Angela Ackerman's Blog: Writers Helping Writers, page 124

Character Motivation Entry: Discovering One’s True Self

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): Discovering One’s True Self

Forms This Might Take:

Embracing one’s sexual identity
Embracing one’s true gender identity
Experimenting to discover one’s passions
Shedding the expectations of others to follow a true passion
Seeking education to better understand one’s beliefs (about the world and how one fits in it, spirituality, etc.)
Achieving independence
Embracing travel and new experiences to leave one’s comfort zone
Taking on a big challenge which requires self-reliance and sacrifice

Human Need Driving the Goal (Inner Motivation): self-actualization

How the Character May Prepare for This Goal: 

Leaving a unhealthy marriage
Cutting off communication with a toxic family
Selling one’s home and assets to travel
Quitting one’s job
Going back to school
Moving somewhere new, with a different sort of lifestyle than what one was used to
Volunteering for a cause that forces one to re-imagine one’s priorities
Traveling to a isolated location where one is often alone, allowing time to reflect (going on an extended sailing journey, volunteering to teach in a remote third-world village, etc.)
Giving up one’s responsibilities so one has the freedom to choose what comes next
Saving up money so that one may afford to go on a sabbatical
Researching locations one may wish to travel to, or live
Researching experiences that will challenge oneself to get reconnect with one’s inner self
Making a list of one’s mistakes and practicing self-forgiveness
Seeking out a therapist to help one better understand one’s path forward
Revisiting old wounds and learning how to let go, including finding a way to forgive others who caused them, or find peace in some way
Studying up on how to live frugally or how to work and travel so one is not tied to a job
Finding a school, organization, or place of sanctuary where one may learn new things and discover who one really is in the process
Seeking out mentors with good advice or guidance in one’s area of self-discovery
Preparing family and friends that one is about to embark on something new
Practicing self-control, meditation, or other centering techniques so one is no longer controlled by fear

Possible Sacrifices or Costs Associated With This Goal: 

Relationship friction with those who don’t understand one’s needs
Distance between loved ones who have different needs and feel unsupported or abandoned by one’s actions as a result
Draining one’s finances
A relationship partner not part of one’s inner journey may move on in one’s absence
Taking time away from one’s current path may cause one to fall behind (in a career, with other interests, losing one’s edge with certain skills that will not be practiced, etc.)
Growing apart from those one leaves behind (if one is choosing to go on a long distance sabbatical)
Having to give up a house, apartment, a vehicle, etc. that one cherishes because of financial strain

Roadblocks Which Could Prevent This Goal from Being Achieved: 

Financial struggles
A critical illness of a family member requiring one to return to one’s life and attend to them
Finding oneself in danger or harm’s way without support
Discovering the grass isn’t greener (by moving to another place, pursuing a new interest, job, relationship, etc.) and realizing one’s journey is an internal one, not an external one
A spouse who threatens to leave because he or she is feeling isolated
Personal responsibilities that must be dealt with (to do with one’s children, elderly parents, a sibling in trouble, etc.)
Contracting a disease, illness, or suffering an injury that sidelines all plans
Toxic family members who sabotage one’s journey in some way
Being asked to sacrifice something that one is not ready to give up

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

A Knack for Languages
Good Listening Skills
Gaining the Trust of Others
Empathy
Charm
Making People Laugh
Mentalism
A Knack for Making Money
Multitasking
Organization
Reading People
Repurposing
Sculpting
Survival Skills

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

Ongoing dissatisfaction
Regret and believing one settled for less
Having to hide who one is from those who will not understand
Unhappiness which could lead to illness or depression
Developing a drug or drinking habit
Having a mental breakdown or experiencing a mid-life crisis which causes one to do something stupid, like cheat on a partner, rage-quit a great job, etc.


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

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Is a Writers’ Residency Right For You?

If you’re like me, you’ve heard vaguely about residencies for writers. Our own Sara LeTourneau just blogged about one she attended in Iceland (yes, Iceland!), and while I kind of knew what they were, I wasn’t totally clear on what they had to offer. Luckily, Tim Raveling is here to pull back the curtain and let us know what residencies provide and how they work.

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An antique desk used by attendees of the New Orleans Writers’ Residency

If you’re a writer, the idea of taking a month off now and then to go somewhere quiet and work on your craft probably falls somewhere along the axis between wistful daydream and deep need. There’s a lot to get in the way – family obligations, calendar commitments, day jobs. Interruptions are part of the fabric of everyday life – but that doesn’t mean they always have to be.

A writers’ residency is meant to be a retreat from distraction, a solid block of time to devote entirely to your writing. Most residencies tend to last about a month, but you can find shorter and longer options as well. Some, such as the Norton Island Residency, are completely off the grid; others, such as my own New Orleans Writers’ Residency, are surrounded by bustle.

Most residencies charge an up-front application fee, usually around $25 or $30. If accepted, you may simply be able to attend for free or, in many cases (such as the Kerouac Project ) will even receive a stipend for food and living expenses. Other residencies, such as the Martha’s Vineyard Writer’s Residency, will charge a weekly amount in addition to the cost of the application.

If you’re wondering exactly what a writers’ residency has to offer, here are some of the many helpful takeaways.

Time

The main thing a residency gives you is time that you could theoretically take for yourself but likely never will. A residency is a single block of time that you can commit to well in advance, that you can put on your calendar, that you can make plans for. You can take the time off work, tell your friends and family about it, and when the date arrives, just leave. And for an entire month, all you’ll have to worry about will be your writing.

Focus

Most residencies will ask you in the application what you intend to accomplish while in attendance. This is your chance to outline a goal—a central focus within a limited timeframe—that can provide clarity and direction often lacking in the bustle of everyday life. Want to finish the first draft of your novel? Edit that anthology of short stories? Finish a new poetry series? A residency can offer you the framework to make that happen.

Community

One of the best things about attending a residency is that, for the duration, you’ll be surrounded by other writers and artists. Connections are made that can last a lifetime, ideas are sparked, paradigms expanded, collaborations commenced. Many residencies accept only writers, but others, such as the Willapa Bay AiR in Washington, encourage artists of all stripes to apply. Some attendees like to be surrounded by other writers for the critique and reading opportunities, while others find spending time with artists from other disciplines an inspiring change.

Craft

Many residencies take a very hands-off approach. You’re there to work. You’ll be given a place to sleep and, in some cases, meals, but otherwise will be left to your own. Others, like the Blue Mountain Center in New York State, have specific programs with focused discussions. Our program falls in the middle, offering mentoring and counseling and occasional readings and events.

Setting

One of the great advantages of most residencies is the setting. The Writer’s Colony at Dairy Hollow in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, offers beautiful stone cottages in a small arts village on a river. Artcroft in Kentucky is set on a 400-acre working cattle farm. The 360 Xochi Quetzal residency is located in a small town on the shores of the largest lake in Mexico. The New Orleans Writers’ Residency is located a few minutes away from the French Quarter, and the Kerouac Project is located in the house in Orlando where Jack Kerouac typed the original manuscript of Dharma Bums. Residencies aim to inspire, and whether you’re looking for remote wilderness or culturally rich urbanity, there’s most likely a residency out there to scratch your particular itch.

If you’ve ever attended a residency, we’d love to hear thoughts from your own experience—pros and cons, tips for applying, things to take into consideration, or what you would have done differently.

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Tim Raveling is the co-founder of the New Orleans Writers’ Residency. He’s a writer, artist, and traveler. You can find him on Twitter at @nomadico.

Using Real-World Locations to Ground Your Story’s Setting

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Last month I went on a writing retreat in Iceland. (Yes, Iceland! In fact, you can learn more about the annual Iceland Writers Retreat here.) It sounds like a remote location for a writing event; and when I first told people I was going, some said, “Um… why Iceland? Why not someplace closer to home?”

My answer? Well, I had many reasons for going, but the most resonant one was:

The northern latitudes of my story’s fictional world were inspired by Iceland’s geography and climate.

[image error]Granted that before the Iceland Writers Retreat, I had never set foot on that subarctic, geologically active European island. However, I had fallen in love with it after watching the Iceland episode of Art Wolfe’s “Travels to the Edge” on PBS. Since then, I’d been studying photographs and researching whatever I could on Iceland’s weather, natural landmarks, and so on.

Thanks to the retreat, I had the opportunity to visit Iceland for the first time. And in addition to attending writing workshops, I was able to take a countryside tour that put me right there, on the ground of my story world, hearing and smelling and seeing an environment much like where I imagined my characters living.

Regardless of the genre we write – be it contemporary, historical, or speculative fiction – chances are our story’s setting might be a real place or a fictional world inspired by a real location. And in order for us to recreate that setting in a story, we should consider the “how” and “why” of its existence and understand how it influences other aspects of the story.

Understand How a Setting Functions Above and Underground

One of my favorite bits of worldbuilding advice comes from fantasy author N.K. Jemisin: “Build your world from the ground up – literally.” This can also apply to settings for stories in other genres. By learning how a real-world location “functions” above and underground, as well as why it functions in this manner, we can ensure that our story’s depiction of that setting is not only realistic, but also factually accurate.

How can we do this? By doing our homework, of course! Whether visiting the actual place or (if travel isn’t an option) researching by reading and interviewing trustworthy sources, we should have a list of questions that will give us a firm grasp on the location’s geography and climate. Here are some suggestions:

What are the setting’s latitude and longitude in the story’s world? What types of weather or seasonal changes does the setting experience as a result?
What types of terrain (mountains, tundra, forests, etc.) comprise this setting? What makes their existence possible (tectonic plates, latitudes, soil conditions, etc.)?
What are some of the setting’s natural landmarks? How did the area’s geology, climate, etc. form these landmarks?
Does this setting experience any seismic, geological, or meteorological phenomena? If so, what? Why are these phenomena possible in this location?
What kinds of wildlife (plants, animals, etc.) are found in this setting?

[image error]If it helps, here are three setting-related facts I learned about Iceland during my trip:

Iceland sits on two tectonic plates (Eurasian and North American) that are slowly drifting apart, thus causing the island’s earthquakes, volcanoes, and geysers.
Despite its latitude just south of the Arctic Circle, Iceland has a relatively temperate climate because it lies in the path of the North Atlantic Current, which directs warm water northward from the Gulf Stream. This leads to cool summers (10 to 20 deg Celcius, or 50 to 68 deg Fahrenheit) and mild winters (-1 to 5 deg Celcius, or 28 to 41 deg Fahrenheit) compared to other countries at the same latitude.
Iceland’s rich, nearly-black soil is comprised of andisols, which form from the weathering of volcanic materials such as ash and are typically found in areas with cool temperatures and moderate to high rainfall.

What’s worth remembering is that a setting’s climate and geology will determine the geography, biodiversity, and other natural factors. For example, Iceland’s soil is a result of its climate and geological activity. If Iceland had warmer weather and sat in the middle of one tectonic plate instead of on the edge of two, its soil would be different. So would myriad other aspects of its environment. This is why it’s crucial to understand how or why a setting has its distinctive features, and how any changes, additions, or losses can impact that setting as a whole.

How Does Setting Influence Other Aspects of the Story World?

Think of all the social and cultural features that a setting’s many layers can determine: food, clothing, occupations, housing, hobbies or pastimes, even fuel and electricity. And that list is just for starters. So when using a real-world location for our stories (or basing a fictional setting on a real place), pay close attention to how geography or climate affect the people who live and work there. Every detail we include must have a solid reason for existing based on past setting-building decisions we’ve made. It wouldn’t make sense for mountain goats to call a rainforest home, right?

Character Motivation Thesaurus Entry: Caring for An Aging Parent

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.

Character’s Goal (Outer Motivation): Caring for an aging parent

Forms This Might Take: Taking on the caregiving role for a parent who is no longer able to care for him/herself. This may mean the parent is declining due to dementia or Alzheimer’s, is suffering from a terminal or chronic illness, or is simply unable to get around safely on his or her own. While the character could choose to pay for a parent’s care in a separate facility, this entry will focus on the character who makes it a goal to care for the parent him or herself.

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Courtesy: Pixabay

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

How the Character May Prepare for This Goal: 

Renovating one’s home to accommodate the parent’s needs
Moving into a home that is easier for the parent to access
Educating oneself on the parent’s illnesses
Planning meals for the parent (if there are special needs in this area)
Researching and purchasing necessary accommodations (a wheelchair, walker, toilet, etc.)
Revamping one’s budget to cover caregiver costs
Meeting with a lawyer to discuss wills, power of attorney, and other end-of-life considerations
Making changes to one’s insurance policy
Redistributing duties between other household members to create extra time for the parent’s care
Coordinating duties and care between siblings
Hiring out certain duties (lawn care, house cleaning, grocery deliveries, etc.)
Finding a job one can do from home, or one that has more flexibility
Joining a support group for caregivers
Becoming more organized to stay on top of the additional duties
Bringing in someone to help care for the parent (a health care professional, a companion, etc.)
Researching activities or hobbies that would be good for the parent

Possible Sacrifices or Costs Associated With This Goal: 

Quitting one’s job, or losing one’s job because of too much missed time
Giving up on hobbies or dreams due to a lack of time
Having no “me” time
Strife with siblings and other relatives (when they won’t help out, over differences of caregiving philosophy, when finances become strained, etc.)
The deterioration of one’s health due to stress and “caregiver burnout”
Depleting one’s retirement fund or nest egg to cover costs
Missing out on opportunities with one’s own children due to having to care for one’s parent
Growing apart from friends due to having no time to get out and socialize
Falling victim to a scam or con-artist
Strained relations with the parent, who may harbor resentment over the loss of control and necessary changes being made that she isn’t happy about

Roadblocks Which Could Prevent This Goal from Being Achieved: 

The parent refusing to comply
Legal issues that make it impossible for one to make necessary decisions on behalf of one’s parent
Siblings and other relatives who disagree about the proper care for the parent
Immediate family members who don’t want to make the required sacrifices
Limited finances
Insurance limitations
Desperately needing to keep one’s job, but having a boss who is inflexible and unsympathetic
Personal health problems that make caring for someone else difficult
Having a child or spouse with special needs that also require attention
Growing resentment over the situation
The pain of having to watch the mental or physical decline of one’s parent
Second-guessing oneself; doubting one’s ability to carry on

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

Basic First Aid, Good Listening Skills, ESP (Clairvoyance), Empathy, Hospitality, Multitasking, Organization

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

The parent sustaining an injury or dying while living on his or her own
The parent’s quality of life falling to an unhealthy level
The parent receiving poor care or being abused in a facility
Broken relationships with relatives who won’t forgive one for giving up or not doing what they believe was rightTortuous guilt over having failed one’s parent
Losing everything (one’s job, life savings, important relationships, etc.), and still having to stop caring for the parent when one runs out of resources

Clichés to Avoid: 

Taking in a parent with whom one has a strained relationship, and the relationship being healed because of the decision.

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

A Cheat’s Guide to Writing a Synopsis

Does the word “Synopsis” make you want to put a screwdriver into your ear? You aren’t alone. Luckily for all of us, we have Sarah Juckes of Agent Hunter here with us, and she’s got a neat how-to system for writing synopses to share!

A few months ago, I sat down to condense my 70,000 word novel into a captivating synopsis that was guaranteed to ‘wow’ anyone who read it. And yep – you guessed it. The one I ended up writing, sucked.

Writing a 1 – 2 page summary of your book is hard. But after speaking to my writer and editor friends (and later, the agent that signed me), I tried out a ‘cheat’ method that actually seemed to work. Even better – it was surprisingly simple.

First – the golden rule

[image error]One of the main issues I was having with my synopsis, was that I was trying to sell my book to the reader. I was using the kind of language you’d find on the back of a published book, or in the film trailer. The result? Two pages of pitchy words and no sense of story.

The point of your synopsis is to explain the main plot to the reader. It is a technical document and doesn’t need to ‘sell’ your book – your book will do that. This is the golden rule.

Finding that out felt like a weight lifted from my shoulders. I didn’t need my synopsis to be a literary masterpiece – I just needed to write short sentences on what my book was about.

This is how I did it.

 1: Know what your book is about

What is the key theme running through your novel? This will probably be the line you give family and friends when they ask you what you’re writing. My book is about my protagonist – Ele – and knowing this gave me something to focus on when writing my synopsis. Anything that didn’t concern the progression of her character, didn’t need to be in my synopsis.

2: Take out the post-it notes

To find out what happened in my novel, I read it through again from the beginning. For every scene, I wrote a one-line summary on a post-it note and stuck it on my wall. When I had done, I could see my whole plot from a distance.

 3: Merge and remove

My next task was to remove notes from the wall that didn’t directly progress the central story – in my case, that of my protagonist, Ele. Some of this was hard – it can be difficult to know which scenes progress plot and which don’t, so if I was unsure, I kept them in for now.

 4: Transfer it to the page

Looking at my post-its, I found that my novel could be split into four main parts according to setting, which I used as headings on a new Word document. I then typed up each post-it in turn using short, clear sentences. At this point, it started to become clearer which scenes were integral to my main story, so I continued to remove those that weren’t.

5: Tell the story

I now needed to set the scene for the reader at the beginning of the synopsis. I wrote two paragraphs under my first heading, which outlined who my protagonist was, where she was and what she wanted.

My next job was to go through the scene descriptions I had written and ensure they made sense to an outsider.

As my novel is character-driven, I found that I only needed to mention the scenes that progressed her story. For example, over ten of my original post-it notes could be summarized by ‘Ele finds out more about the Outside’. The important scenes for me were the ones that raised the stakes for my protagonist and showed her changing attitudes as the novel progressed.

 6: Complete the check list

The only thing left to do then was to ensure my synopsis was ticking the boxes on what all synopsis should do:

1: Tell the whole story (even the ending).

2: Give the names of only the most important characters (too many names become confusing).

3: Be a technical document with no ‘pitchy’ words (eg: using clear, simple language that enables your story to be the star).

The result? A simple outline of my plot and characters, including the major stakes and their resolution.

It was perfect.

My novel is told from the point of view of one character and is linear in time, but that doesn’t mean that this process wouldn’t work for writers with complex stories. When I spoke to my agent about my synopsis, she said that one of the most useful things I had put on there were my four headings, separating each part of my novel in terms of where my character was. As you go through your novel, you might find that headings emerge for your story two – perhaps in terms of who is narrating it, or where you are in time.

The most important thing to remember is that it’s not your synopsis that will be ‘selling’ your book to an agent or publisher – that job lies with the novel itself. A synopsis is really just a neat version of your plotting notes. Simple – right?

[image error]If you do try this Cheat’s Guide to write your synopsis, I’d love to hear how you got on. It worked for me – I hope it helps you, too!

 Sarah Juckes is a YA writer who works with Agent Hunter, the comprehensive online database of UK literary agents. For more information on submitting to literary agents read this useful guide from The Writers’ Workshop. You can also find her on twitter as @sarahannjuckes.

 

 

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Complex Characters and the Power of Contradiction

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You’ve likely seen countless posts and resources related to creating great characters, but almost all of them seem to be lacking in one aspect I’ve found to be perhaps the most powerful: giving your characters contradictions.

Some might read this and say, “Huh? Isn’t that inconsistent characterization? Or undefined characterization?”

The contradictions I’m talking about aren’t continuity errors or mistakes. They can relate to internal conflicts, but they are not internal conflicts. If you don’t like the term “contradiction,” many of the things I’m about to talk about also work as “contrasts.”

When writers are given methods to create characters, the approaches often include giving the character strengths and weaknesses, likeable attributes, a unique appearance, and a nice backstory, or a secret or fear. These are all wonderful and useful things. But how do you make your character more complex? More interesting?

The answer lies in giving them some sort of contradiction. Let’s look at some examples of characters and the contradiction or contrasts surrounding them.

Harry Potter: the most famous and (rumored to be) most powerful wizard in the wizarding world, and he lives in the cupboard under the stairs at his abusive aunt and uncle’s.

[image error]Frodo from Lord of the Rings: the most unskilled, unqualified, and harmless person who is the only one capable of taking the evilest magical object, the Ring, through the darkest lands to be destroyed

Blu from Rio: a bird who doesn’t know how to fly

Simba (adult) from The Lion King: the king of the lions no longer wants to be king and is charged with killing his beloved father.

Finnick Odair from The Hunger Games: long pampered and adored as society’s playboy and sex symbol, Finnick yearns for loyal monogamy and shares a pure love for Annie that is unrivaled. Though he could have any woman in the country, he falls for a mentally disabled girl that he’s forbidden from marrying so the antagonist can continue to use him as a high society prostitute.

[image error]Edward Cullen from Twilight: Love or hate Twilight, Edward is a great example of a walking contradiction. A vampire who falls in love with a human who has the most potent blood he’s ever encountered.

Murph from Interstellar: A girl who hates her father for leaving her must call upon her love for him to save a dying earth.

Giving your character some sort of contradiction or contrast immediately makes them more interesting. We wonder how they can be that way. We wonder how they live their life. The reasoning and space between the contradiction is where the character gets complex. Harry doesn’t like being abused at his aunt and uncle’s, but he doesn’t like the lavish attention he receives from overcoming Voldemort either.

The contradiction can lead to a character arc. Blu in Rio has never been able to fly, but he has to overcome that weakness in the movie. The arc is more interesting because Blu embodies his contradiction. It’s more interesting than perhaps a non-contradictory arc would be.

The contradiction can be simply a question of lifestyle (How can the biggest, richest playboy of Panem want a monogamous relationship with mentally disabled woman?). Or it could be a contradiction in identity (How does a lion prince who spends an entire song dreaming of becoming king turn to loathing the idea? While being haunted with the fear that he killed his beloved father? Who is he? Where does he fit and belong?). Anyone who has seen The Lion King knows that it deals largely with identity.

The space between these contradictions—where they meet, are explored, and explained— is where your character becomes complex. The fact that Harry has to deal with being hated in one world and being loved in the other (and likes neither) makes him more complex. Frodo being one of the least experienced characters in Lord of the Rings but the only one capable of carrying the ring makes him complex. While media portrays Finnick as having a slew of lovers, the only love of his life is an unusual girl he’s willing to die for to protect. That makes him complex. And all this complexity gives the character depth.

One point worth mentioning: the more outlandish and center-stage the contradiction, the more exploring and explaining it likely needs. The goal is to create depth, not caricatures.

Sometimes these contradictions lead to on-page internal conflict. Sometimes they don’t. Sometimes they play into the character arc. Sometimes they don’t. The point is this: the quickest way to make a character complex is to give them some kind of contradiction.

[image error]Sometimes September scares people with her enthusiasm for writing and reading. She works as an assistant to a New York Times bestselling author while penning her own stories, holds an English degree, and had the pleasure of writing her thesis on Harry Potter. Find out more about September here, hang with her on social media, or visit her website to follow her writing journey and get more writing tips.

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Character Motivation Entry: Being The Best At Something

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): Being The Best at Something

Forms This Might Take:

Winning a local competition (best chili in the city, prettiest garden display, best home brewed beer, etc.)
Winning an election (Being chosen as prom king, elected to student council, winning a seat on city council, becoming mayor, becoming a minister or judge, etc.)
Being awarded a scholarship (for an art competition, for one’s prowess in math, for an essay one wrote, etc.)
Being profiled in one’s local paper for an accomplishment or accolade
Coaching the winning team
Being chosen for the Olympic team
Being on a winning team at the champion level
Having one’s business win a prestigious award
Being acknowledged for being the one to put on the best parties or events
Being chosen (to act in a commercial, winning a part in a movie, being given a spot in an orchestra, etc.)
Being the best parent, grandparent, teacher, boss, etc.

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

How the Character May Prepare for This Goal: 

Reading up on the activity one wishes to master or the issues of importance that one should know
Observing (in person, watching video footage, etc.), studying one’s competition
Studying as necessary to become more proficient
Practicing one’s communication (written, verbal, etc.) and charm to “win over” those who may be in a position to help
Being open to trying new things, adding more “tools” to one’s toolkit
Seeking out mentors or coaches as needed
Practicing obsessively
Dedicating oneself to the area of study, cutting out distractions
Researching past winners and studying their methods
Understanding the risks and be willing to take the ones that make sense
Understanding one’s judges or the people one must win over to better deliver exactly what they need
Buying whatever equipment or services that might give one an edge
Putting in more effort than one’s competition
Practicing affirmations and positive self-talk

Possible Sacrifices or Costs Associated With This Goal: 

Giving up one’s free time
Friendships that grow strained because others aren’t supportive of one’s passion
Spending one’s savings on training, equipment or other things needed to be the best
Relationships that become damaged because of competition
Losing out on family time
Having less energy and focus for other things
Dropping the ball in other areas of one’s life because of a singular (possibly obsessive) focus on one’s goal

Roadblocks Which Could Prevent This Goal from Being Achieved: 

A health crisis (either one’s own or that of a family member) that requires time, money, or both
A financial crisis (losing a job, a sudden expense like needing a new car, etc.)
Deepening family problems that must be addressed, requiring one to refocus one’s time
A move due to work
A talented competitor with better resources and support
Sabotage
Not having the knowledge, talent, or experience to be the best (needing to be more seasoned)
Realizing this goal will not bring fulfillment (as it is a false goal and a deeper need is at the root)

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

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

Crippling disappointment
Losing the respect or esteem of family or friends for not succeeding
A negative outlook
A future laden with underachieving
Low self-worth

Clichés to Avoid:

Because of the popularity of the Chevy Chase “Vacation” movies, one would want to avoid creating a character who was obsessed to the same degree

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

Image: 3dman_eu@Pixabay

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5 Reasons Why Every Author Should Join a Book Club

Today we have a post on a topic that has never been discussed at Writers Helping Writers. Can you believe it? After 9 years, that’s almost impossible. So I was very excited to hear about Kelly Miller’s proposed post. It was also beyond awesome to get a guest post proposal from a writer who’s been walking the journey with us since our Bookshelf Muse days. Talk about dedication! So read on as we discuss book clubs and what they can offer writers.

[image error]Have you ever been a part of a book club? I’m not talking about a get together where you all drink wine and talk about everything but that month’s novel. I mean a bone-a-fide gathering where every member is armed with their club’s latest pick, questions they want to discuss, and an opinion on what they read.

As a writer, if you’re not a member of a book club, you’re missing out on an untapped avenue for not only invaluable research but a bevy of potential superfans. Here are 5 of the top reasons you should join a book club.

Learn How Readers Think

Face it, if we knew how readers thought, we’d have already written a New York Times bestselling novel instead of firmly treading water as a mid-lister. But there’s no better way to get into the mind of a reader than to sit and listen to a group of them discuss a book. True, they may not be discussing your book or even your genre, but there’s always something useful you can glean from their conversations.

In my book club meetings, I’ve learned what makes a reader stop reading within the first three chapters. And what makes a mentally-fractured protagonist someone you can empathize with rather than hate because of their whiny qualities. Researching and reading this kind of information online is possible, but until you have a front-row seat to hear the back and forth between book clubbers about why one person hated the main character and another was totally drawn in, you can’t truly absorb the information and shape it into something usable.

Fantastic Source for Research

While working on your latest novel, how many times have you wondered about the possible hiding places in a half-constructed building, or how it feels when a deathly allergic person is stung by a bee? Okay, maybe that’s just me, but I know from personal experience that sometimes internet research or a Facebook post to your friends isn’t enough. When you meet people in a book club, you discover information about their professions and hobbies that can be a priceless resource. The more connections you can make in the real word (a.k.a life that happens away from your computer), the better equipped you’ll be once you sit down to write.

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That’s me in the middle of my book club—the one with the glasses holding a copy of my first mystery novel!

Potential Beta Readers

Book club members really know their books! Once you’re in a group for a while, you’ll come to know the members who are really good at articulating their opinion of what works in a story and what doesn’t. These are the people you want reading your WIP. Pull them aside after the meeting or message them and tell them that you’ve noticed their insights. Ask them if they’d be willing to provide feedback on one of your books in the future.

Great People Watching  

If you’re willing to sit back and listen—really listen—a group of book clubbers is a great way to find new material for future books. I know it’s tempting to talk as much as possible, because face it, writers are always stuck in front of the computer with only our pets to keep us company. But during the meeting, once the conversation about the book dissipates, the participants usually hang around and talk about their lives—everything from their demanding kids and jealous husbands to the office starlet and the hunky lawn guy. This is the best time to absorb the words and interactions between the members. You never know when you’ll come away with a nugget of inspiration which could lead to your next great protagonist.

The last book club meeting I was at, one of the ladies was talking about her young daughter who likes to climb into her bed at 2 am. The way she described her daughter hogging the bed and the need for her to be “all up in her womb” was hilarious. It’s moments like these where people can provide you with the best lines that will make a writer’s night.

Feedback on Your Novel

Don’t join a book club with the express purpose of trying to get members to pick one of your novels. Instead, participate in a few meetings before it even comes up that you’re an author. If you build the strong bonds first, it won’t look like a smarmy move when you mention your book. In fact, everyone will be so surprised that you write, they’ll be clamoring for you to choose one of your own books the month you’re picked as host.

If your book is read by the group, be sure to leave your ego at the door. Whether the feedback is good or bad, don’t let it give you a big head or, in turn, crush you. Instead, look at the meeting as a learning opportunity. When you’re creating a list of questions that everyone will discuss at book club, ask the ones that will help you understand your strong and weak points as an author. That way you can incorporate the lessons you’ve learned into the next book.

How to Find a Book Club

Unsure of how to find a book club? Check out the Reader’s Circle website. It’s an online community that matches book clubs with potential members. Just use the search function and enter your zip code. When I filled in mine, I found a great Mystery Book Club not too far from my house. Other resources are community bulletin boards with listings for local groups at a bookstore or library. Even meetup.com advertises groups. And if all else fails, start your own group!

I’d love to hear about any helpful experiences you’ve had as an author in a book club. Please share yours with us in the comments!

[image error] Kelly Miller is an award-winning mystery author with three books and two novelettes to her credit. Dead Like Me and Deadly Fantasies are the first two books in the Detective Kate Springer series. Splintered was named a 2015 Kindle Scout winner and garnered a publishing contract with Amazon’s Kindle Press. She’s also published two mystery novelettes in her My Nightmare Series, My Blue Nightmare (which is free to newsletter subscribers) and My Emerald Nightmare which just debuted April 2017. For more information about Kelly Miller visit www.kellymillerauthor.com.

 

Want To Grow As A Writer? Transform Your Critique Group

[image error]My  mentor Art Arthur, a successful Hollywood screenwriter for five decades, once told me, “There are four kinds of Hollywood producers: the ones that say, ‘Here’s what I don’t like about your script,’ the ones that say, ‘Here’s what I don’t like, and here’s why,’ and the ones that say, ‘Here’s what I don’t like, here’s why, and here’s what I suggest you do instead.’ This third group is very rare, but those are the ones you most want to work with.

“But the worst of all,” he continued, “are those who skip over the what they don’t like and why, and just tell you what you should change.”

After hearing stories from countless writers about advice they’ve been given, critique groups seem also to fall into four basic categories: the “any excuse not to write” group (which at least gets you out of the house and among people, but has no effect on your writing one way over the other), the “just make you feel good” group (which will bolster your spirits and avoid hurting your feelings, but prevent you from doing the hard work of facing your weaknesses and improving your craft); and the “I don’t know much about story but I love to criticize” group (which is filled with people who want to stroke their own egos by giving lots of advice and suggesting all sorts of changes that are neither well founded nor consistent with your vision for your own story).

And finally, there’s the group that actually helps you make your writing better. Here is how the writers in those groups behave….

Great critique groups ask questions.

It took me a long time to realize, but my best coaching always occurs when I listen. I used to simply do critiques for writers – lay out my comments and suggestions for how to make their novel or screenplay better. This wasn’t bad, because my advice was based on solid story principles exhibited by countless successful books and movies. But then I realized that the changes I suggested were always about making the story into what I thought it should be. It wasn’t based on my client’s vision for his or her project, because I never tried to find out exactly what that vision was.

 [image error]So before either slamming or praising a member’s writing, outstanding critique groups want to know how the writer sees her own story. “Tell us about this character,” they’ll ask. “Do you like him? Would you want to hang out with him? Why does your heroine love him? Why is he her destiny? How do you want your hero to change in the course of the story? Why did you set the story in this particular time and place? How will it relate to the lives of your readers? And how is this story reflective of you and your own values or struggles or fears?”

Great critique groups listen – carefully – to the writer’s answer.

After each question, the group will try to glean what might lie underneath the answer. They will press the writer to dig deeper into her subconscious to explain his choices.

Great critique groups point out where the writer’s vision and what he’s written on the page don’t connect.

These might be instances where what the group read or heard in the writer’s selected pages seems inconsistent with what the writer is saying he tried to do. Or there might be elements in the writing that simply diminished the group’s own emotional involvement in the story. Perhaps one of the group members was confused, or disbelieving, or bored. Or maybe a member simply didn’t like or empathize with a character. But members of the group always make clear that they are saying, “This is how I felt when I read this, and here’s why.” This is where a deep understanding of story isn’t necessary for a group to be helpful. Because an emotional response to anything is always legitimate, whether the reader can explain it or not.

Only THEN does a great critique group offer suggestions.

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When the group has listened to the writer’s goals and vision, and pointed out their emotional reactions, they can now help the writer brainstorm possible ways of addressing these issues – always making certain that suggestions are simply that, and that other options might also improve the story and heighten its emotional impact. They might refer to past successful novels or films, and how those stories approached similar situations or characters. Or they might simply offer a “What if…?” and see where the group and the writer take that idea – keeping in mind that this is not a popularity contest, or a democracy. The best advice doesn’t win, because there is no “winning” – only a search for the idea that the writer feels is best for the story she wants to tell.

One more quality of a great critique group remains, but this one depends on you, when you’re on the receiving end of all this discussion:

In a great critique group, the author of the work being discussed ALSO listens carefully and responds.

All the great advice in the world does you no good if your goal is simply to defend everything you’ve written. Trust that your critique group is there to help and support you – not to debate with you. Allow yourself to take in all that is said. Record it if you possibly can, and if not, ask someone else in the group to take copious notes for you. When you’re not clear about someone’s comment, ask that member to explain it. And if you think they missed something in your work, say, “I thought I was addressing that issue when I wrote _______ . Do you know why that didn’t work for you? Did anyone else in the group have the same reaction?”

Even though challenging every comment and suggestion is unproductive, neither should you meekly withdraw without any reactions at all. Clarify what you don’t understand, and then join in the brainstorming. And when you hear suggestions you don’t like, say “That change doesn’t really work for me because _______. But what if I try_______ instead?”

Even if you’re happy with your critique group, suggest some of these changes at your next meeting. If they don’t work, your group can always go back to what it did before. (Or if the members of your group are so rigid they won’t consider changing, and they’re not really making you a better writer anyway, find another group.)

Just be aware that the critique groups that follow these guidelines are the ones that get thanked profusely whenever a writer comes to a podium to accept an award.

~Michael Hauge

*** If you haven’t already, go to www.StoryMastery.com and sign up to be on my mailing list. When you do, we’ll send you a free list of Key Questions for Novelists or for Screenwriters. These can also be a good jumping off point for your critique group. And please let me know what happens when you trying implementing this process.

[image error]Michael has been one of Hollywood’s top script consultants, story experts, and speakers for more than 30 years, and is the author of Selling Your Story in 60 Seconds and Writing Screenplays That Sell. Find out more about Michael here, check into his articles and coaching packages at Story Mastery, and catch up with him on social media.

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YOUR TURN:  What was your best critique group experience, and why? Alternatively, what was your worst experience? Let us know in the comments!

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Character Motivation Thesaurus Entry: Overcoming Addiction

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): Overcoming Addiction

Forms This Might Take: Addiction can be tricky to define because it’s similar in some ways to other kinds of compulsion disorders. For the purpose of this entry, behavioral addiction is defined as the overuse of a substance or practice that increases over time, continues despite negative consequences, and is incredibly difficult for the user to stop. While alcohol and illegal or prescription drugs are the most common things abused, others can also be addictive, such as nicotine, food, gaming, gambling, shopping, or sex.

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

How the Character May Prepare for This Goal: 

Taking a serious look at one’s addiction (tracking usage and financial expenditures, journaling about one’s feelings, examining the negative effects in various areas of one’s life, etc.)
Purging one’s home of the substances or items that make using easy or more tempting
Setting goals and coming up with a game plan
Exploring treatment options
Seeking therapy
Speaking to loved ones about one’s desire to kick the habit as a means of garnering support
Attending twelve-step meetings
Cutting ties with negative influencers
Seeking out new friends and contacts who are dedicated to sobriety
Identifying and avoiding triggers that will make it difficult for one to be successful
Reducing stressors in one’s life
Engaging in activities or hobbies that will keep one busy
Throwing oneself into work
Becoming more spiritual; clinging to one’s faith as a means of getting through the process
Adopting healthy mental practices, such as focusing on the positive, keeping a gratitude journal, or giving oneself plenty of time to find success
Finding others who have been successful and talking to them

Possible Sacrifices or Costs Associated With This Goal: 

Experiencing grief over the loss of the activity or substance one has always enjoyed
Losing long-term friends or loved ones
Strained relationships with family members who doubt one’s ability to change (particularly if one has failed repeatedly in the past)
The stigma that occurs when other people become aware of one’s addiction
Losing one’s job due to attending an in-house, long-term treatment program
Having to give up one’s job or change careers in order to overcome one’s addiction
Financial difficulties due to the cost of treatment

Roadblocks Which Could Prevent This Goal from Being Achieved: 

Stressors and triggers that make success difficult
Pressure from other addicts who don’t want one to change
Past wounds and negative emotions that become more pronounced once one stops medicating
Having no support system; having to go it alone
One’s addiction of choice being inadvertently replaced with another one
Lacking the necessary financial resources
Being surrounded by other addicts and being unable to get away from them
Not being able to get the time off work needed for therapy or proper treatment
Unrealistic expectations from others or from oneself
Not looking realistically at one’s addiction
Defeatist thinking patterns
Negative events (a death in the family, losing one’s job, being involved in a serious car accident, etc.) that occur when one is trying to stop, making it even more difficult
Having to stop treatment early (to care for a loved one, attend a funeral, travel for work, etc.)

Talents & Skills That Will Help the Character Achieve This Goal: Empathy, Multitasking, Reading People, Talents that help one focus on something other than the addiction (Baking, Musicality, Sculpting, etc.)

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

Broken relationships
Loved ones following in one’s footsteps and being led astray
Long-term health issues
Depression and other mental illnesses
Suicidal thoughts and attempts
Harming oneself or others while under the influence
Bankruptcy
Losing one’s job due to an inability to perform
Abandoning important passions and talents as one’s addiction becomes all-consuming
Being ruled by doubt and self-loathing
Being unable to succeed in other areas due to one’s lack of confidence in one’s abilities
An inability to face and overcome the pain from the past, resulting in one not being able to move forward into wholeness


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