Angela Ackerman's Blog: Writers Helping Writers, page 3

Win Feedback on Your First 10 Pages

Good news, wonderful
writerly��people���it���s time for our monthly��Phenomenal First Pages��contest, where we help transform your story���s
opening from good to great!

If you need a bit of help with your opening, today’s the day to enter for a chance to win professional feedback! (We’ve had past winners tell us they’ve found their dream editors through this contest, and even ended up with offers of representation!)

Two winners will receive feedback on their first 10 pages!

Entering is easy. All you need to do is leave your contact information on this entry form (or click the graphic below). If you are a winner, we’ll notify you and explain how to send us your first page.

Contest DetailsThis is a 24-hour contest, so enter ASAP.Make sure your contact information on the entry form is correct. Two winners will be drawn. We will email you if you win and let you know how to submit your first 10 pages.Please have your pages ready in case your name is selected. Format with 1-inch margins, double-spaced, and 12pt Times New Roman font. You���ll need to supply a synopsis (a rough one is fine) so Stuart has context for his feedback.The editor you’ll be working with:Stuart Wakefield

With 26 years of experience in theatre, broadcast media, and coaching, I���ve developed a deep love of character and what drives them. My coaching style is warm, thoughtful, and practical���I believe writing a book can be hard sometimes, but more often than not, it should be fun.

As an Author Accelerator Certified Book Coach, I specialize in story development, with a particular focus on character backstory and emotional depth. I���ve helped writers develop powerful, satisfying stories that hold up to editorial scrutiny���and two of my clients have books coming out this year.

I hold an MA in Professional Writing, and my most recent novel, Behind the Seams, reached the semifinals of the BookLife Fiction Prize Contest, scoring 10/10 in every category. I���ve also been commissioned to write a play, and my first TV show���based around celebrity characters���is available to stream online.

Grab my free ebook on emotional resilience for writers and learn more about my services at: https://www.thebookcoach.co/

I���m also the host of the podcast Master Fiction Writing, where I explore the craft of storytelling with writers, editors, and creatives from all walks of life.

Sign Up for Notifications!

If you���d like to be notified about our monthly Phenomenal First Pages contest, subscribe to blog notifications in this sidebar. 

Good luck, everyone. We can’t wait to see who wins!

PS: To amp up your first page, grab our  First Pages checklist from One Stop for Writers. For more help with story opening elements, visit this Mother Lode of First Page Resources.

The post Win Feedback on Your First 10 Pages appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS��.

Colonel Mustard in the Ballroom: How Setting Shapes Mystery

Setting is a story element that must do double duty in any genre: it���s your backdrop, so it shouldn���t take over and become the story, but it should be chosen deliberately and used to both enrich and amplify your scenes. It should blend in and be influential.��

But this is especially true in mystery novels where the setting can limit suspects, suggest motives, provide clues, and shape the crime. So, let���s look at some different options for setting in mysteries.

The Locked Room

Using a locked room as a crime scene creates a seemingly unsolvable mystery that will flummox everyone (including most readers) and allow your detective to emerge as the brilliant sleuth who sees what others do not. Edgar Allan Poe was the first to use this type of setting in Murders in the Rue Morge, where two murders are committed in a room locked from the inside with no apparent way for the murderer to escape. Arthur Conan Doyle also used it in The Speckled Band.

As the author, you���re expected to give readers enough clues that they can play detective alongside the protagonist and solve the mystery themselves. That���s the draw of these stories. Readers want to try their hand at finding the solution, but they also want to see the detective best everyone.

However, most novels and stories that are referred to as locked room mysteries are in fact closed circles.

The Closed Circle

Think Soldier Island, in Agatha Christie���s And Then There Were None or the stalled train in Murder on the Orient Express. These are closed-circle mysteries in which the crimes occur among a limited, isolated group of people, with no one else coming or going���one of whom must be the murderer. The limited setting creates great psychological pressure because everyone becomes a suspect, and the group is trapped together in one form or another��� with the murderer. This means they all become paranoid, fearful and nervous, emotions authors can use to amplify an already stressful situation.

For this to work, however, the circle really must be closed. The setting must be truly isolated so that no one new can enter. A number of the characters should also have plausible motives for being the murderer, as well as some opportunity to commit the crime, so that the detective (and the reader) can���t easily cross anyone off their list of suspects.

And there���s that delicate balance to achieve between making it seem unsolvable but also giving readers the chance to figure it out. If they have no chance, they���ll feel cheated. If it���s too easy, they won���t read on.

A closed system means there���s only a limited number of possibilities. Someone in the isolated location is the murderer. But it���s not the only way to go in mysteries.

Needle in a Haystack

In Patricia Cornwell���s Postmortem, Kay Scarpetta and Pete Marino are looking for a serial killer in Richmond, Virginia. The killer might not even live there. They might have taken off. Throwing the doors open like this on your setting creates a different kind of stress on the reader. The killer is at large. They could be the person you ride the bus with every morning. They could be a coworker. And when they could be anywhere, the possibility of tracking them down feels monumental. The setting itself creates that panicky feeling these types of novels depend on for suspense.

Open systems create a greater possibility for both complexity and corruption. A lot can go wrong when you���re chasing someone in a city. There���s traffic. A person you���re following can give you the slip. There���s rivalry within departments and systems that can prevent a case from being solved.

But even in an open system, you still have choices.

Noir versus Cozy

Comparing noir and cozy mysteries is a great way to see how impactful setting can be in a novel. The noir subgenre features a gritty urban setting where corruption is rife, and no one can be trusted. You want weather? Think rain. Fog. Darkness. Rooms? Think smoky bars, shadowy back alleys. You can���t trust anyone to do the right thing, so cynicism and disillusionment are the order of the day. The streets are violent, and the violence is often graphically portrayed.

A cozy mystery is more likely to take place in a village or small town known for its quirky charm where everyone knows each other and there���s probably a bookshop with a cat in it. The tone is gentle, and the violence takes place offstage. The murder represents a disruption to the status quo rather than just another Tuesday in Baltimore. Cozy mysteries usually feature an amateur sleuth, as opposed to the hard-boiled PI who doesn���t get along with anyone.

Setting Amplifiers

Many aspects of setting can amplify a situation and heighten tension. Weather is one of them. In Postmortem, Patricia Cornwell made the summer particularly hot while the serial killer was on the loose. Why? Because hot summer evenings mean people are more inclined to leave their windows open.

Agatha Christie uses the weather in And Then There Were None to isolate Soldier Island: a storm means no one can get there to offer help���and no one can leave.  A snowbank stops the Orient Express in its tracks. Snow also means someone will leave tracks behind, making it harder for a murderer to escape without leaving clues.

What���s key here is that your choices matter. If you set your novel on a cruise ship, boat-related plot points must play into the story���otherwise, why set it there? Ditto if you set it in a different historical era���like in by Umberto Eco. If the history doesn���t impact the mystery, then you���re not using your setting to its full potential���and your choice will be confusing. Readers assume every decision an author makes is intentional���especially in a mystery where every small detail might be a clue.

The Place Shapes the Crime

This is another consideration for the choices you make about setting. A small-town murder won���t feel the same as a political assassination. The crimes themselves should be impacted by where they take place. There���s a lot of wiggle room here because incongruity can work in your favor���as long as you recognize it and use it.

Location, Location, Location

Setting is ���only��� the backdrop, but in a mystery it���s also the crime scene which makes it a key element of your story. Choose your setting wisely, and once you���ve chosen it, use it to its full potential. Make the setting work in your favor so that it amplifies the tension of your scenes and creates obstacles for your characters.

Quick Recap:��Setting is important in any genre but doubly so in mysteries where it can limit suspects, suggest motives, provide clues, and shape the crime. This post shows the different types of settings in mysteries and how they can amplify tension.

Harness the power of the setting with The Rural Setting Thesaurus and The Urban Setting Thesaurus. 

Part how-to, part brainstorming tool, they���re like a masterclass in maximizing your setting. Access sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures of 100+ natural and personal locations or over 120 modern locations.

These books will help you:

Immerse Readers in the StoryAdd Depth and MoodGenerate Realistic Conflict in the Perfect LocationsUse Setting to Shape Plot��Utilize Figurative Language for Powerful, Layered Descriptions. Repurpose descriptive details as metaphors that add layers of meaning and stir the reader���s emotions.

The post Colonel Mustard in the Ballroom: How Setting Shapes Mystery appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS��.

How to Use the Four Levels of Conflict to Strengthen Your Story

A cardinal sin of storytelling is to skimp on conflict, and no wonder. Those problems, challenges, obstacles, and inner struggles help keep readers engaged, casting doubt on the character���s ability to achieve their goal. 

Because readers are focused on what���s happening from one scene to the next, it can appear that conflict is only occurring moment to moment. It���s actually present at different levels in the story, not just at the scene level. Understanding the levels of conflict and how various challenges will interact is key to building a rich, powerful story, so let���s dive in.

Level 1: Central Conflict

Every story will have an overarching conflict that should be resolved by the end of the book. Whether your protagonist is trying to prevent evil creatures from entering their world (Stranger Things), stop the terrorists who have taken over Nakatomi Tower (Die Hard), or find the groom and get him to his wedding on time (The Hangover), they must address that problem. The central conflict for any story will take one of six forms:��

Character vs. Character: The protagonist goes up against another character in a battle of wits, will, and strength.Character vs. Society: The protagonist takes on society or an agency within it to bring about necessary change.Character vs. Nature: The protagonist battles a form of nature, such as the weather, a challenging landscape, or its animal inhabitants.Character vs. Technology: The protagonist faces a manufactured foe, such as a computer or machine.Character vs. Supernatural: The protagonist confronts a force that exists outside their full understanding. This may involve an encounter with fate, a god, or some other magical or spiritual foe.Character vs. Self: The protagonist experiences a large-scale internal battle of clashing beliefs, hopes, needs, or fears.

The central conflict locks the wheels of your story���s roller coaster onto a specific track so the macro and micro challenges you add will support plot and character development.��

Level 2: Story-Level (Macro) Conflict��

Some conflicts present bigger problems that your character doesn���t have the means or ability to solve. These threats loom over much of the story, and the protagonist will have to work through them while handling other immediate, scene-level dangers and challenges.��

For example, in Die Hard, John McClane is one man against an organized, armed group who have taken over Nakatomi Tower. His central conflict (character vs. character) is to stop the terrorists and save everyone in the building, especially his wife. That on its own seems impossible, but it���s complicated by a few other problems he also must deal with: keeping Holly���s identity as his wife a secret so the terrorists can���t use her as leverage, figuring out Hans Gruber���s real motive for taking over the tower, and doing it all despite the bungling interference of a grossly inept FBI.

And in the back of his mind is the most challenging problem of all, the one that brought him to California in the first place: how to fix his crumbling marriage and reconcile with Holly before it���s too late. 

Large-scale conflicts like these will need to be addressed by your protagonist, but they won���t be ironed out immediately. Very often, the character will have to work on these issues in stages as they dodge danger and achieve smaller goals from scene to scene.��

Level 3: Scene-Level (Micro) Conflict

Conflict at the scene level comes in the form of as-it-happens clashes, threats, obstacles, and challenges that get between your character and their goal. The character is trying to handle what���s right in front of them, deal with inner struggles, and above all else, prevent disaster.

Sometimes they succeed and sometimes they fail���and failure is part of the process, by the way. Setbacks are necessary to increase the pressure, introduce complications, raise the stakes, and force your character to examine why things went wrong. This last one is especially important for characters on a change arc since internal growth is crucial for them to successfully achieve their story goal.

In Die Hard, John McClane pulls the fire alarm so first responders will arrive and discover what���s going on in the tower. This fails when the terrorists convince the fire department it was a false alarm. Worse, it places a target on John���s back because now Hans Gruber and his mercenaries know that someone in the building is working against them. A manhunt results with John, unarmed and barefoot, fighting to stay a step ahead in each scene by outwitting, overpowering, and killing those sent to eliminate him.  

Level 4: Internal Conflict��

Another form of conflict takes place within the character. At the macro level, it���s the main internal struggle the protagonist must address to achieve their story goal.��

John McClane���s marriage is a breath away from breaking because he���s self-absorbed and unaccommodating, believing his needs and career should come first. Holly, rather than become a minimized puzzle piece in John���s world, moves herself and their children across the country to follow her own professional dream. John visits her with the goal of reconciling, but he���s really hoping that her choices have shown her she���s better off in New York with him. Instead, he finds her happy, thriving in her career, and independent���so independent, she���s using her maiden name. 

This ego hit makes John realize that getting her back won���t be easy, and if he wants to make it work, he might have to make some sacrifices. This sets the stage for his inner conflict���putting himself or others first. With Holly in mortal danger, he realizes how selfish and unsupportive he���s been and wants the chance to tell her so. This awakening is John���s first step toward resolving his inner conflict, which he achieves when he does everything within his power to stop Hans and protect Holly, no matter what the personal cost.  

Internal conflict also happens at the micro level with conflicts arising in individual scenes. Faced with the crushing force of painful circumstances, pressure, and opposition, characters often struggle with what to do, knowing right from wrong, and even what they should feel. Conflicting emotions and competing desires, needs, and fears can paralyze a character, cloud their judgment, and make decisions and choices that much harder. 

Conflict Powers Our Story

External or internal, macro or micro, conflict powers your story.

It pushes and pressures the character, stands in the way of his greatest desire, and strains him to his limits, making him want to quit. Then he���ll have to show his strength and prove his worthiness by fighting, making sacrifices, and being willing to change to achieve his goal.

Encourage Uneven Matchups

As you���re strategizing ways to use the four levels of conflict in your story, look for opportunities to highlight inequities. When we engineer story elements to be unbalanced, it generates immediate friction by putting the protagonist at a disadvantage. Let���s return to Die Hard and look at some of the disparities.��

At first glance, John���s experience as a seasoned New York police officer seems like he has the skills to deal with a threat like Hans Gruber. Only���Hans isn���t alone, and John is unarmed and in an unfamiliar place. Worse, when the building is taken over, he���s trapped with no leverage or resources���not even a pair of shoes. Hans, on the other hand, has a team of skilled and well-armed mercenaries with full building access and plenty of hostages, including John���s wife. 

This imbalance makes stopping Hans and protecting Holly seem futile, and for much of the movie, John���s goal is out of reach. But his inventiveness at handling conflict at the scene level���taking out his enemies one by one, dropping a dead body on a car to draw a policeman���s attention, getting his hands on a weapon, and stealing Hans��� detonators���allows him to balance the scales.

Winning becomes possible. His actions when dealing with conflict also give readers a chance to see who he really is!

Want your conflict to go further?

The Conflict Thesaurus: A Writer���s Guide to Obstacles, Adversaries, and Inner Struggles (Volume 1 & Volume 2) explores a whopping 225 conflict scenarios that force your character to navigate power struggles, lost advantages, dangers, threats, moral dilemmas, ticking clocks, failures & mistakes, and much more!

Brainstorm the perfect story problem or challenge for your characters, pushing them to adapt and bring their A-game if they are to achieve their goal.

The post How to Use the Four Levels of Conflict to Strengthen Your Story appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS��.

How to Pair Your Book���s Beginning and Ending to Satisfy Readers

Okay, fair warning���what you���re about to learn in this article might spoil movies, TV shows, and books for you forever. BUT���as a writer, you have to peel back the mechanics of story to understand how to make your book awesome, so even if you hate spoilers you���re going to love having the inside track on this one.

The secret you may or may not have ever noticed is that many times, the beginning and ending of stories are paired or mirrored in some way. The untrained audience or reader doesn���t notice that the story is complete. That it���s come full circle. They just know they like it. The good news is, applying this technique to your novel isn���t that difficult, and can mean the difference between a reader finishing your last sentence with a solid ���meh���, or experiencing a profound emotional payoff, leaving them thinking about your book for days and weeks after, whether the ending was happy or sad.

Let���s look at how beginnings and endings work, why pairing them is so effective, and the steps you can take to craft your own.

What Makes a Good Beginning or Ending?

The beginning of your story is more than just the opening scene���it���s a contract with your reader. In those opening pages, you establish:

Your character���s current world and worldviewWhat they want most and what���s at stake if they don���t get itThe tone, style, and genre of the bookKey themes that will be explored

In genre fiction, your opening scene needs to pull the reader into a specific moment that demonstrates the above with your amazing showing details. This is why backstory gets a thumbs down from readers; it doesn���t show us what will be in your story, only what came before. Long descriptions, or action that���s disconnected from the above points won���t draw readers in, either.

Instead, pick a scene that shows us what ride we���re about to get on. You may have to revisit your opening scene many times as you write your book���that���s normal. But not to worry, it���s because the opening is so important that you have to get it right. Not every scene in your book has to do this heavy lifting, and won���t require the same amount of effort.

When readers meet your main character in a scene that shows them something important about them, such as their misbelief about the world, or their ���wound���, and hints at how your story will challenge them, it���s a great place to start.

Your book���s ending is the resolution of that contract. It:

Shows your character in their new, changed state (or possibly locked in their inability to change)Resolves conflicts and questions raised throughout your book

A great ending also ���feels inevitable, yet surprising��� ��� a phrase often attributed to Aristotle that leaves many writers shaking their heads. Yes, it���s a tall order to both leave readers wowed by your dazzling ending they didn���t see coming, yet also with the feeling that there was no other possible way that your story could have ended.

Mirroring your beginning and ending in some way can create this sense of inevitability that readers crave, while still leaving room for your creative twists and turns. Human brains are wired to look for patterns and closure. When they recognize an echo from the opening in the ending, it gives them the satisfaction of a closed loop.

How This Works in Movies, TV, and Children���s Books

My kids groan when we watch TV or movies together, because I can often predict from the opening scene what will happen in the end. I can���t usually guess the whole resolution, but I���ll notice a quirky detail in the opening scene that feels deliberate, and will make a great mirror in the end. Most times, as predicted, that detail is echoed somehow in the closing scene, eliciting even more groans from my family, and maybe the occasional pillow thrown at my head.

The average watcher doesn���t notice, but skilled screenwriters insert these details all the time. For example, if the show opens in a hospital, I predict that the closing scene will end up there as well. If a show starts with a woman feeding her cat, I might guess that the cat isn���t going to make it to the end of the show for some reason, and the same woman would be shown missing her cat at the end (I���m sure you can see why I���m wildly unpopular at movie night in my house).

Now, not everything about the beginning and ending of your book can be the same, of course. That would be too obvious, not to mention superbly unoriginal. But choosing a setting, an activity, or an interaction with a particular character to mirror allows the writer to show how much has changed in the world and about the character since the story started, using lots of juicy showing details such as dialogue, actions, reactions, inner thoughts, and setting (want to learn more about how these elements work together? Get more info HERE)

The beginning and ending of children���s books almost always work this way, too. These picture books are compact, so the pairing is easy to see. Here are a few examples:

Dr. Seuss���s Oh, the Places You���ll Go!

Beginning: ���Congratulations! Today is your day. You���re off to Great Places! You���re off and away!���

Ending: ���Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So���get on your way!���

The phrasing isn���t identical, but the end echoes the opening sentiment that the reader is destined to go places.

Chris Van Allsburg���s The Polar Express

Beginning: A young boy listens for Santa���s sleigh bells

Ending: The boy has grown older, but he can still hear Santa���s sleigh bells, when others can���t���cementing the theme of belief.

Choosing Your Beginning and Ending

Using this technique when you���re planning can give you bookends for your book���s outline. But if you missed the opportunity and you���ve already started writing your book, you can tweak your beginning and ending during the revision process instead. Comparing your beginning and ending scenes can also help you see where you���ve done a great job of mapping your character or worldbuilding arcs, or where you might need to focus some attention.

When choosing how to mirror your beginning and ending, get creative, looking for ways to repeat or invert elements. Explore using:

A similar settingA repeated object or symbol that means something different to readers by the end of the book than it did at the beginningA change in a character���s role in a similar situationA repeated line of dialogue that was used in the beginning that now has new significance

You also want to make sure that your satisfying ending wraps up any threads or questions you���ve opened along the way. So, before you end your story, go back through your scenes and look for threads you may have dropped (forgotten to wrap up!) along the way, and address them. 

Any conflict, tension, or mysteryAny characters introduced but then forgottenAny relationships that were growing or changingAny wants that your character had. Did they find success, failure, or something in between?

Addressing these open threads doesn���t mean you have to tie everything up neatly with a bow. It also doesn���t mean that you have to give away material you plan to introduce in future books in the same series. But it does mean you should give readers an answer for now, even if it turns out there���s more to the story in future books, so that they leave this book feeling complete.

You can���t ever be sure that every reader is going to love your book, but pairing your beginning and ending is a powerful (and invisible) technique you can use to make sure you���ve delivered a satisfying story. When your opening and closing pages work together, you create a sense of closure that will resonate long after your reader closes your book.

And now, every time you open a book or watch a movie or your favorite episode of Grey���s, you may curse me for pointing this out to you, but you���ll suddenly understand why a great ending feels so good, and your loss of innocence will be worth it. You���re welcome.

Want to work with me to make sure your book will satisfy readers? Take a look at my Editing and Book Coaching services HERE��. Ready to get started? Fill out my intake form and we���ll see if we���re a match!

The post How to Pair Your Book���s Beginning and Ending to Satisfy Readers appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS��.

How to Show Your Character Is Healing from an Emotional Wound

When it comes to writing a story where a character is going to work through a difficult past wound, there are two behavioral states to convey: one showing their brokenness and dysfunction, and one displaying hard-won insight, self-acceptance, and increased self-worth, all important aspects of growth.

Ironically, writers tend to struggle more with how to show a character���s healthy behavior than they do the downward spiral. (Maybe after all the lessons on tension and conflict, we���ve gotten very good at throwing rocks? Or we���re just all a bit more sadistic that we���re likely to admit!) Either way, that shove down the hill is less stressful to write than the painful crawl back up it.

Here���s what I know: change is painful, both in the fictional world and the real one. Transformation doesn���t happen overnight. So when it comes to showing our character���s path to healing in the aftermath of a destructive wound, we need to take it slow. Trusting others, especially after one���s been hurt, is hard. And believing again in hope, that a better tomorrow is possible? This is often the most difficult thing of all.

How Does Change Happen? HINT: Self-Awareness

Yearning for something better forces an awakening of sorts. Usually a character is stuck in denial or is simply avoiding her problems, but when a meaningful goal draws her attention, she must look within to examine how she can better help this reality happen. Often this moment is a bit of an epiphany about how her own dysfunctional behavior has caused trouble in her life.

This self-awareness, paired with a deep desire for something currently out of reach, can trigger the first shuffle closer to change. Let���s break down the important stepping stones that will help you map your character���s path forward to a better reality.

Step 1: Taking Ownership and Envisioning a New Reality

A critical first step toward positive change involves a willingness to acknowledge the way she copes with problems, especially those that trigger the fears tied to her past wounds, are harmful or dysfunctional. Seeing this, and taking ownership, marks an important shift in mind-set. Finding the courage to look within and identify one���s own unhealthy attitudes and behaviors so one can change them is a big deal. As she does this, she visualizes how her life can be better, and it helps her chart a course toward the goal that will fill her longing within.

Step 2: Creating Small, Achievable Goals

Her newfound awareness and shifted outlook allow her to resist the lure of fear and, instead, feel hope. But the ground of this new perspective is shaky. To avoid a relapse when disappointment or failure hits, the character should set smaller, achievable goals that lead her toward a larger one. Each victory will increase her self-esteem, empowering her, and even if she encounters minor setbacks, she should be able to power through them.

Step 3: Adopting Good Habits

A big part of committing to a new course of action is recognizing these problem areas and making an active choice to replace bad habits with good ones. Showing your character taking better care of her health (by eating properly, getting more sleep, improving her hygiene, and exercising) will let readers know she���s actively trying to improve. A character can also move away from toxic friends and influences to make room for loved ones. Seeking education and other forms of self-improvement are also good signs that a shift is taking place in the character���s mind.

Step 4: Packing an Emotional Parachute

Despite your character���s newfound attitude and determination to achieve better results, setbacks may happen. If she isn���t ready for these, it could be easy for her to fall back into the emotional traps of denial or avoidance. Unless you���re intending to show only a temporary improvement, you don���t want her to revert to past negative coping strategies, such as drinking too much, playing the blame game, or becoming emotionally reactive. She can incorporate these setback survival techniques instead:

Identify the Downward Spiral. Patterns are hard to break, so when disappointment comes, your character���s self-esteem and self-worth are likely to be impacted. This can quickly turn into a hopeless whirlpool that will drag her emotions into a dark place. If your character recognizes what���s happening, she can make an active decision to take back control.

Focus on the Positive. Instead of only dwelling on what went wrong in a situation, show your character also looking for what went right. Small successes can be embraced and celebrated, offering perspective.

Take a Time-Out. The character can go for a walk, spend time with a friend, listen to music, meditate, or participate in a hobby that helps her de-stress and change her outlook. (If you choose this strategy, just make sure it doesn���t interfere with the story���s forward momentum.)

Give Back. If your character is pessimistic and there���s a risk of her spiraling into old habits, give her an opportunity to do something nice for someone else. Assisting others or doing a good turn can provide the mental boost that���s needed to get the character back into a positive frame of mind.

Confide. Sometimes your character just needs a listening ear or a supportive shoulder. Having her reach out instead of shutting down is another way to show she���s dealing disappointment or failure in a healthy way.

Adopt Humor. Another method of coping with adversity and struggle is to keep a sense of humor. Joking about a situation or making light of one���s role in it may diffuse some of the character���s frustration and can promote camaraderie with other members of the story���s cast.

Step 5. Make a Plan of Action (And Stick to It)

Finally, the character will need to hit checkpoints to achieve the overall goal. Have her identify what needs to be done, anticipate potential problems, and then follow through with her plan, even when it gets tough. This commitment will show that she has the goal solidly in her sights. It will also provide her with the ability to make any sacrifices that are necessary to reach her goal.

What sort of things does your character do to cope with the long road ahead, especially setbacks? Let me know in the comments!

Emotional wounds are incredibly formative, changing how a character views the world, causing trust issues, damaging their self-worth, dictating how they will interact with other people, and making it harder for them to achieve their goals.

In addition to 120+ entries, The Emotional Wound Thesaurus: A Writer���s Guide to Psychological Trauma contains instructional front matter to help you understand wounds and how they���ll affect your character and story. With chapters about the wound���s aftereffects and how the event ties in to the character arc, along with ideas on brainstorming your character���s wound and how to best reveal the trauma to readers, this book will be your go-to resource for connecting the backstory dots and coming up with characters who are well-rounded and realistic.

The post How to Show Your Character Is Healing from an Emotional Wound appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS��.

How to Show Your Character Healing from an Emotional Wound

When it comes to writing a story where a character is going to work through a difficult past wound, there are two behavioral states to convey: one showing their brokenness and dysfunction, and one displaying hard-won insight, self-acceptance, and increased self-worth, all important aspects of growth.

Ironically, writers tend to struggle more with how to show a character���s healthy behavior than they do the downward spiral. (Maybe after all the lessons on tension and conflict, we���ve gotten very good at throwing rocks? Or we���re just all a bit more sadistic that we���re likely to admit!) Either way, that shove down the hill is less stressful to write than the painful crawl back up it.

Here���s what I know: change is painful, both in the fictional world and the real one. Transformation doesn���t happen overnight. So when it comes to showing our character���s path to healing in the aftermath of a destructive wound, we need to take it slow. Trusting others, especially after one���s been hurt, is hard. And believing again in hope, that a better tomorrow is possible? This is often the most difficult thing of all.

How Does Change Happen? HINT: Self-Awareness

Yearning for something better forces an awakening of sorts. Usually a character is stuck in denial or is simply avoiding her problems, but when a meaningful goal draws her attention, she must look within to examine how she can better help this reality happen. Often this moment is a bit of an epiphany about how her own dysfunctional behavior has caused trouble in her life.

This self-awareness, paired with a deep desire for something currently out of reach, can trigger the first shuffle closer to change. Let���s break down the important stepping stones that will help you map your character���s path forward to a better reality.

Step 1: Taking Ownership and Envisioning a New Reality

A critical first step toward positive change involves a willingness to acknowledge the way she copes with problems, especially those that trigger the fears tied to her past wounds, are harmful or dysfunctional. Seeing this, and taking ownership, marks an important shift in mind-set. Finding the courage to look within and identify one���s own unhealthy attitudes and behaviors so one can change them is a big deal. As she does this, she visualizes how her life can be better, and it helps her chart a course toward the goal that will fill her longing within.

Step 2: Creating Small, Achievable Goals

Her newfound awareness and shifted outlook allow her to resist the lure of fear and, instead, feel hope. But the ground of this new perspective is shaky. To avoid a relapse when disappointment or failure hits, the character should set smaller, achievable goals that lead her toward a larger one. Each victory will increase her self-esteem, empowering her, and even if she encounters minor setbacks, she should be able to power through them.

Step 3: Adopting Good Habits

A big part of committing to a new course of action is recognizing these problem areas and making an active choice to replace bad habits with good ones. Showing your character taking better care of her health (by eating properly, getting more sleep, improving her hygiene, and exercising) will let readers know she���s actively trying to improve. A character can also move away from toxic friends and influences to make room for loved ones. Seeking education and other forms of self-improvement are also good signs that a shift is taking place in the character���s mind.

Step 4: Packing an Emotional Parachute

Despite your character���s newfound attitude and determination to achieve better results, setbacks may happen. If she isn���t ready for these, it could be easy for her to fall back into the emotional traps of denial or avoidance. Unless you���re intending to show only a temporary improvement, you don���t want her to revert to past negative coping strategies, such as drinking too much, playing the blame game, or becoming emotionally reactive. She can incorporate these setback survival techniques instead:

Identify the Downward Spiral. Patterns are hard to break, so when disappointment comes, your character���s self-esteem and self-worth are likely to be impacted. This can quickly turn into a hopeless whirlpool that will drag her emotions into a dark place. If your character recognizes what���s happening, she can make an active decision to take back control.

Focus on the Positive. Instead of only dwelling on what went wrong in a situation, show your character also looking for what went right. Small successes can be embraced and celebrated, offering perspective.

Take a Time-Out. The character can go for a walk, spend time with a friend, listen to music, meditate, or participate in a hobby that helps her de-stress and change her outlook. (If you choose this strategy, just make sure it doesn���t interfere with the story���s forward momentum.)

Give Back. If your character is pessimistic and there���s a risk of her spiraling into old habits, give her an opportunity to do something nice for someone else. Assisting others or doing a good turn can provide the mental boost that���s needed to get the character back into a positive frame of mind.

Confide. Sometimes your character just needs a listening ear or a supportive shoulder. Having her reach out instead of shutting down is another way to show she���s dealing disappointment or failure in a healthy way.

Adopt Humor. Another method of coping with adversity and struggle is to keep a sense of humor. Joking about a situation or making light of one���s role in it may diffuse some of the character���s frustration and can promote camaraderie with other members of the story���s cast.

Step 5. Make a Plan of Action (And Stick to It)

Finally, the character will need to hit checkpoints to achieve the overall goal. Have her identify what needs to be done, anticipate potential problems, and then follow through with her plan, even when it gets tough. This commitment will show that she has the goal solidly in her sights. It will also provide her with the ability to make any sacrifices that are necessary to reach her goal.

What sort of things does your character do to cope with the long road ahead, especially setbacks? Let me know in the comments!

Emotional wounds are incredibly formative, changing how a character views the world, causing trust issues, damaging their self-worth, dictating how they will interact with other people, and making it harder for them to achieve their goals.

In addition to 120+ entries, The Emotional Wound Thesaurus: A Writer���s Guide to Psychological Trauma contains instructional front matter to help you understand wounds and how they���ll affect your character and story. With chapters about the wound���s aftereffects and how the event ties in to the character arc, along with ideas on brainstorming your character���s wound and how to best reveal the trauma to readers, this book will be your go-to resource for connecting the backstory dots and coming up with characters who are well-rounded and realistic.

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Amazing Resources for Neurodivergent Writers

My last post highlighted Writing Tips for the Neurodivergent Brain, but what about writing resources and tools? What sorts of ���helpers��� are out there to help people with not-so-great executive functions get to the end?

What the Heck Is ���Executive Function”?

This is the part of the brain that manages tasks, time, focus, and self-control. For most people with any neurodivergence, some part of this is going to be hard.

For example, I have self-control all day long, but sustaining focus and managing details feel like climbing Mount Everest. And every day, I start at the bottom and start climbing again. If I���m tired or ill, it���s even worse. To continue the Mount Everest analogy, on those days, I can���t even remember how to get my rope harness on. Forget climbing.

Another way to look at it…

Crappy executive function is like having a broken internal ���manager.��� You know what to do, but organizing, starting, or finishing can feel overwhelming, inconsistent, or impossible, even when you want to get things done.

One of the blogs I follow ��� Creatively ADHD ��� rocked my world with this quote: ���Writers love to say writing is like wrestling alligators. If that���s true, writing with ADHD is like wrestling an alligator with one hand���sometimes both���tied behind your back.���

Although I agree that ADHD can be a creative superpower, that superpower can���t always overcome the snarled-into-knots disorder of a neurodivergent brain.

For a writer, this might look like:

Analysis paralysis: You constantly try to dissect the problem, but never really figure out how to solve it.

Inability to recover from interruptions. My kid has learned that when she sees those two lines in between my eyebrows, I���m in the flow. I will completely lose hold of my forward progress if she interrupts me then. Which of course makes me really crabby.

Boredom leading to tangents. Boredom feels excruciating for the neurodivergent brain. Which means that boredom often leads to *squirrel* tangents.

Sometimes those tangents can lead to good, and sometimes they can lead to evil. One full-of-boring-tasks day, I spent two hours looking at Drew Barrymore���s entire family tree. Another one, I found out that Lucille Ball backed Star Trek after the network turned it down, and ultimately helped it get on the air.

(I used the second tangent in a book for a Trekkie character, so that tangent wasn���t all bad.)

There are other things like hyperfocus, distraction, perfectionism, and doubt in our abilities that can also plague this kind of brain.

It���s a lot to corral.

Neurodivergent Tools Can Help!

There are a lot of great tools and resources to help corral a busy brain. I���ve gathered some of my favorites below, in case they can help you too.

Tools & Tech that Help Neurodivergent Writers

Sometimes, the best tool is one that helps you stay on task. I���ve tried all sorts, as you���ll see below.

1. Writing Software with Minimal Distractions

If distractions are getting the best of you, try some of these.

FocusWriter (free): Full-screen, customizable writing environment.Scrivener: Great for organizing nonlinear thoughts, scenes, and research (but has a learning curve).FocusMate is another one I���ve tried. You can co-work with total strangers if you want.2. Timers & Focus Aids The later versions of Windows have their own focus/timer tool if you click on the clock in the bottom right corner of the taskbar.Forest app: Pomodoro timers with visual aids, typically 25 minutes.My own kitchen timer has been a magic productivity tool. (ProTip: Go digital so the ticking doesn���t drive you nuts.)3. Note Capture for Fast MindsOtter.ai: The free version will let you record for 5 minutes at a time. Plus, you can easily move between the app on your phone and your computer.Evernote and OneNote are aces for keeping notes that are searchable.I���m a huge fan of keeping a mini-recorder on your person at all times for quick recording.In a pinch, I text myself, but this is a last resort because it���s too slow.Productivity Strategies Designed for ADHD Brains

I stumbled across many of these during my days with NaNoWriMo. I���ve had to go get the official terms for some of them, but every one of them helped my productivity skyrocket.

1. Body Doubling. This just means write with a friend. I like to do Zoom writing sprints. Many authors co-work on Discord.

2. Use Timed Sprints + Rewards. There are some tricks to this. Start with a short sprint ��� anything from 20 to 40 minutes. Follow with some small dopamine reward that works for you. Could be snacks, dancing, or a quick brainstorming session if you���re stuck.

3. Set Tiny Goals with Fast Wins. I���ve talked about this before. The smaller you can chop up your goals, the better.

Note: Don���t go big, like write chapter 3. Go tiny like, write conversation between [character names] to accomplish [fill in the blank].

4. Externalize Everything. Visual cues help busy brains stay on task. Sticky notes, dry-erase boards, or storyboards help get the ideas out of your head AND help you focus on only that one idea.

Supportive Communities

If you want to hang out with people who get you, and who have great tips���

Writers with ADHD on FacebookNeurodivergent Writers & Artists Discord (active, inclusive)Great Blogs

I���ve gotten some amazing tips and insight here:

Rebecca Makkai has a great Writing With ADHD SubstackI also like Creatively ADHD on Substack, especially this postPassionate Writer Coaching has great resources for ADHD writers.Books & Guides

These books are both on my TBR list, and were recommendations from a therapist pal. (affiliate links)

Your Brain’s Not Broken by Tamara Rosier ��� Insights on motivation and energy for ADHD minds. Refuse to Be Done by Matt Bell. I���m super excited about this one. Its subtitle is ���how to be done in 3 drafts.��� (Yes, please!) It���s supposed to be excellent for nonlinear writers, and has a kind, persistent tone.Bonus Productivity Tips from ADHD Writers!

Every single one of these made me happy.

���Write during the dopamine window ��� whatever time of day you���re weirdly energized.��� ��� @ADHD_Alien (Pina Varnel)���Make writing into a game: Word count bingo. Scene roulette. Anything to keep it fun.��� ���Reddit: r/adhdwriters���Let yourself write out of order. Your brain isn���t broken, it���s nonlinear. Embrace it.��� ��� Jessica McCabe, How to ADHD���Progress over perfection. Finish messy, edit later.��� ��� Dana Rayburn, ADHD Coach���If you keep forgetting your ideas, text them to yourself. Future-you will thank past-you.��� ���  @neurospicywords (X)A Few Final Notes

When I realized (and accepted) that my brain was different, I was able to stop beating myself up for taking a different path to The End. ���The way all my friends did it��� just didn���t work for me. But I still wanted to get my work done.

Here are the top changes that made the biggest difference in my productivity:

Break down tasks: I recommend you divide large writing projects into small chunks. It reduces overwhelm and increases progress.Utilize visual aids: Whiteboards have been a game-changer. Also, index cards with story questions on my bathroom mirror. You might use something else.A dedicated writing environment: I didn���t have this for a long time, but I���m seeing that I���m more productive. In a perfect world I have two spaces ��� changing locations sparks creativity for me.Regular exercise: Science-y reason���physical activity boosts dopamine and norepinephrine. My reason���it improves my ability to focus for longer periods of time.Find your highest focus times: Work during periods of natural focus, whether in short bursts or longer sessions. My highest focus tasks happen right after the first cup of coffee and late at night. It���s so freeing to find out when your highest focus times are and lean into them.Prioritize self-compassion: Knowledge is power. Recognizing and being compassionate about the challenges associated with a neurodivergent brain is sometimes most of the battle. Treat yourself with kindness and understanding and enjoy your unusual brain.

I hope some of these tools and resources help you on your writing journey. If you have found other fabulous ones, please do share them with us in the comments.

Happy writing!

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How to Amp up Your Story Setting

Taking the time to choose the right setting for each scene is one of the best ways to ensure our writing has impact. Why? Because the setting touches everything. It can characterize the story���s cast, evoke mood, generate conflict, shape the plot, and even use symbols and emotional triggers to show readers what the protagonist fears, yearns for, and needs most of all. Setting is a formidable tool to wield in fiction, so much so that Becca and I dedicated not one, but two books to showing writers how to use it more effectively.

When described well, a specific location will draw readers into the scene���s action and the mindset of the POV character at the same time. Our description should provide an experience, encouraging readers to emotionally invest. Thinking outside the box to pick a setting that is unique works great to achieve this, but sometimes genre or story logic narrows our options, forcing us to take a different route.

Some settings tend to get used more than others in fiction, such as forests, parks, restaurants, and bedrooms. Genre can influence this, like the high school hallways and locker rooms found in YA fiction. Or plot may demand a specific setting, which unfortunately happens to be a bit on the bland side. Either way, to avoid boring readers who have experienced these settings many times before, we have to work harder and keep interest levels high. Here are three techniques to help you make any setting, even a boring one, pop!

Customize the Familiar

If you are unable to use a setting that is fresh because of your plotline or the expectations of a genre, don���t worry, the setting can still be reinvented. For example, a static location like a high school hallway (dull, scuffed lockers, milling students, and shut classroom doors) will have a signature look if the school prizes creative expression. Eclectic wall murals, lockers painted a rainbow of colors by students, and posters asking for entries for an art show will each put a unique stamp on this setting. Or try another customization and imagine how the hallway will look if decorated for a holiday or a celebration specific to the school. What if a water pipe were to break, flooding the hall with water, or worse, sewage?

Even through routine this boring hallway can transform. Think of the last day of school when kids pack up personal items and escape, leaving the rest of their school DNA bleeding from half-open locker doors or crammed into overflowing trashcans. Bottom line: your imagination is what flavors a setting, so open your mind to the possibilities.

Play With Light and Shadow

Things look different at night. I don���t know about your bedroom, but in mine, the ceiling fan above my bed becomes a gangly netherworld creature ready to take me out at 2 am, and my digital clock morphs into a video camera display (thanks to reoccurring ���being watched��� type nightmares my brain likes to feature). Anyway, the point is, changing the quality of light can transform a setting and cause an emotional response. Because people view light and dark as symbols for ���safe or not safe,��� and ���good or bad,��� we can use this to our advantage. Darkness can warp even the most innocent location and bright light can make a dangerous place seem safe, lowering the character���s (and so reader���s) guard. So play with light and dark, thinking about how dingy windows, the time of day, spotty electricity, moonlight, or even the dying embers of a fire can steer your reader���s perceptions.

Use Weather Elements

Bringing the real world into our fiction gives it authenticity. Yet, many writers choose to walk on the bland side when it comes to weather: it���s sunny out, or there���s a breeze. Maybe some fog rolls in.

There are many incredible types of weather elements that can be used, so don���t be afraid to explore something different as long as it works with the location. Weather is terrific at building mood, and because we are tactile creatures, people are very alert to temperature shifts and how the air feels on our skin. Weather also draws out emotions, making people feel a certain way, and can even add a nice bit of complication to the action as it unfolds.

Even with indoor locations, it is possible to bring weather in through the earthy scent of mud crusting one���s shoes, a snow-damp coat being hung to dry, or the persistent fingers of cold that reach up through the floorboards, sending your character closer to a space heater. Sensory details triggered by weather elements can bring about that realism our audience expects to see and will help customizes their experience.

Harness the power of the setting with The Rural Setting Thesaurus and The Urban Setting Thesaurus.��

Part how-to, part brainstorming tool, they���re like a masterclass in maximizing your setting. Access sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures of 100+ natural and personal locations or over 120 modern locations.

These books will help you:

Immerse Readers in the StoryAdd Depth and MoodGenerate Realistic Conflict in the Perfect LocationsUse Setting to Shape Plot��Utilize Figurative Language for Powerful, Layered Descriptions. Repurpose descriptive details as metaphors that add layers of meaning and stir the reader���s emotions.What techniques do you use to make a bland setting unique and interesting? Let me know in the comments!

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How to Fictionalize Your Family

Linda Ulleseit, an award-winning author of historical fiction, shares tips and tricks for fictionalizing your family.

Everyone has a story! The themes that run through family stories can have universal appeal, but actual evidence of a person���s life can be hard to find. Sometimes fiction is the only way to tell their story. Fictionalizing family history requires managing the facts, the fiction, and the family itself. Read on to learn about interviewing, finding historical sources, filling in the fictional pieces, and how to manage the delicate process of explaining the book to your family.

Uncovering the Facts

Begin by talking to family members who may have lived through the period you want to write about, or who have heard stories about it from other family members. Use photographs or journals to jog relatives��� memories, and ask open-ended questions to find out details such as personality and profession that might complete your character profile. Encourage them to tell you other stories about the family. You might hear an amazing tale that you can add to your story, or that will be inspiration for another book!

Next, look outside the family to get a feel for the world around the character or story you have decided to explore. Libraries and historical societies are a good source for personal papers and nonfiction books. They also have old newspapers, magazines, catalogs, and phone books. The internet is another valuable place to research. Basic research sites include WorldCat, JSTOR, Google Scholar, online newspaper archives, and census records.

Adding the Fiction

You might decide to write a historical novel because you lack factual information and need to embellish the truth. Recorded events capture only the highlights of a life and can be awfully far apart in a timeline. But what characters do on a daily basis is an important part of backstory and character development. You will need to make things up to bridge the gaps between the story and the history.

Start by filling in the details of daily life. What plot-advancing thing did your antagonist do the Thursday before the big event? Or that morning over breakfast? Or yesterday at the market? You can add in setting and the historical landscape���people in period dress, places where your characters might go, vehicles they might use, things they might eat. Your novel also needs the characters��� emotions and motivations���although, as we all know, why a character did a certain thing may not be recorded. It has to be inferred from attitudes of the times, relationships with other people, or sometimes, just made up. Emotional reactions lead to character development, which gives you the arc needed for a novel.

Remember that real life is not a novel. A novel needs a beginning and end, and something at stake for the protagonist. Adhering too closely to the real life story can weaken your fictional story.Managing the Family

When writing a novel rooted in an ancestor story, you may run up against resistance from relatives who view your shared family history differently. They may want the story told the way they see it or not at all. In some rare cases this has even led to lawsuits against authors and publishers. It���s important to remember that an author filters information that comes to them through their perception. So, how do you convey that you���re not writing a biography���you���re writing fiction?

One way to address family controversy is to craft a disclaimer like, ���This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either a product of fiction or are used in a fictitious manner, including portrayal of historical figures and situations.��� If you want to be even more specific, you can use phrases like ���timelines have been condensed and expanded.��� You might say, ���with the exception of public figures������ or ���scenes including a famous person/well-known event have no factual basis.���

Another way to establish credibility is through an end-of-the-book Author���s Note. Readers of historical fiction expect the author to have adhered (mostly) to historical facts, but may be curious about how closely the author stuck to the truth���especially if the characters aren���t well-known. Detail the facts and identify the fiction, including why you decided to fictionalize it. Give insight to anything that is still debated, especially within the family. Also tell the rest of the story: any backstory you didn���t have room for, maybe even what happened after the novel ends. You might want to include a family tree that shows how you are related to the characters in the story.

Finally, emphasize that your story was ���inspired by��� a person or event rather than being about them. Family history can provide unique and meaningful scaffolding to a work of fiction. It���s your creative approach to an ancestor���s story, though, that will entertain and educate not only blood kin but a wider audience of readers keen to learn more about how everyday people in history���who happen to be related to you���navigated the human experience.

Linda Ulleseit, an award-winning author of historical fiction based on her female ancestors, has spoken at international conferences and led writing workshops. She believes in the power of unsung women living ordinary lives. Linda has an MFA in Creative Writing from Lindenwood University and is a founding member of Paper Lantern Writers. This post is adapted from a chapter of Paper Lantern Writers��� book Crafting Stories From the Past: a How-To Guide for Writing Historical Fiction. You can connect with Linda in the Paper Lantern Writers’ Facebook group, Paper Lantern Readers.

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Tap into Your Character’s Unmet Need to Strengthen Your Story

Life can be painful, especially for our characters. In fact, the fallout of an emotionally wounding event such as a car accident, failing to save someone���s life, infertility, or being sent away as a child can derail their life for years (or even decades!) if left unresolved. Not only that, it can change the character���s personality, damage their relationships, and seed their life with dysfunction and unfulfillment.

This is why at the start of a story the protagonist is usually dissatisfied, lost, unhappy, or yearning for something more. They are experiencing something called an unmet need.

Unmet needs are created because emotional wounds generate a FEAR of being hurt again (which can manifest in many ways).

The result? The character holds back in life. They settle. They avoid things that can lead to their happiness because being hurt again is too big of a risk.

A fear of trusting the wrong person after a betrayal keeps Mary from seeking love.

A fear of death after a near-fatal climbing accident keeps Rodney from living life to the fullest.

A fear of losing her only child after the death of her spouse keeps Tonya imprisoned by an inflexible mindset and need to control.

Fear is powerful, but unmet needs can direct behavior above all else, meaning, if the urgency is strong enough, needs will push characters to act even if their deepest, most debilitating fears are telling them not to.

Mary���s need to share her life with someone pushes her to open herself to love again.

Rodney���s need to achieve a lifelong goal of summitting Everest convinces him to take up his passion once more, even knowing the risks.

Tonya���s need to have a healthy relationship with her daughter forces her to let go and support her daughter���s independence.

Your Character���s Arc

Now, this shift won���t happen overnight. We really must ensure that our characters go through a gauntlet of unhappiness and struggle until finally they say Enough! and act. When we do this, readers believe that our characters are pushing forward toward their goal regardless of whatever stands in their way because their inner motivation (an unmet need) is driving them to do so.

A terrific tool to understand the connection between Motivation and Unmet Needs is the Hierarchy of Human Needs, a theory created by psychologist Abraham Maslow. It looks specifically at human behavior and the drivers that compel people to act. Separated into five categories, it begins with needs that are the most pressing to satisfy (physiological) and ends with needs centered on personal fulfillment (self-actualization).

This pyramid representation of Maslow���s original hierarchy makes a great visualization tool for writers as they seek to understand what motivates their characters:

The categories are arranged by importance. So, food, water, and other primal physiological needs are the most critical to fill since they are based on survival. Next is the need to be safe, then to be loved, to be respected, and, finally, to reach one���s potential.

These needs, when met, create balance and lead to satisfaction within. But if one or more needs are absent, a hole is created, a feeling that something is missing. As this ���lack��� builds in intensity, the psychological pressure will grow until finally it pushes the character to seek a way to fill the void.

When a human need is diminished or missing to the point of disrupting the character���s life, it becomes a motivator. For example, a person can skip lunch and only experience minor discomfort until the next meal. But if it���s been a week since he last ate, his discomfort becomes a gnawing hole that demands to be filled, an obsession he must pursue. He might cross moral lines to steal food, resort to personally humiliating actions such as begging or digging in a dumpster, or even take foolish risks, such as eating spoiled food all because his singular focus is on meeting his need. Everything else���pride, fear, self-esteem, even safety���becomes secondary.

Sacrificing one need to satisfy others happens often, which is why there���s a hierarchy. If a character must choose between a job where he���s universally admired (esteem) or financially stable (safety), he���ll choose the latter. Or his goal to become a doctor (self-actualization) may be set aside if his wife is diagnosed with a terminal disease and he must leave school to care for her (love). Just like that skipped meal, placing one need before others usually isn���t a problem in the short term, but the longer a need goes unmet, the more disruptive it becomes until it eventually hits a breaking point. Unhappy marriages end in divorce when the pain reaches an unbearable level. An employee quits a job when workplace esteem levels bottom out or mistreatment escalates. Everyone has a ���final straw��� moment, after which they can take no more. How quickly it���s reached will depend on the individual and the reasons he has for being in the situation in the first place.

Change isn���t easy. In fact, it is often painful, and it takes great courage to step into the unknown. The temptation is always there for a character to stay in the safe yet dysfunctional comfort zone: to settle for less while trying to ignore the hole created by an unmet need.

If you need help understanding what unmet needs an emotional wound might create, just check out the entries in The Emotional Wound Thesaurus. In fact, here���s an example of a wounding event right from the book: Accidentally Killing Someone.

If you want to access a tool that helps you plan an unbelievably strong character arc based on Maslow���s Hierarchy of Unmet Needs, try One Stop for Writers��� Character Motivation Thesaurus.

Do you know your character���s unmet need? How does it drive them toward their goal? Let me know in the comments!

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