Danika Dinsmore

Storyteller

weekend workout

Weekend Workout – Precious Objects

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There are numerous ways I use objects to discover and express something about one of my characters. If a scene feels stagnant, for instance, sometimes I put a “precious” object in the space so characters can interact with it. The object could become a source of tension between characters who treat the object differently. If a character is alone, he or she can reflect on it. You can use this reflection to reveal backstory and it won’t seem as expository if the object triggers it and becomes a presence in the scene.

For instance, in one of the scenes in INTERGALACTIC, IdoLL goes back to her ship to look for something in her trunk. She’s alone in this scene and I needed to get into her state of mind a bit without getting too “talky.”

I thought, What if the trunk triggered some emotion in her. What kind of trunk would do that? It had to be a precious trunk? Why was it precious?

Through a timed writing exercise, I discovered that the trunk was the only item from IdoLL’s childhood that she still kept. It was a gift from her Dad from one of his lengthy excursions to another galaxy. When she was a child, she used to store all the little repaired housebots in it that her dad fixed up for her.

She’s missing her parents in this scene, but she’s really angry at them at the same time. But I don’t say that, I just have her touch the trunk and remember a little bit about its history. We infer from there how she feels.

YOUR WORKOUT:

Pick a character, any character, and think up (first thought – don’t take too much time) a precious object for that character. If they had to give away all their possessions, it would be the last to go.

1) Set your timer for 7 minutes.

Start at the top of the page with the following startline. My character will never throw (OBJECT) away because . . .

Write, don’t stop, don’t edit, don’t cross out.

2) Go to the center of the previous piece of writing and pull that line out. Set you timer and write for 10 more minutes.

Write, don’t stop, don’t edit, don’t cross out.

3) Set your timer for 15 minutes. This time, write the scene in which that object appears.

If the character is alone use this line: My Character places his/her hand on the OBJECT and . . .

If the character is with other characters, use the line: “Don’t touch that,” My Character says and . . .

If you aren’t working on a particular story, you could simply use this as a creative exercise. Write random objects on pieces of paper and then draw one for each exercise. You could even keep a little bag full of pieces of paper, each with a different object listed on it. (umbrella, drum, coffee mug, little red pillow, etc.)

Pick a character (male or female, adult or child) and write: (OBJECT) is precious to this Character because  . . .  You never know where this could take you. It could actually trigger a new story. That’s the power of precious objects.

Have a great weekend!

Weekend (Re)Writing Workout – A Change of Scenery

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I’ve been a delinquent blogger and now that the crazy that was my July is over, I hope to post again on a regular basis.

Instead of the usual timed writing workout I post for the weekend, I thought I’d give you something fun to try if you’re in rewrite mode and have come across an undynamic 2 person scene. Maybe it reads flat, just talking heads.

(And if you’re not in rewrite mode, you can still do the exercise, just write a scene first)

I used to have my screenwriting students write an exchange of dialogue between two people in conflict (the start line was “I can’t believe you just …”). No description, no action, just dialogue.

Then, I’d have them rewrite the scene twice, placing the characters in two different locations. For instance, say they wrote a scene where a woman is breaking up with her boyfriend. First, they’d just write the dialogue. Then, they might rewrite the scene at an amusement park on a roller coaster. Then again at the produce isle of a supermarket.

click image for source

People sometimes forget how useful setting is. And props! Instead of having your characters express themselves by rolling their eyes, looking out the window, biting their lips, crossing their arms or putting them on their hips . . . have them squeeze an avocado so hard they get in trouble from the grocer, or so angry that they trip getting out of the roller coaster car, or slam their fist into a table in a 5-star restaurant sending a fork flying through the air. Give your characters something to do, either absent-mindedly or purposefully (perhaps that avocado will go flying at someone’s head).

And if you put your characters in a restaurant, how does the scene change if it’s not a 5-star restaurant, but a Chuck E. Cheese?

If you’ve got a flat scene with “talking heads” – think about where you could place them so that the characters can interact with their surroundings and express themselves through their environment. As well, the language you use to describe the setting could reflect the tone of the scene or the objects could be metaphors for what’s happening in the story.

Settings my students have used: theme parks, libraries, trains, elevators, office parties, the sky (skydiving), the ocean (scuba diving), convalescent hospitals, airplanes, kindergartens, doctor’s offices.

Have fun and have a great weekend.

3 Day Weekend Workout

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I’m still in blog syndication through July, but when I pulled this exercise out to repurpose it I decided to make it a little more hard core. We have a 3 Day weekend up here in Canada, after all, and it might rain. What better way to spend your rainy holiday than working out…
Getting Out of Slog

We all go through what I call the SLOG when we’re writing or rewriting a story.

We lose our way, we get stuck, we get unmotivated.

This is about the time when I look at every other idea I have and think… hmmm, maybe I should be working on that instead? Look, shiny object!

But I always think it’s best to push through the slog to the end. Then you can put it aside for a little bit and then see what you’ve got.

To push through, I generally do some good old fashioned spontaneous writing. (and even if you’re not in the slog, you can still play along)

Pick whatever piece of writing you’re working on and start from where you’re stuck (don’t go back and polish your buttons; keep on truckin).

Step 1) Set your timer for 5-7 minutes. At the top of your page, write the startline: The scene that needs to be written is the scene where…

Don’t stop, don’t cross out, don’t edit (you know the rules). Just write in one long stream of consciousness.If you get stuck, you can always start again with This scene needs to be written because…

Example:

The scene that needs to be written is the scene where Mabbe confronts Croilus because it gets Mabbe outside of her burl. This scene needs to be written because it’s where Zhay learns that Brigitta was telling the truth. It needs to be written because it’s where Zhay loses it and all his anger about being abandoned by the Ancients bursts forth and he attacks Mabbe but she’s too strong for him and she strikes him down and when that happens the spell seed falls to the ground and they…

Step 2) Set your timer for 5-7 minutes. Pick one of the following as your start line:

In this scene my protagonist learns…
In this scene my protagonist reveals…
In this scene my protagonist proves…

You can also put in another character if that works better for you. In this scene my villain, my antagonist, my protagonist’s mother… feel free to make it work for you.

example:

In this scene Brigitta proves that she can fight the force of the green zynthia and she believes it has to do with her having both air and water elements now and she discovers that she is more powerful than before and the extra element has made it easier to manipulate her environment and there is no way to give it back and maybe it was her first true element…

Step 3) Set your timer for 5-7 Minutes. It’s time for a “What if” wild list! By wild I mean don’t discount any thought or idea. Let the What Ifs fall where they may. This is a list that you write as fast as you can.

You can use any of the following prompts:

During this scene, what if…
After this scene, what if…
After my protagonist reveals ____, what if…
After my protagonist learns ____, what if…
After my protagonist proves _____, what if…

example:

After Brigitta reveals that she can overpower the zythia…
what if Croilus realizes the prophesy is coming true?
What if Devin and Ferris attack Zhay?
What if Brigitta thinks Croilus is going to attack the White Forest?
What if Zhay tries to kill Croilus?
etc.

Usually at least one lightbulb goes on during this exercise. But you’ve got to just let go and allow it to happen. Write as fast as you can, keeping pen on the page.

I do this “what if” list a lot and oftentimes I don’t time myself at all. I just keep writing until THE idea comes. Sometimes that takes 3 minutes, sometimes it takes 15, but it always eventually comes.

Step 4) Now, the fun part. Pick the best What if.. and set your timer for at least 20 minutes (you heard me).

The start line is your best What if:

In this scene, what if . . .

For example (using one of mine from above):

In this scene, what if Zhay decides to attack Croilus and he’s incapacitated because of the spell potion he drank and Brigitta and Jarlath try to come to the rescue but get caught up in the fight between Croilus and Mabbe and Brigitta has to decide between saving Zhay or Jarlath and…

Have a great weekend!

Weekend Workout: Not Supposed (a Real Live Post)

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Don’t you dislike the words “supposed to?” If I always did what I was “supposed” to do, I certainly wouldn’t be having as much fun.

On the career front, I am “supposed” to be working on Book Three of Faerie Tales from the White Forest, which is being released Fall 2013. Thank Cheese* for small presses who can publish books on shorter notice.

It’s not that I don’t want to finish it or won’t or think I can’t, I just had this other story nipping at my heels like a pack or wererats and could no longer ignore it.

I’ve been totally immersed in the White Forest for the past 5 years, filing away other shiny ideas. Those ideas hung out with each other, made friends, and eventually came knocking. They got too rowdy to ignore.

I had wanted to write a YA sci fi novel. I had wanted to write something light and goofy and funny to counter all the bleak dystopian literature out there. And for months I had had the phrase “Lady Gaga in space” running over and over in my head. I said it out loud to people and they laughed.

I finally decided it was okay to set aside Book Three. That I wasn’t procrastinating, that I would get it done, but first, I had to get Intergalactic out of my system. When I finished I thought it was either the most brilliant story or the stupidest story I’d ever written. I didn’t care. It was silly. It was irreverent. I’d never had so much fun writing anything in my life. I laughed, I cried, I decided I had something and that I would polish it up and pitch it.

And I’m having a blast editing it, too.

YOUR WEEKEND WORKOUT

Rick Jarow states that as soon as someone says to him, “This is going to sound stupid, but I want . . .” then he knows they’ve come across an inspiring or important idea.

Just for a while, set aside whatever it is you’re “supposed” to be doing, and do something stupid, silly, and irreverent just for fun. It doesn’t have to be writing-related. It could be that you’re supposed to be grocery shopping and you decide to go into the toy store and blow bubbles instead. It could be that you’re supposed to do the laundry and instead you make a collage of smiles cut out of magazines (I’ve actually done that one, it’s fun).

If you are writing, put aside your novel edits and write that wacky short story you keep thinking is dumb. You know, the one about the robot mermaid that get sent back in time and befriends a fishermen. Or write whatever is is that’s niggling in the background and don’t care about what it’s for or why or the result.

I find doing things like this reconnects me with my child-like excitement around imagination and creativity.

So go forth and have fun. And if you feel so inclined to share what you did, I’d love to hear about it.

 

*Once in a workshop some kids asked what we could say instead of “Thank God” for people who were not religions. A 10-year-old girl came up with “Thank Cheese.”

 

Weekend Workout – Incidences

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Last night I had the pleasure of hearing Connie Willis and James Patrick Kelly read in conjunction with the Locus Awards this weekend. In the Q&A afterward they were talking about the bits of information we store in our heads as writers that breed and connect and eventually appear in our work. Not the big life and death things, but smaller moments, odd and funny bits that just hang out waiting for a home on the page.

I remember I wrote an short story that was inspired by a man writing the letters U.F.O. in the fog on a bus window. Another story was inspired by a hat I saw sitting on a bench.

This weekends (Re)Post is about writing from those small incidences.

Today while I was in a waiting room, a young child put a plastic stool up to the counter and stood up on it. One of the legs collapsed and he fell. He cried until his mother picked him up. The other day, I sat down on the bus and picked up the paper sitting in the seat to read it. An old lady behind me, with a thick German accent, said “You don’t want to read that, it’s for the gays.” She raised her eyebrows when I responded “I don’t mind” and the man behind her started laughing.

These are the kinds of small incidences that I tuck away in my mind to use later. These little tidbits are useful when bringing the depth of details to your work. That’s why I often have my students focus on these small moments instead of larger abstractions. I encourage my writing classes to find the smallest incidences possible in order to find the larger truths within them.

So, today I want you to begin SMALL.

Exercise #1

You’ll have to go outside for this one. (It’s kind of challenging to do this one inside your own home, but you can try it if you’d like.)

Wander around or sit and locate any “small incident.” Not between human beings, but between the grass and the trees, the clouds and the sun, the chipmunks, the neighbor’s cat, even the blades of grass. Pick something, the smallest “incident” you can and look at it politically.

For instance:
The clouds blocking out the sun.
One cat chasing another through a hole in the fence, guarding its territory.
A leaf falling from a tree and getting caught in the wind.

Using the incident as a start line, simply let it take you away. Start with the incident, describing the participants (in this case leaves and the wind), and then let it lead you somewhere. Time yourself for 7-10 minutes (may be done in poetry or prose).

Example:

The leaf, now dead, now over, tumbles down, turns, flits, too weak to direct itself. Its job description simple, the distance equal to the third act in its performance. Caught off guard in the wind it blows off course, if such a course exists. If such a path could be bought and sold. Now helpless, now bullied, it gives in to the breeze and crashes end over end in the street, passing parked cars and fences, the house being demolished and the house being built. In the direction of the park, now rolling faster… ETC.

Exercise #2

This one is done in a public space (again, if possible), on a bus, in a cafe, in the park. This time, note the people interacting. Note any small incidence that involves power, manipulation, deceit. Something a little “under the surface” would be good, or if an emotion is evoked. Using the same technique as above, write for 7-10 minutes on this small incident.

Example

Sitting side-by-side, two gangly, acne-faced teenagers with long uncombed hair and ratty baseball caps. One says they are looking for Sarah, for Sarah’s school. He points to a bus stop and says “that’s Sarah’s stop.” His smaller friend tells him he’s retarded. The larger boy says “I was born in 200 log cabins.” His smaller friends says “How is that possible, unless you were born in parts and assembled later?” The bigger boy thinks this is funny, he laughs and says “cool.” They pick up a drum beat, singing loudly about tattoos and skateboard stores. The Asian Ladies shift their grocery bags and frown. Big boy wants a free skateboard. Wants to skip school and go to the store…. ETC.

Exercise #3 – Putting it all together!

Now, using a character from a story (novel, screenplay, etc) on which you are currently working, pick one (or both!) of the exercises above and put your character inside the “incident.” Make her a part of it. You can try it twice with each incident or use them together if you’d like. Write a SCENE, this time, with action and dialogue.

Example

Polly walked through the scattered leaves. The leaves William had raked into great piles the morning before. The wind had taken no time to mock his work. It wouldn’t have bothered her if he had gotten angry about the leaves, flying fiercely about the neighborhood. He had simply laughed and shrugged. So typically Bill. She used to like that he took things so lightly, that he could let the days and months and seasons go by… ETC.

You may be surprised by where you go in this scene and may end up using it in your final manuscript.

Have a great weekend!

Weekend Workout (ReRun): Defining Moments

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(Danika’s blog is (mostly) in syndication for the summer. This is a repost from August 2010)

Author Anne Fleming has a brilliant short story called The Defining Moments of My Life, which I use in the classroom to inspire students for one of my favourite writing exercises.

Fleming’s short story is told as a series of moments that defined the character/narrator during her youth. The brilliance of her piece is that it is in two parts, the first part being “The Defining Moments of My Life as Envisioned by My Mother when Pregnant with Me.” This shorter section includes things like:

4. I am an easy baby, gurgling happily in my crib. Each stage described in the baby books I enter into promptly and exactly. At X days, my eyes focus past ten inches and I display an interest in the mobile above my crib . . .

7. I get my period. Of course my mother has lovingly explained my entrance into womanhood before the sacred event. I embrace my womanhood with bashful pleasure, feeling closer than ever to the woman who brought me into the world . . .

8. . . . I continue to be attractive, as my brother also turns out to be. We are popular and have lots of friends. Mothr makes us a nutritious lunch each day . . .

and

10. I have my first abortion.

Sorry. 10. I am valedictorian and give a moving speech, thanking my parents for their support.

The second section of the story is called “The Defining Moments of my Life as Seen by Me” and goes more like:

5. My adopted brother arrives. He has black hair and brown skin and hollers all the time. I can’t believe I ever hollered that much or that loudly, though I am told repeatedly it is true.

6. . . . Timmy Mills calls me and my brother ugly. This follows on my mother telling me gleefully and regularly – every time we se an infant, in fact, cute or ugly – that I was an ugly baby . . .

7. I get my period when I am ten. Not expecting this for a couple of years at least, Mom has not yet given me her Soon You Will Be a Woman speech, but I know what’s going on. I don’t think I’m bleeding to death with some mysterious disease. I know what menstruation is. I have read my friend Elaine’s copy of Are you There God? It’s Me, Margaret.

and

9. At seventeen, I win a part in West Side Story. I am the tomboy, always trying to get into the gang and always getting ridiculed and kicked around instead. My character’s name, interestingly, is “Anybody’s.” My mother is appalled. she knows I could not possibly be Maria, but she thought maybe a chorus girl, maybe even Bernard’s girlfriend, or Riff’s. Anybody but Anybody’s . . .

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Later in the story her brother gets arrested, her father goes to rehab, and it becomes increasingly apparent that she is a lesbian – who then falls for her best friend.

It’s a sad/beautiful demonstration of our dreams and expectations vs. reality and deliverance. (Life is often about surfing that line with grace, isn’t it?)

The EXERCISE I give to my students is to write a chapter poem or short story entitled “The 10 Defining Moments of My Life.”

What is really interesting is that I give this exercise to elementary kids as much as I give it to adults. It’s great fun to see what a 10 year old considers a “defining moment.” 🙂

A poetic version of the above might go something like:

1)
Four year old dance steps tap a frenzy of look-at-me
I’ve got girl graces
I can fly free and free and free
the world watches and applauds
the snake charm sense spinning
the manipulation of the birth
of me

2)
Discover stealing small things
fingering coins, cigarettes, stones
the hidden thrill-guilt in taken tokens
like charm seeds
planting the momentum for
stealing that which I can’t return
the heart of a man
and other beating things

Now it’s your turn! Write in prose or poetry “The 10 Defining Moments of My Life.”

Weekend Workout: Facing Fear (Character – Action Part 5 of 6)

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Querying can inspire (or despire, haha) feelings of anxiety and depression, even in the most Polyanna-ish writers. I have been through a few agents over the years (all amicable separations) and the approach is an emotional challenge every time.

When feelings of “what-if-no-one-likes-my-story” hit, I like to step back and view the process as a game. I think of the situation as one of those story problems my math teacher gave me. Okay, that’s probably a bad example for many of you because everyone I know hated those problems. I didn’t. Those were my favourite kind of math problems. They were little riddles to be solved and they involved storytelling (yeah, okay, I’m a geek).

Or today I emailed one of my query buddies and said “the pool ball just has to land in the right pocket.”

(Art by Alison Woodward, click for source)

In any case, if something in front of you is causing anxiety, instead of looking at it as this THING looming in your way, see it as an exciting opportunity to do something new and learn something new. How am I going to get to the other side of this? What will it take? How can I do it better? What have I learned so far that I can apply?

If it’s challenging, it’s probably because you haven’t done it before (or figured out how to do it without anxiety).

So, what does this have to do with your Weekend Workout?

I started thinking about these THINGS that we come up against in life and how it’s important to bring that kind of anxiety to our characters. I know you love them, but you can’t make things easy for them if they are going to grow in a satisfying way. How will they learn?

Try putting something directly in front of your character that addresses a fear and then requires them to behave the opposite of how they normally would.

This works for comedy or drama and creates tension in your story. What could you put in front of someone that would make an honest person lie or steel? What could you put in front of an extremely shy person that would put her in the spotlight? (I just pictured this really shy woman going up on stage in front of hundreds of people to distract the audience so someone she cares about can escape.)

What’s even better is if their actions lead them into deeper trouble. You can always get into deeper trouble. Keep digging as far as you can go.

YOUR WORKOUT:

Set your timer for 5 minutes.
Start at the top of the page with the following startline:

1) The one thing my protagonist swears she would never do is . . .

Write, don’t stop, don’t edit, don’t cross out.

When the timer stops, Set your timer for 7 more minutes.
Start with the following line: 

2) My protagonist agonizes when she must . . .

Write, don’t stop, don’t edit, don’t cross out.

When the timer stops, Set your timer for 10 more minutes.
Start with the following line: 

3) Things get even worse when . . .

Write, don’t stop, don’t edit, don’t cross out.

Read your exercises, make notes, highlight what makes sense.

Happy Weekend!

Last Leg of the Blog Tour and Weekend Workout

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There are four more stops on my blog tour on four great blogs. Reviews, Interviews, and Guest Posts.

Guest Post Today (May 11) on 4 AM Writer
I love Kate’s enthusiasm for all things writing.

Review/Interview Saturday, May 12 on Dead Houseplants
I snorked my coffee when I *got* that blog title. Oh, how I relate.

Guest Post Monday, May 12 on Just Deb
Deb is a great supporter of children’s writers and is a writer herself.

Interview on Wednesday, May 16 on Morgen Baily’s Writing Blog
One stop shopping for reviews, interviews, guest posts, podcasts, flash fiction and more.

And now to the Weekend Workout…

I’m in this odd in between writings stage at the moment. I still have not finished my Character – Action Workout series, but I’m not in that space right now, so maybe next Friday.

I just completed the final draft on INTERGALACTIC and am querying agents with it. I now have to get back into writing Book Three of the White Forest series, which my publisher probably wants to see by the end of the summer.

How does one step back into something that she hasn’t been working on for several months? Especially when it’s part of a larger series?

It’s time for the Fall Back Exercise.

This is the one I turn to several times in the process of writing a story. It’s useful at the beginning, at the end, during rewrites, for writer’s block, and for writing synopses. It’s the aspirin of writing exercises.

THIS STORY IS ABOUT . . .

When I sent my Intergalactic query letter to my critique partner she wrote back that I hadn’t really told her what the story was about. But wait, I had summarized all the main points of action. The problem is the main points of action are NOT what the story is about.

There’s the THING your protag MUST do or else THIS BAD THING will happen. But there’s also the emotional arc to the story.

For example, in Intergalactic, idoLL must figure out how to save her band mates and Princess Tarantella or there could be an interplanetary war. But her emotional arc is that she’s got to face her own possible cultural insignificance, swallow her pride, and partner up with her nemesis in order to save the day.

She risks losing her fame when it’s all she thinks she has. She risks losing her fame when it’s her entire identity. She doesn’t know who she is beyond the character she plays. Jettison is everything she isn’t and her instinct is to destroy her, not to rescue, defend, or befriend her. IdoLL does all three.

Now all I have to do is figure all this out for Ondelle of Grioth. Book Three (!) in the Faerie Tales from the White Forest series.

YOUR WORKOUT:

Set your timer for 5 minutes.
Start at the top of the page with the following startline:

1) This is a story about …

Write, don’t stop, don’t edit, don’t cross out.

When the timer stops, Set your timer for 7 more minutes.
Start with the following line: 

2) In this story, a boy/girl/animal must . . .

Write, don’t stop, don’t edit, don’t cross out.

When the timer stops, Set your timer for 10 more minutes.
Start with the following line: 

3) My protagonist makes his/her greatest sacrifice when . . .

Write, don’t stop, don’t edit, don’t cross out.

Read your exercises, make notes, highlight what makes sense.

Happy Weekend!

Weekend Workout: The Antagonist (Character – Action part 4 of 6)

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Most of my weekend writing workouts have been around the Protagonist. That’s mainly because if your reader doesn’t sympathize with your protagonist, you’ve pretty much lost a reader. But as Jack Remick reminded us in his fabulous guest post a few weeks ago:  Make every character strong enough to be the protagonist of your next novel.

To tell you the truth, I’ve come across a few fictional antagonists that I’ve appreciated more than the protagonists of the stories. And I’ve heard some writers say that sometimes they’ve got antagonists they prefer to write about, which I think is saying something.

When we were in high school, we were often told that the “antagonist” is equivalent to the “villain.” This is not always the case. In fact, in contemporary literature, I think it’s the exception. The villain is a bad guy. The monster. The evil one. He’s out to harm the protagonist, possibly kill him.

The ANTAGONIST is the one whose opposition helps test/shape/change the protagonist. Sometimes the antagonist even does this because she thinks she’s doing right by the protagonist (even if the protagonist doesn’t see it).

I just finished Melina Marchetta’s Finnikin of the Rock (which I highly recommend for people who enjoy more traditional fantasy). My favourite character is not actually Finnikin; it’s his antagonist Evanjalin. She is complex, manipulative, secretive, fearless, and sometimes it’s difficult for Finnikin to figure out whose side she’s on ~ even while falling in love with her. But she is not the villain. If there is one, he only appears in name as the King who wants to invade Finnikin’s homeland.

Evanjalin has her own wants, desires, and needs and if these did not come clear to the reader, the story would have failed.

Every once in a while, I’ll find a main character who is actually the antagonist of the story. This character doesn’t change, but rather changes everyone around him or her. Get Shorty and Cold Comfort Farm fall into this category. Chili Palmer and Flora Poste are the same people throughout the story, and the stories are definitely about them. But their influences are what make others take action, and truly become better, stronger, and more free.

Who is your antagonist? Who is it whose opposition tests and helps change your protagonist? How and why does the antagonist oppose (or try to change) the protagonist? And how does this call your protagonist to action?

YOUR WORKOUT:

Set your timer for 5 minutes.
Start at the top of the page with the following startline:

1) My Antagonist enters the story when …

Write, don’t stop, don’t edit, don’t cross out.

When the timer stops, Set your timer for 7 more minutes.
Start with the following line: 

2) My Antagonist’s exterior goal is . . .

Write, don’t stop, don’t edit, don’t cross out.

When the timer stops, Set your timer for 10 more minutes.
Start with the following line: 

3) My antagonist’s agenda conflicts with my protagonist’s exterior goal when …

Write, don’t stop, don’t edit, don’t cross out.

Read your exercises, make notes, highlight what makes sense.

 

Happy Weekend!

Weekend Workout: Guest Post by Jack Remick (Character – Action Part 3 of 6)

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It is my absolute pleasure to introduce your Weekend Workout guest Jack Remick, author and writing mentor / teacher extraordinaire. He was a great influence and inspiration when I took a dramatic writing class from him and co-teacher Robert Ray many years ago. His exercises have stuck with me to this day. If you’re in the Vancouver area, he often teaches at the Surrey Writer’s Festival.

If you enjoy this post, check out Jack and Bob’s Writing Blog for more valuable writing advice and guidance.

~     ~     ~

Character and Action—The Deep Relationship

Vulnerability is the key to the sympathetic character. The wound, coupled with a secret coupled with character flaw, gives you a human character. The more obvious the wound, the more deeply buried the secret the more likely the reader is to identify with the character.

Your characters also have a history of pain, shame, guilt, betrayal, and doubt. Getting to know the character’s shame and guilt leads you to the essential element of dramatic conflict that all novels must have in order to engage the reader in the story.

If you write about your character in the past and then in the present and then the future, you deepen character as well as introduce aspects of plotting.  What will become of her? Will she find happiness? Defeat? Plotting a future for your character gives you a handle on the narrative present.

Here are some hints for creating strong characters:

Action comes from character needs.

Make every character strong enough to be the protagonist of your next novel–

Betrayal: How many times has your character been betrayed?

Shame: What is she ashamed of?

Guilt: What is she guilty of?

Doubt: Why does she doubt herself?

Three words for strong characters that get you to action:

Want

Need

Can’t

Want. What does your character want?

Need. What does she need?

Can’t. What can’t she have.

Thwarting Desire and Plot:

Human beings react to being thwarted. Desire always leads to action. In fiction, action is what characters do to achieve their wants, to satisfy their needs.

Plot can be defined as the chain of events your characters undertake to get what they want. How does your character react when she finds out she can’t have what she wants?

Denial

When the character is denied what she wants, what action does she take to over come that denial? Denial leads to action. Action leads to pain. Who gets hurt?

Need merging into Obsession.

What does your character need? A hundred thousand bucks a year?

New wardrobe every six months? A new house? How strong is that need? Is it strong enough to become an obsession? When need becomes an obsession, needs meld into drive. Need is the deep, inner aspect of character that cannot be ignored. Don’t ignore it.

The Driven Character:

How driven is your character? What will she do to get what she wants?  Murder? Steal? Cheat? Betray her husband? lover? children? mother?  What will she do when her drive is deflected or even betrayed?

Joining Need to Want and Can’t

When your characters have needs and wants but can’t gratify or satisfy them, you  have an equation that spits out Action. Action is what your character does to meet her needs, to get what she wants.

Does your character want to be wanted? Are there layers of want? Why does your character need to be wanted? Deepen need and want and can’t with shame, guilt and betrayal and you have character traits that will engage your reader?

Doubt, the Forgotten Element.

What does your character doubt? Her abilities? Her sexuality? Her intelligence? Doubt always leads to hesitation—that moment before she pulls the trigger, slashes off her hair, slices her wrist. Doubt is the powerful inhibitor of action. Because the character doubts her physical prowess, she fails to engage the villain in combat. Failing combat, she loses the battle. Losing the battle leads her to the brink of death. Doubt is serious business in fiction.

Childhood and Buried Need:

How deeply buried in the character’s childhood is your character’s need? Can we see the buried need erupting in her present life?  What caused that need? Who buried it? Why was it buried?

Summary:

The coupling of want, need, can’t, guilt, shame, betrayal, and doubt leads you to action, psychology, and plot. How does plot hook to need and want and can’t? When want and need become obsessions, you create the driven character. Character drive is what moves story.

Timed Writing—write for five minutes on each of these start lines:

The protagonist in my story WANTS

The protagonist in my story NEEDS

The protagonist in my story CAN’T have ___________because…

Danika adds: remember to just write, no editing or crossing out.

Have a great weekend!