. 

Conveying character emotion is a struggle for many. Today let’s look at 10 different ways to SHOW what a character is feeling. 

 Body Language 

Clearly, no surprise–a huge part of showing emotion is describing how the body reacts to feelings roiling around inside a character. Grief looks different than gratitude, excitement displays differently than dread. Often we focus a bit too much on facial features (eyes narrowing, lips pinching) when we should use the body more as there’s so much more to work with.

[image error]A hand splayed across the chest, shoulders bowing momentarily before stiffening, shaky fingers reaching up to rub the lip…showing this as a character receives a hard-won accolade as his peers look on will clearly show gratitude. Put yourself in the character’s shoes and imagine the scene. Let yourself feel what they do, then set out to describe it.

Thoughts 

Thoughts are an excellent way to show emotion, as long as they adhere to the rules of POV. When swept up by emotion, our thoughts follow certain patterns. Worry has us jumping to conclusions and imagining the worst case scenario. Skepticism has us poking holes, looking for proof that our intuition is right and something’s rotten in the litter box. Scorn goes further, revealing those ugly, judgey-judge thoughts we have about someone else. Flavor your character’s thoughts with emotions and not only will a character’s voice shine, readers will also be drawn right in.

Internal Sensations

Internal sensations are those immediate and uncontrollable reactions we have to emotion and the fight, flight, and freeze instincts. That tight heat of arousal at just the right touch (desire), the spike in heart rate when a streetlight suddenly goes out (fear), a rock that manifests in the gut after noticing a ambulance in the driveway (dread)…these sensations are immediate and forceful. Use them with care when you’re in the character’s POV but do use them. Readers recognize these sensations and have felt them all before. Remember less is more because while powerful, too much sends description into melodrama land.

Posture

[image error]Individual expression can shown through posture as well. Not only does it paint a better image of the character for readers, it can show what they are feeling. Are they a wall of tenseness, or more fluid, relaxed, easy? Is the chest thrust out (confident) caved (struggling or upset) shielded by crossed arms (closed off, impatient, irritated) or openly (welcoming, caring)? Does the character lean in, or away? Do their feet point toward someone (engaged) or away (escape)?  The body is a road map that we can use to show readers exactly what they are feeling.

Personal Space

Introvert, extrovert, or in between, all characters have a bubble of personal space that allows them to feel safe. This area may widen or narrow, depending on how the character feels. Does he let people into his space or keep them at a distance? Does he enter the space of others? We can see indicators of how he feels by his willingness to engage and be vulnerable (or not).

Dialogue

Dialogue is a great way to show emotion as long as it mimics the real world. People rarely state their feelings directly—they beat around the bush. They don’t say “I’m angry,” instead they rant or vent about the thing pissing them off. What a character says (and what they avoid talking about!) show their inner emotional landscape to readers and other characters.

Vocal Cues

Along with what a character says is how they say it. Are they speaking fast (nerves, rushing, impatience) or slow (careful, thoughtful, tentative)? Does their voice rise in pitch, showing they can’t quite keep a lid on what they are feeling, or go lower, revealing they are in control, or trying to rein themselves in? Do they hesitate, emphasize certain words, fumble around and go on tangents to show their discomfort about a topic, or interrupt themselves to change the direction because they are revealing too much?

Decision-Making & Actions

[image error]Okay, my psychology geekiness is showing, but one of the BEST PARTS of emotion is that it constantly messes up a character. Emotions (and their amplifiers) are great at destabilizing decision-making skills. When people act out of fear, or anxiety, defensiveness, or even out of love or desire, they do things differently than they would if they were feeling centered and rational.

Every action has a consequence, and emotion-driven actions can create conflict fallout, which is great for storytelling…and shows what emotions are pushing a character’s buttons.

Voids

Every character has empty spaces they carefully maneuver around if we look hard enough. These are danger zones where they might come face to face with an emotion they are uncomfortable experiencing, usually because it is tied to an emotional wound that leaves them jaded and questioning their on self-worth.

[image error]

Voids can be used to indicate these painful emotions simply by showing things that are out of character, like them ignoring something right in front of them because it makes them feel uncomfortable, or how they steer conversations away from something that nudges painful feelings.  This void can be resistance, like showing them do something the hard way because he’s avoiding the logical choice as it’s chained in negative emotions. Imagine wanting to ask a older brother for help because he’s the expert, but refusing to because he slept with the character’s ex the day after the two separated. Because voids hint at deep emotions and complicated situations they should be treated like the proverbial “smoking gun.” In other words, if you show friction between brothers to the extent that one will go to great lengths to not seek out the other’s help, that emotional sore spot eventually must come to light so the void makes sense.

Contradictions

We’ve all said to a relative, “Of course you can stay with us this weekend!” when they ask. But sometimes, inside, we are a hodge-podge of emotion: we’re swamped at work, the house is a mess, and we have no time to host big dinners and provide the entertainment which goes with family visits. Yet we smile and nod as we speak….except our shoulders sag a little, or we swallow and hesitate before forcefully flooding our voice with enthusiasm. Basically, with contradictions, a character may try to fake it but body language doesn’t lie.

Tip of the iceberg!

There are more ways to show emotion–so many more. I mean, don’t get me started on all the things you can do with emotion and the setting. Good grief, you could write a book on just that. Er, two books, technically.

How to Boost Your Self-Editing Superpowers: The Four Perspectives

[image error]

A vast number of writers are afraid of their own power. They fall prey to listening to what other people think their story should be—writing friends, Twitter pals, critique partners, the English teacher next door, agents they’ve met for a minute, workshop teachers, and even editors and book coaches. In their desperate attempts not to get it wrong, they fail to get it right. They forget how to tune into their own voice and their own vision. The sad result is that they end up writing a book that feels as if it’s been written by committee. It’s flat, stingy of spirit, incapable of stirring the hearts of any reader anywhere ever.

This is, obviously, a really bad result.

In order to combat this tendency, I often tell my clients, “You are the god of your own story!”

I say this when I am reflecting back what I see in their story. I want them to either say, “Yes! That’s what I’m trying to do!” or to vehemently disagree with whatever I am suggesting – to fight for what they know their story should be. I do this to help them tune into their own voice and their own power, because you have to have that kind of authority in order to write a book other people want to read. You have to own your words, and own your right to speak, and own the point you set out to make. You have to become the god of your own story so you can bring to life the world that only exists in your mind.

[image error]Sounds like awesome fun, right? And it is! To a point. Because becoming the god of your own story means more than being a supreme creator. As with most things, you can cause big problems by going too far with that role. When I think of what “too far” means for a writer of memoir or fiction, I think of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice – that fabulous Disney clip from Fantasia, where Mickey Mouse steals the powerful hat of the sorcerer, starts wielding the master’s wand with abandon, and brings down a world-threatening flood.

I also think of a writer who loves the process of writing, who thrills to sit and create and spin their magic web, who loves to talk about the joy of what they are doing, but who refuses to step back and assess. They write whatever they want to write (they are the god of their story!), are frequently dazzled by their own output, hold on tight to everything they produce (every word is precious! Every scene is perfect!), and then they get to “the end” and believe the rest of us should roll out a red carpet for what they have made. They are, after all, a story god!

Ah, but not so fast. Because a god doesn’t just have the power of creation. She has the power of observation, as well. She is omniscient and all-knowing. She can walk around her creation and peek at it from all sides and consider all angles, and nip and trim, and add and enhance as she works to make it better. In other words, she has the power to edit.

[image error]

Louis Borges said that art is fire plus algebra. Being the god of your story means owning your creative power and tapping into your unconscious and letting your imagination go wild – that’s the fire part of the equation. It’s the part writers are largely really good at. Let’s call the fire the first perspective a writer needs to have about her work.

Perspective #1: You, the god of your own story

You let a vision stick in your mind. You trust in it and you allow yourself to bring it to life on the page to the best of your ability.

Practical Tactics for Perspective #1:

Keep telling yourself you are the god of your own story, which is to say, tap into what you want this story to be, what you know will resonate with readers, what you love about it.
When the moments of doubt arise – my mom will hate me for writing this, my writing group didn’t love it, that editor said I should turn it into a mystery instead of a romance, vampire stories are hot again, agents only want YA written by women – do what you have to do to recognize the doubt and keep creating despite it.

The algebra part of the creative equation is when you take off your creator’s hat and set it aside and step back and look with logic and discernment and humility at all sides of what you have created, and you work to make it better, one element at a time. Whether you are revising a scene, a chapter, a section, or a whole manuscript, you must set down your pen and spend time assessing from each of the other three perspectives.

[image error]Perspective #2: You, the person who has lived a long life, who brings a billion experiences to bear on the work, who has opinions and biases and the burden of all kinds of knowledge.

You don’t know how much you know about your story, how much you assume, but you have to try to make this conscious in order to make sure that your reader has a chance in hell of getting what you are trying to do.

I read a fantastic letter to the editor the other day in an etiquette column in Real Simple magazine that illuminates this point perfectly. The letter writer was miffed that someone on her crowded commuter train had taken a picture of her purse with his cellphone and texted it out to someone. She was nervous, suspicious, confused. Forget the question of etiquette for a minute and imagine all the different reasons why someone would take such a picture. These are the options etiquette expert Catherine Newman presented:

This is the purse you should snatch when we get off at Grand Central
Ugly, amiright?
I’m texting you the picture of this woman’s stuff just to drive her crazy
This is the gorgeous bag I was telling you about
You designed this, right?
Hey it’s your same purse!

The point is that if you were writing that scene in a story – “The woman looked up in shock. The man next to her had just taken a picture of her purse and was furiously typing on his phone. She smiled.” – your reader would have NO CLUE what just happened, or why it mattered, or what to make it of it, and I promise you that she will not stick around to find out.

Your job is to TELL US. Yes, please tell us, don’t just show us. If you don’t tell us, you are shutting us out. Show don’t tell means show us the way the story unfolds, show us what it all meant. Let us in.

Here’s how that sentence above could be revised to do that.

“The woman looked up in shock. The man next to her had just taken a picture of her purse and was furiously typing on his phone. She smiled. The first time this had happened she wasn’t sure she could believe it, but this time, there was no doubt: that man had recognized her design. She tried to catch his eye, to say, “I’m the designer,” but he was absorbed in his phone, immune to the reality that in New York, the stranger on the train could be a rising fashion star.

Practical Tactics for Perspective #2:

Read your pages, thinking of only of what you know that no one else knows. The whole goal is to show us what you know about your topic or your story.
Look for places where you have assumed something or skipped over something or failed to make it visible.
Look especially in dialogue, and in scenes where your characters are making a decision or a judgment call or drawing a conclusion (which should be every scene).
Look especially at the handling of time. Has an hour gone by? Five? A whole day? A week? A year? The timeline of your story is no doubt solid in your head. Make sure it is solid for the reader, too. You need to ground us in the real movement of time in your story.

[image error]

Perspective #3: The reader, for whom you are crafting an experience.

This reader is busy and anxious and worried. She doesn’t have a lot of time in her day, but she is desperate to connect with another human being in some profound way, which is why she has bought your book in the first place. She wants solace or education or entertainment or escape. Your job is to know what she wants and to make sure you are giving it to her

Practical Tactics for Perspective #3:

Know what your reader wants. Know the genre your book belongs in, the bestselling books in that category, the things readers tend to say on Amazon and Goodreads about them, the reasons they fall in love with authors who give it to them, and what, exactly, your book is adding to the conversation. Honor her desire in everything you write.
This means axing anything that doesn’t serve your story or your point – and I mean anything that doesn’t add directly to what the reader needs to know right now to make sense of what she is reading, including: A lovely passage about the sunset, a beautiful description of the blue dress the woman on the stage was wearing, a random bit of backstory from someone’s childhood. Be ruthless.
No really, be ruthless. Real writers throw out a lot of pages in search of something that feels real and true and alive, not just for them, but for their readers. You have to hold your reader’s perspective in your head – their worries and fears and desires and hopes – so you can give them something of value on every page.

Perspective #4: The characters, who themselves have lived long lives, bring a billion experiences to bear on their life, and who have opinions and biases and the burden of all kinds of knowledge.

If you want your characters to seem like real people to your readers, they, too, will have all of the same burdens of knowledge about their lives that we have about ours. They will believe things about the world very strongly, want things very desperately, be terrified of things at a soul level that are probably the very things that are keeping them from what they desperately want. In other words, characters who seem real to readers feel that way because they are designed that way. The writer has taken the time to give them fully formed interior lives – memories and biases and fears and irrational little worries just like we have.

Practical Tactics for Perspective #4:

Read your pages, thinking only of what your characters know and believe and feel about what is happening to them. This is the perspective that will add depth of meaning and emotion to your work. This is what will make it all seem real to your reader.
If you don’t know the answer to what your character thinks or believes or wants, stop and figure it out. Sometimes that means going on a walk or paging through Pinterest or reading someone else’s work as you try to understand your character inside and out, past and present. Giving someone a history and motivation and a rich inner life is not work that usually comes quickly, so as you do it, give yourself a break.
Don’t be afraid to tell us the answers you find. More writers err on the side of not saying enough than on the side of saying too much.

Here’s how I might add a bit to the sentence above about the woman on the train to add this layer of emotional depth in a revision.

“She pulled up Tad’s number on her phone and for a split second, considered texting him. He was the only person who would understand the intensity of her ambition –  that deep in her bones, she believed she deserved to have this kind of success, not because she was any better than anyone else, but because she had overcome so much more than they had to get there.

She stared at his photo and his name, then quietly turned off her phone and slid it back into her prized purse. What good was success if the only person who would have understood it was no longer alive?”

The four perspectives will give you self-editing super-powers. By intentionally looking at each scene, chapter or an entire manuscript from all four perspectives, you will fix holes in logic, deepen the emotion, and offer your readers an immersive experience that will keep them turning pages.

Do any of this information strike a chord with you? If so, you might want to look into the new course on revision that I’ll be rolling out at AuthorAccelerator.com. You can sign up for the interest list for the course here.

[image error]Jennie has worked in publishing for more than 30 years. She is the author of four novels, three memoirs, and The Writer’s Guide to Agony and Defeat. An instructor at the UCLA Extension Writing Program for 10 years, she is also the founder and chief creative officer of Author Accelerator, an online program that offers affordable, customized book coaching so you can write your best book. Find out more about Jennie here, visit her blog, discover the resources and coaching available at her Author Accelerator website, and connect online.

Twitter | Instagram

 

 

Character Motivation Thesaurus Entry: Avoiding Financial Ruin

What does your character want? This is an important question to answer because it determines what your protagonist hopes to achieve by the story’s end. If the goal, or outer motivation, is written well, readers will identify fairly quickly what the overall story goal’s going to be and they’ll know what to root for. But how do you know what outer motivation to choose?

If you read enough books, you’ll see the same goals being used for different characters in new scenarios. Through this thesaurus, we’d like to explore these common outer motivations so you can see your options and what those goals might look like on a deeper level.

[image error]

Character’s Goal (Outer Motivation): Avoiding financial ruin

Forms This Might Take:

Saving a failing business
Saving a business from unethical practices that will cause it to go under if/when the perpetrators’ actions are brought to light
Finding a job that will provide financial security
Pursuing a degree that will enable one to make more money
Paying off a large amount of debt (credit cards, medical bills, student loans, a mortgage, etc.)
Seeking to avoid declaring bankruptcy
Escaping a blackmailer or extortionist who is bleeding one dry

Human Need Driving the Goal (Inner Motivation): physiological needs

How the Character May Prepare for This Goal: 

In Business

Getting a second mortgage on one’s home to cover the costs of the failing business
Seeking advice from wise financial counsel
Studying successful businesses to see what they’re doing
Downsizing at work (cutting or combining positions, lowering wages, etc.)
Increase marketing to try and increase revenue
Implementing a short-term spending freeze
Identifying who or what is causing the problem and requiring that changes be made
Negotiating better arrangements with the institutions or people one is losing money to (banks, suppliers, manufacturers, etc.)
Streamlining processes to make them more efficient
Engaging in illegal activity to make things happen (offering bribes, blackmailing someone, stealing money, extorting a competitor, etc.)


Personally

Downsizing one’s home
Selling extraneous material items
Selling valuable collectibles (baseball cards, movie memorabilia, stamps, etc.)
Selling luxury items (sports cars, a boat, smart phones, expensive jewelry or furs, etc.)
Looking for a windfall (by playing the lottery, gambling, waiting on an aging benefactor to pass away, etc.)
Becoming more self-sufficient (growing vegetables rather than buying them, making clothes for one’s family, etc.)
Creating a budget and sticking to it
Cutting up credit cards
Requiring family members to get on board with the new plan
Moving to a location that is less expensive
Getting rid of one’s car and biking, walking, or using public transportation
Adopting a “saving” mentality over a “spending” state-of-mind
Getting a second (or third) job
Giving up a low-paying or unprofitable job (that might involve one’s passion) for one that makes better money (even if it’s not enjoyable)
Finding alternative ways of making money (by selling one’s artwork, taking care of someone’s child after school, etc.)
Making education a priority (if one is pursuing a degree to change one’s financial situation)

Possible Sacrifices or Costs Associated With This Goal: 

Losing employees, partners, or investors because of the fundamental changes to the business that need to be made
Having to change the brand, clientele, or image of one’s business in order to save it
Having to give up expensive hobbies, pastimes, or activities that one enjoys
Growing apart from friends involved in expensive activities that one no longer sees
Conflict at home with family members who refuse to see the truth of what’s happening and get on board with the plan
Losing esteem in the eyes of others (when they discover one isn’t as affluent as they thought)
Giving up a beloved job in pursuit of a better-paying one
Loss of freedom as one works multiple jobs to make ends meet
Short-term financial hardships that must be accepted in order to make long-term headway
Having to give up the luxuries one has become accustomed to

Roadblocks Which Could Prevent This Goal from Being Achieved: 

Bureaucratic red tape that keeps necessary changes from happening
A recession or depression that increases the business’s financial problems
Competitors who wouldn’t want one’s business to thrive
Being unable to get the loans and mortgages that would help one get into a better financial situation
A personal setback that makes it difficult for one to work (an accident or medical diagnosis, being fired or having one’s hours cut, a family member needing extra support at home, etc.)
One’s ego keeping one from making the smartest financial decisions
Family members who don’t want to give up their lavish lifestyle
A poor credit score (due to past poor choices) that makes it difficult to get a loan or line of credit

Talents & Skills That Will Help the Character Achieve This Goal:

Gaining the Trust of Others

Skills specifically tied to one’s job or that could help the character make money (Farming, Foraging, Gardening, Mechanically Inclined, Promotion, etc.)

Mentalism

Haggling

Charm

A Knack for Making Money

Multitasking

Organization

Reading People

Repurposing

 

Strategic Thinking

Survival Skills

Possible Fallout For the Protagonist if This Goal Is Not Met:

Plummeting self-esteem
Losing one’s home
Exhausting one’s savings and being left with nothing
Being left by one’s spouse
The death of one’s dream (of owning one’s business, having a certain career, etc.)
Health problems (hypertension, ulcers, migraines, etc.) due to long-term stress and anxiety
Losing one’s moral way; stooping to unethical means in an effort to hold onto what one has without having to make the hard sacrifices
Depression


Click here for a list of our current entries for this thesaurus, along with a master post containing information on the individual fields.

Worldbuilding, Demystified

[image error]As a fantasy writer, one of my absolute favorite parts of the writing process is worldbuilding. I love creating new worlds, cities, and people groups from scratch. I probably either have a God complex or am fighting OCD tendencies, but whatever. It is what it is :). And I know I’m not alone. I’m sure many of you are also fascinated with this process, and still others are curious but daunted by the whole thing. It used to be kind of scary for me, too. This is the main reason we created One Stop For Writers’ Worldbuilding Tool—to simplify the process and make it easier for both avid and newbie worldbuilders. To that end, I’d like to make the whole thing painless and show you how it works.

First: Where Do I Start?

When building a new setting, look at which parts you really need to create. It can be helpful to use the following hierarchy of possible aspects of the world:

A Solar System

Alien Races

The Planet

Realms, Kingdoms, or Countries

Cities, Towns, and Villages

People (citizens of each area)

Groups, Factions, and Organizations

Creatures

Sacred or Magical Objects

Obviously, all of these aren’t necessary to research for every story; the next step will be to zero in on which ones will play an important part. I typically end up planning the main city or town, the realm it’s a part of (because governing laws and structures will affect the city), the people who live there, and a super brief overview of the planet (since this determines certain considerations like climate and geography). If my character will be traveling, I’ll research each town she visits, along with the people who live there.

Had L. Frank Baum used this hierarchy when building his world, he might have come up with the following for the first book in his The Wizard of Oz series:

Realm: Oz

Cities, Towns, and Villages: Munchkin Country, Quadling Country, the Emerald City

People: Munchkins, Quadlings, Winkies, witches and wizards, the dainty china people

Creatures: winged monkeys

Sacred or Magical Objects: ruby slippers

In this case, none of the other aspects were necessary to research. You can do the same, narrowing down an entire world to only the parts you’ll need to plan.

What Questions Need to Be Answered?

Once you’ve got your short list of aspects, it’s a matter of picking where you want to start. Some like to begin with the largest and work downward, since certain elements of the larger regions will affect smaller areas. Others prefer to start with the aspect that excites them the most.

Once you’ve found a starting point that works best for you, you’ll want to create a survey for that aspect. To do this, log in and go to the Worldbuilding Tool at One Stop and add a new survey.

[image error]

From the dropdown list of survey types, choose the one you’d like and create a name for it. A list of possible questions will pop up. And this is where the fun begins :).

[image error]From here, scroll up and down through the questions (relating, in this case, to a new city or village). Rarely will you need all of them. Just click the ones that are important for your setting, drag them into the Answers field, and fill in your answers. If you decide you don’t want a particular question, you can drag it back to the Questions field.

[image error]You can even add your own custom questions and answers.

[image error]And that’s literally how simple it is. When you’re done, save it in My Workspace. You can choose to save it to a particular project (related to a book, series, character, etc.) or keep it as a loose survey within your workspace. Adding more questions or changing existing answers can be done any time with a simple edit.

Then, repeat this with any other aspects of your new world that you’d like to explore. If you like hard copies, you can print your surveys—even compiling different ones into a single PDF document.

Building a world from scratch isn’t easy. It takes quite a bit of brainpower, imagination, and filling in the gaps. But with the right tool, the organization part is a non-issue and the process becomes much more intuitive.

Hopefully this how-to sheds some light on One Stop’s answer to worldbuilding. Check out some of our other story planning tools too if you like; registration is free so you can have a poke around. If you choose to subscribe, this worldbuilding tool is just one of the many terrific resources you’ll have access to.

Want to give the Worldbuilding Tool a spin? Let us help!

[image error]1. Register for free.

2. On the My Subscription page under the Account tab, enter the code WorldBuilding into the coupon box and hit “activate.”

3. Select the 1-month plan and you will get your first month for the latte price of $4.50. That’s 50% off.

Give up a coffee. Change the writing game forever.
Why not give it a try?

If any of you are currently using this Worldbuilding tool, I’d love to hear how it’s going for you!

Save

Save

Save

Save