"And he is in dire need of a personality" made me laugh, but it's really true. I now feel pretty invested in Emeric's journey, even though he's only a good character example.
Again, the thing about good writing advice is if it makes you think that you need to stop and make sure you're doing this. Good writing advice comes with clear examples you can apply. If you do this, it will look like this, and that's concrete advice I can appreciate.
As I've most of my mystery novel written, and I'm going to have to back now through my chapter spreadsheet and outline the sub goals. I like this approach -- simple but effective. What is she after in this part of the story and does she achieve it? Why or why not? Given that this is a mystery novel, and therefore, even as an amateur sleuth, she is following a line of thinking -- I'm doing this for this reason, it's worth add a row for these sub goals to I can make sure I maintain tension. It is all too easy to let a character just meander around doing something that you love about them but that doesn't contribute to the story. Half of what Sesame did in the first draft was just that.
I already think Sesame's voice is fantastic. She narrates the story in 1st person and there's so much of the novel in how she sees and experiences the world. The fact that I started breaking the fourth wall with her a bit just takes it to a new level.
It's definitely something I've learned in my years as an editor: examples are literally ✨everything✨
They bring whatever I'm explaining to life, and help writers make sense of everything far more quickly than pages and pages of explanation. I try to use them whenever I can, even if it does mean coming up with weird little steampunk guys 😁
And honestly, breaking goals down into chapter and scene-sized chunks is one of the most effective ways I've found to keep a story on track and stop "wandering around" effect we can slip into so easily
Sesame sounds great. Characters that leap off of the page with their own distinctive voice are my absolute favourites!
Rock solid advice. My stories are character driven so it makes sense that the stories I like to read are character driven. (There have been a few exceptions, but just a few) I've been disappointed countless times when a great sounding book loses me because the characters fall flat.
Also a side note, apparently in my group of reading friends I'm in the minority, they chose plot over character and that just turned my world upside down. It does explain why I never enjoyed their book suggestions.
That's so interesting! Are they sci-fi readers by any chance? Or literary fiction? I feel like those are the two places where plot driven stories are still holding out somewhat. Although even then, more and more sci-fi is character driven too!
Funny enough, they love thrillers and whatever else is mixed in there. So if its supernatural or sci-fi, it doesn’t matter.
I don’t read as much sci-fi, but when I have its usually character-driven. I mean I want a good plot too, its all about balance. But for me a big turn off is if I can’t connect to the character. For them connecting to characters isn’t a big deal.
Guilty as charged and worse - the main characters of the ensemble I'm currently working on are pretty much carbon copies of each other at inception. I didn't know who they were until halfway through the first draft. Once I began to know them, I found an even bigger problem - the story takes place when they were all at different stages of their journey.
Then as I complete the first draft, I began to chisel out the details of everyone, see what's true an unique to each. What are their goals in this particular frame of the story? Who did what when, where, and how does that affect the character as well as the other characters? The subtle difference turns into cracks, then further defined into a landscape of cavernous hills and valleys as each of them found their own purpose. To some, they need to quickly progress with this part of the story to get to their main goal. While others hasn't even realized that they are actually a main character in a story. Everyone pulls the story apart in their own selfishly beneficial way - It's chaotic.
Fortunately, I [REDACTED]
It's very clear that I did a very roundabout way of doing things to create compelling characters. And I don't know if I could consider [REDACTED] as its own character, but I do hope I'm doing a good enough job so that whoever ends up reading the book won't be too disappointed.
Once upon a time a novel leaped out of me after someone gave me its storyline and asked if I could write it and I said I had lived about half of it the year before, and some people who read it after it was written asked how much of it was made up and how much of it was real?, and I said whatever they want to believe :-). Eventually, it became al free ebook at a free internet library run by American colleges. ThE tale ain't for prudes and/or the faint of heart. And, yes, I did practice law in Birmingham, Alabama, and yes, after that I began having not of this world experiences, and some of that bleeds into the tale, and some of it I lived in some way or another. Here's the hyperlink TO HEAVY WAIT: A Strange Tale (2010 - https://archive.org/details/heavy-wait-a-strange-tale_202212 ; and here's the hyperlink to ITS sequel RETURN Of THE STRANGE (2024) ; https://archive.org/details/retun-of-the-strange-v-20_202306 .
"And he is in dire need of a personality" made me laugh, but it's really true. I now feel pretty invested in Emeric's journey, even though he's only a good character example.
My exact thoughts when I used to date in my twenties to, as it so happens
😂
Thanks so much! I had a whole lot of fun with this one…as you can probably tell 😂
“Because once the reader cares deeply about the person at the centre of our story, they’ll follow the protagonist to hell.”
Such a sharp way to put it! Character investment is the engine of our narrative Ferrari.
Yes! Also? The phrase “narrative Ferrari” is now accepted into the canon. It’s amazing 😂
Huzzah! A victory for narrative machinery everywhere 🎆🚀
Again, the thing about good writing advice is if it makes you think that you need to stop and make sure you're doing this. Good writing advice comes with clear examples you can apply. If you do this, it will look like this, and that's concrete advice I can appreciate.
As I've most of my mystery novel written, and I'm going to have to back now through my chapter spreadsheet and outline the sub goals. I like this approach -- simple but effective. What is she after in this part of the story and does she achieve it? Why or why not? Given that this is a mystery novel, and therefore, even as an amateur sleuth, she is following a line of thinking -- I'm doing this for this reason, it's worth add a row for these sub goals to I can make sure I maintain tension. It is all too easy to let a character just meander around doing something that you love about them but that doesn't contribute to the story. Half of what Sesame did in the first draft was just that.
I already think Sesame's voice is fantastic. She narrates the story in 1st person and there's so much of the novel in how she sees and experiences the world. The fact that I started breaking the fourth wall with her a bit just takes it to a new level.
Fun times. Thanks for the article!
It's definitely something I've learned in my years as an editor: examples are literally ✨everything✨
They bring whatever I'm explaining to life, and help writers make sense of everything far more quickly than pages and pages of explanation. I try to use them whenever I can, even if it does mean coming up with weird little steampunk guys 😁
And honestly, breaking goals down into chapter and scene-sized chunks is one of the most effective ways I've found to keep a story on track and stop "wandering around" effect we can slip into so easily
Sesame sounds great. Characters that leap off of the page with their own distinctive voice are my absolute favourites!
Rock solid advice. My stories are character driven so it makes sense that the stories I like to read are character driven. (There have been a few exceptions, but just a few) I've been disappointed countless times when a great sounding book loses me because the characters fall flat.
Also a side note, apparently in my group of reading friends I'm in the minority, they chose plot over character and that just turned my world upside down. It does explain why I never enjoyed their book suggestions.
That's so interesting! Are they sci-fi readers by any chance? Or literary fiction? I feel like those are the two places where plot driven stories are still holding out somewhat. Although even then, more and more sci-fi is character driven too!
Funny enough, they love thrillers and whatever else is mixed in there. So if its supernatural or sci-fi, it doesn’t matter.
I don’t read as much sci-fi, but when I have its usually character-driven. I mean I want a good plot too, its all about balance. But for me a big turn off is if I can’t connect to the character. For them connecting to characters isn’t a big deal.
Huh. That's wild, because all the recent thrillers I've read have been *extremely* character driven
Just goes to show how different people's tastes can be
Fwiw, I'm exactly like you. If I don't care about the "who" I can't care about the "what"
My kinsmen.
🤜🤛
Guilty as charged and worse - the main characters of the ensemble I'm currently working on are pretty much carbon copies of each other at inception. I didn't know who they were until halfway through the first draft. Once I began to know them, I found an even bigger problem - the story takes place when they were all at different stages of their journey.
Then as I complete the first draft, I began to chisel out the details of everyone, see what's true an unique to each. What are their goals in this particular frame of the story? Who did what when, where, and how does that affect the character as well as the other characters? The subtle difference turns into cracks, then further defined into a landscape of cavernous hills and valleys as each of them found their own purpose. To some, they need to quickly progress with this part of the story to get to their main goal. While others hasn't even realized that they are actually a main character in a story. Everyone pulls the story apart in their own selfishly beneficial way - It's chaotic.
Fortunately, I [REDACTED]
It's very clear that I did a very roundabout way of doing things to create compelling characters. And I don't know if I could consider [REDACTED] as its own character, but I do hope I'm doing a good enough job so that whoever ends up reading the book won't be too disappointed.
Sounds like you definitely got there in the end! And ultimately that's the only thing that matters 😁
All of my characters, except maybe the moose, think they're the protagonist. I certainly hope they're not cardboard cutouts.
This was helpful to remind myself to keep them... fun and unique I guess.
Once upon a time a novel leaped out of me after someone gave me its storyline and asked if I could write it and I said I had lived about half of it the year before, and some people who read it after it was written asked how much of it was made up and how much of it was real?, and I said whatever they want to believe :-). Eventually, it became al free ebook at a free internet library run by American colleges. ThE tale ain't for prudes and/or the faint of heart. And, yes, I did practice law in Birmingham, Alabama, and yes, after that I began having not of this world experiences, and some of that bleeds into the tale, and some of it I lived in some way or another. Here's the hyperlink TO HEAVY WAIT: A Strange Tale (2010 - https://archive.org/details/heavy-wait-a-strange-tale_202212 ; and here's the hyperlink to ITS sequel RETURN Of THE STRANGE (2024) ; https://archive.org/details/retun-of-the-strange-v-20_202306 .