Most of Writing a Book is Failure

Some writers will tell you that you need a character who wants something. And the plot is about that character getting what they want.

*rolls eyes*

No, this is why so many writers end up writing lousy plots that meander everywhere. Because a character who wants something getting what she wants is a straight line. And it takes about one chapter.

I want to be an astronaut. I study, work hard, get good grades, go through all the training, and then end up on the moon. The end. One sentence, actually.

What makes a character interesting is when the character wants something and doesn’t get it. Over and over and over again. She tries, and fails. Tries again, and fails again. And then gives up. But not really. Because how can a good character ever give up? But secretly is still trying to get what she wants, and failing.

Until one day, the character may get what she wanted at the beginning. Or—and this happens often in fiction—gets something completely different that it turns out she realizes she wanted more.

Because characters change during the course of a story. If the character changes, then how likely is it going to be that what the character wants changes? Very likely. So if she gets what she wants, then she isn’t satisfied and has to get something else, because she’s changed. And then changed again.

Sure, people want fiction to do some things that don’t happen in real life. We want shape in fiction. We want there to be a point to everything, for there to be a purpose to our struggle.

But part of writing fiction is acknowledging that the struggle changes and looks different as we change. And the shape we give our lives is often a fictional one. That is, in telling our stories, we make them have purpose. But we can’t tell a story until the change is done. Or at least until some change is done.