Writer, on writing

GMC.

It stands for Goal, Motivation, Conflict. This acronym is tossed around a lot in modern writing circles (especially among romance writers). It comes from the Debra Dixon book entitled, oddly enough,Goal, Motivation and Conflict.

What is means is that when you write your characters, you need to keep in mind their ultimate goal, what is motivating them towards that goal, and what stands in the way of that goal.

Or, to put it another way, it is the writerly equivalent of a character standing u...