Writing Advice - Character Goals

Characters need goals. This seems obvious, but it’s a weakness I often find in early drafts (including my own): characters wander around randomly or things happen to them but they never take action themselves.

Characters need large goals. Meaty goals that last the length of a book. These goals don’t have to be complicated. Often they are as simple as defeating the bad guy or staying alive. (Both usually.)

For a reader to invest in the outcome of a story, there needs to be something at stake, something bad that will happen or be lost if the goal isn’t achieved. What happens if the bad guy isn’t defeated? Does the world end? Do two countries go to war? Or is it something smaller, but deeply personal, for example the loss of a job/spouse/child/friend? (Note the loss can be death or something like the dissolution of a marriage.) Ask yourself if you can make the stakes higher.

Ideally, your book should have both public and private stakes. Often at the beginning of the story, the character may not know the full extent of the problem. Stakes may start small and personal, then get bigger. For example at the beginning of Spiderman: Far From Home Peter Parker’s goal is to date MJ. This remains his personal goal, but he’s quickly drawn into saving his classmates and the world from a monster.

Once your character has a concrete goal, they need to start taking steps to achieve it. Often this means breaking their goal down into little steps. In Spiderman: Far From Home Peter’s first small goal is to sit with MJ on the plane.

Characters need a goal in every scene—and the sooner you give them a goal the better. That way the reader immediately begins to wonder: will they achieve their goal or not.

This can be tricky when you as the author have a reason for the scene that is inobvious to the reader. Let’s say you need your character to have a conversation with the curmudgeon down the hall in order to drop in a clue that means nothing now, but will be important later. But your character has no reason to speak to the curmudgeon. How do you keep your reader from being bored and impatient during a random encounter in the hallway? By giving your character a small goal such as, don’t lose his temper or convince curmudgeon to feed her cat while she’s off on an adventure.

Sometimes characters achieve their goals and move onto the next step. Sometimes they fail and have to try again or set new goals. Either way, the hero’s course should become harder and harder as the novel accelerates towards the climax.

Can Organizing Help You Create Your Own Story?

by Maureen Bonatch

I started this year on a mission to organize stuff. 

Those who know me may be a little surprised at this since I’m already a person who doesn’t like clutter and is constantly getting rid of things. 

But this time it was a little different, this time it was personal. 

Almost Anything Can Have Sentimental Value

Often many, or even most, of the things we seem to always be sorting through and putting back on the shelf or in the closet have a sentimental value. I use the term sentimental loosely because we can usually find sentimental value in just about anything. Ticket stubs, cards, gifts from someone all bring up a nice memory—or so we tell ourselves. 

What happens when those ‘memories’ of yesterday burden us from making room for new ones? Or they feel more like an obligation to constantly move them around so we can’t find what we really need for today or make room for tomorrow? 

It’s as if we have a book that we love and keep reading it over and over and never read something new. As if we think that nothing could ever compare to this book so we never pick up a new one.

Your Story Starts Today

At the start of the year I read Marie Kondo’s book about the magic of tidying up (it's always been magical to me) and one thing particularly stuck with me to help me realize and embrace letting go of things that may have become baggage instead of bringing joy. 

It was to recognize that some things serve a purpose for a time in our lives, but that may not serve the person we are today. So it’s not that we didn’t appreciate and love something, we’re just ready to move on to find new joy. (Although I can’t fully support Marie’s beliefs on how many books we should keep—that’s where I draw the line.)

These concepts also connect to the characters I love to write and read about. If a story only ever focused on the past, and the characters never moved forward, the story may not be as interesting. We want to see our characters break out of their shell, make progress, and discover new things. So why don’t we apply these same principles to our own lives? 

Live Through the Characters- or Become One

It’s comforting to hold onto the past, but sometimes it’s more exciting to see what the future might bring—even if it’s just the joy of having a closet that we can open and know what’s in there and where to find everything. 

I did take this a step further this year and changed my job after working in a position for 16 years. This decision was both terrifying and exciting. It wasn’t something I would normally do. It’s something I would make my characters do in my stories. 

But I thought perhaps it was time that I faced that inciting incident and let a new adventure begin. While other times, it’s enough to live vicariously through a character in a book and enjoy a quiet, organized space of my home.

How Are You Writing Your Story?

Author Bio: Maureen Bonatch grew up in small town Pennsylvania and her love of the four seasons—hockey, biking, sweat pants and hibernation—keeps her there. While immersed in writing or reading paranormal romance and fantasy, she survives on caffeine, wine, music, and laughter. A feisty Shih Tzu keeps her in line. Find Maureen on her website, Facebook& Twitter

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Throw Me a Life Preserver

Now that I’m writing book five of a six-book series, I’ve discovered a problem. It’s not a plot problem, exactly, because I’ve known the complete story for some time now. It’s not that I’m bored with the series, though—sure—some days are a little slower for me than others. It’s not a fear of disappointing my readers or finishing the series and never writing anything people like again. Those problems might show up later, but right now, it’s cool. I got this.

No. The problem I’m having right now is sort of an embarrassment of riches.

I’m drowning in characters.

I love my characters. Readers tell me they love my characters. Reviewers who weren’t in love with the plot often said they love my characters. But with each book, new characters have entered the already crowded world and made themselves important.

I’m on book five, folks. Demons in My Driveway. There’s only one left after this. Half my cast is standing around backstage, waiting for their cues. How can I give them each enough page time to complete their arcs? How can I keep all the most-loved players front and center when the pace of the story is moving too quickly for the character-building tea breaks and heart-felt talks on the front porch?

To make matters more complicated, writing book five isn’t like writing all the previous books. I’m not working on just one book. Book five is more like the first half of a two-part finale. The scope is so much larger. And I’m painfully aware that I really do have to start wrapping up all the storylines I started so many books ago.

This has all been Zoey’s journey. But part of Zoey’s journey was picking up new friends and family everywhere she went. That’s her thing. And it’s caused a huge headache for me. Every scene, it seems, I have to figure out where everybody is. If she’s home, who’s sleeping in which bedroom or tent? This includes monsters in closets and under beds—which closet and whose bed?

I’ve been sorely tempted to whip out a box of LEGO mini-figures so I could stage it all. People are everywhere. Creatures are everywhere. And as the danger increases—as it must—more people of all different types rally to Zoey’s aid, creating further crowding.

Zoey and I are drowning.

So, maybe some of the characters won’t get as much time on screen after this. But I did discover something I can do about it. I’ve started writing short stories in Zoey’s world. It helps me spend a little more time with Zoey and her friends without the pressure of the world coming to an end. So far, I’ve put out two short stories, “Ill-Conceived Magic” and “Hidden Holidays.” A few more are coming. In fact, I’ve got my eye on a whole group of people from the upcoming book four, Golem in My Glovebox. Characters who were that much fun to write deserve more than a chapter and a half. They might even get their own novella.

So, that’s my solution. Keep the plot moving forward and write short stories to keep the characters from feeling slighted. It’s not a perfect solution, but it’ll get me to the end of the series.

And who knows…maybe someday I'll write a spinoff.

Rachel's head is packed with an outrageous amount of useless Disney trivia. She is terrified of thunder, but not of lightning, and sometimes recites the Disneyland dedication speech during storms to keep herself calm. She finds it appalling that nobody from Disney has called yet with her castle move-in date.

Originally from Northern California, she has a tendency to move every few years, resulting in a total of seven different states and a six-year stint in England. Currently, she's living in the Heartland, planning her next grand adventure. Rachel has one heroic husband, two grown kids, a crazy-catlady starter kit, and an imaginary dog named Waffles.

She doesn't have time for a real dog.


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Listening to characters

I had to crowd surf for a topic.  So this blog is about...(drum roll)….”When the characters 'talk' to you...do you talk back?”

I think this question is related to “Where do you get your ideas?”

I was asked this by an editor I wanted to impress recently and I had to say "I have no idea the heroes just wander into my mind". Yeah, that sounded cool. It is however the truth. The hero, usually, just appears and starts dropping enticing hints about his world or his problem.

Seriously when Haidyn from Dark Secrets turned up in his lovely red coat and said he was a whore I just went, na-ah I can’t write that. Needless to say he stuck around until I did.

When the Goblin King arrived I just knew he had dreadlocks. Random, yes, but it was so much a part of the story in the end that I couldn’t imagine him any other way. (I know he doesn't have dreads on the cover but trust me by the end you will get it).

I guess I see and hear the characters in my mind, but most of the story is impressions that I give voice to, sometimes it like watching a film without sound—some scenes are so clear there is sound.

Other times I'm running around in the dark wondering who turned out the light and where is this story going, only to pop out on the other side with total understanding and a new appreciation for the hell I put my characters through (it’s for their own good, really, and not one has complained yet).

Once their story is written that is it, they leave me in peace and new people populate my mind.

 

I'm pretty sure non writers don't get it. When I get asked what I'm thinking about there's a dozen different things going on, like the heroine's backstory, how does the magic in this world work? Is the hero good at sport? Should I have another piece of chocolate? The heroine seems a little lost...is this about her self discovery? That is a very cool scar Mr. Hero, how did you get that? Oooh *shiny new hero walks past and flashes a grin* who are you? He brought wine! Plotting party in my head! I should totally have another piece of chocolate.

 

Where was I...I listen to my characters and they tell me stuff, yes I know it's my subconscious but it's kind of cool that all of that is in there just waiting to come out.

Can you hear me now?

So, that last novel you enjoyed - what did the characters sound like?

No, really - sit back and think about them for a moment. I don’t mean what did the author say they sounded like, i.e. the descriptions of the person’s pitch, tone or some special quality that made them stand out. What did the characters sound like to you?

Did you go by what the author said, imagining every defined nuance? Or did you defy the written word, and throw on a voice you preferred, instead - maybe a brogue, or some New York swagger? Did the characters default to stereotypical voices according to their assigned roles, heritage, or attitudes? Or maybe your favorite actors unwittingly stepped in to narrate your tale?

Speaking of narrators (huh! Ok, that was a horrible pun and segue), maybe you prefer audio books to print. Do you mentally assign a new voice to each character as they’re read, or do you allow the voice actor to do the lion’s share of the imaginative work? Do you find it hard to find a unique voice for each character once you’ve listened to the actor’s choice of accent, dialect or inflection?

Writers - how often do the voices of your characters shift while you're writing a book (if at all)? Would you be able to pick your characters out of a crowd if all you had to go on was a phrase, a shout, or a random musing? Have you ever disliked a character’s voice (and what happened when you tried to change it)? And if someone other than you recorded the audio book version of your novel, how did you feel about the choices the actor made for your characters? Would you have made different choices, had you been behind the mic?

Do tell!

 

***

 

Natasha is the author of the Lost Souls Series - available at Carina Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iTunes and Audible.

She tweets about her writing and related interests at http://twitter.com/natgreyangel, posts occasional videos at http://youtube.com/user/natashagreyangel, blogs at http://natashahoar.wordpress.com and last, but not least, can be found on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/AuthorNatashaHoar.

How Online Gaming Influenced My Writing

Hi again, Here Be Magic readers! With my fantasy novel Valor of the Healer dropping tomorrow at CarinaPress.com (about which I'd just like to remark YAY! and also HOLY CRAP I have a book coming out!), I'd like to chat with you all about some of the background of the story. And in particular, my online gaming background that influenced aspects of all three of the viewpoint characters.

Out of all the things I've written to date, Valor of the Healer has the longest-running history throughout my life. Way back in middle and high school, I was writing novels that eventually formed the basis of the backstory for Valor's world. And sometimes I was even writing them during class, while pretending to take notes! (One advantage to writing out a story longhand in a spiral-bound notebook!) I still have those stories, and while they are very, very much the products of a young writer, I keep them around nonetheless for nostalgia. In those stories, you can see the very earliest versions of the nation of Adalonia, and the character who eventually became the Anreulag in Valor of the Healer.

Later on, once I'd gotten out of college, I discovered MUSHes. The name is an abbrevation of Multi-User Shared Hallucination, and they are a type of online, text-based roleplaying game. Generally they were based on the setting of a work of SF/F, and the idea was that you'd be able to create a character in that environment and roleplay with other characters in real time. I played on several of these games, including ones set in the worlds of Elfquest, The Dragonriders of Pern, and Star Wars.

The character of Kestar Eyrian Vaarsen is in fact named after a couple of characters played by my friend Amanda, with whom I roleplayed extensively on PernMUSH back in the 90's. The character in my book was originally a lot more like the characters of K'star and E'rian, but he eventually evolved into his own person. Nonetheless, he's named after those characters, in homage to all the awesome roleplay fun I had with Amanda.

But sometimes the settings were entirely original, like AetherMUSH, which was the creation of Astra Poyser Laughlin, who you'll see called out in the Acknowledgements of my book. The reason? AetherMUSH was the place where the first versions of Faanshi and Julian were created.
I found my MUSHing experience surprisingly useful for developing writing skills. On several of the games I played on, if you wanted to play characters with special abilities or "feature" characters--i.e., the game's versions of characters that appeared in the original canon, such as Han Solo on Star Wars MUSH--you were generally required to create an application for those characters. You'd have to think about questions of backstory for the characters, what they may have done before if you were inheriting them from previous players, and what sort of plots you'd want to roleplay with those characters while you had them. It was immensely helpful for character development skills.

And on the best MUSHes I played on, such as Aether, huge emphasis was placed as well upon one's plotting skills. You'd often be called upon to create "tinyplots", interactive plots where your fellow players could join you in carrying out a particular story. Again, valuable writing experience. You'd need to sketch out the broad details of the story, while also accounting for alternate ways for the plot to go depending on the actions of your fellow players.

Eventually, I got to the point where I kept regular running logs of all of my characters' activities. To give readers of the logs more of a sense of continuity, I'd also write "What has gone before" introductions to them, and sometimes side prose snippets as well to link them together. Once I started doing this, people started telling me that reading my logs was just like reading a novel.

Once I committed to writing for real, I had to give up MUSHing--due to not only time constraints, but also due to how the skills I'd come to feel were required to MUSH effectively were ones better spent on my writing work. But to this day, I look back on my MUSHing time with great affection and I still have my archive of roleplay logs. In those logs, you can find the original versions of Faanshi and Julian in particular, characters that never actually interacted with one another in their first incarnations! Bonus fun fact: the AetherMUSH version of Julian had wings!

How about you, Here Be Magic readers? Are any of you gamers of any sort? Fellow Here Be Magic author Tia Nevitt is a fellow former MUSHer, and I'd love to hear about any of the rest of you who have gaming backgrounds, especially if your gaming experiences influenced your writing in any way. What were your favorite games to play? Do you have any characters from your gaming days who are insisting you tell stories about them now? Tell me all about them in the comments!

How the Villain Stomped on My Outline

I outline.  In the world of writers, I am a plotter, not a pantser, an architect, not a gardener.  For the most part I follow my outline, though the story usually stretches and grows as I go along and new, juicy ideas are added.  I’d never really run into the well-known phenomena of a character refusing to do as I wanted—until Soul of Kandrith.

After having written book one, Gate to Kandrith, I knew my two main characters quite well.  Lance may have grumbled a bit, but neither he nor Sara gave me any serious trouble.  All was going along swimmingly until my villain, Nir, the high priest of the God of War, strode onto the scene.  He snorted with contempt at my neat little outline.  “That wouldn’t stop me,” he said, and he stomped it flat.  His actions wrenched the storyline into a much darker place than I had originally intended to go.

When I sat down to do the second draft, I made a note to myself: “Make this less dark.”  And I tried, I did, but Nir dug in his heels and refused to cooperate.  I eventually conceded that he was right, that it would be out of character for him to act the way my outline dictated.  And the darkness and peril made the storyline more compelling.  Furthermore, I came to realize that lightening the darkness too much would take away from my themes of slavery and sacrifice.  So I let it be. 

So when you reach that section, just remember it wasn’t my fault.  It was Nir’s.  Blame him.  Hate him.  And cheer when he gets taken down at the end.

 The conclusion of the Kandrith duology

Lance is a healer and wielder of slave magic, a power that demands sacrifice. He gave up his health to gain the ability to heal others, but he's powerless to cure his beloved Sara, who sacrificed her soul to save Lance and all of Kandrith. Returning her soul would negate her gift, at the cost of his life and the freedom of his homeland.

Now Sara is but a shell of the noble, spirited woman she once was. All that Lance saw and loved in her is gone, but he refuses to give up on her. Charged by his sister, the ruler of Kandrith, with a mission to encourage a budding rebellion within the aggrandizing Republic of Temboria, he leaves with Sara in tow. But not before Wenda's soulsight detects a spark within her.

Amidst the escalating dangers in hostile territory, Lance will have to risk both his beloved and his homeland in a final gambit to save them both…

Buy on Kindle, Audible, Nook, and Kobo

Hurting my characters

I am the first to admit I’m mean to my characters. Sometimes it’s off the page and in their backstory (Dai from Kiss of the Goblin Prince). Other times it’s on the page and the character must suffer.

In Dark Vow I killed the heroine's husband in chapter one and then made her face up to the lie her life had been.

In Dark Secrets I try to drive the hero, Haidyn, insane with magic, put his lost love on the arm of another man and then had him branded as a whore.

A weaker character would have curled up and said enough. But Haidyn sucked it up and proved he was hero worthy. It doesn’t matter how many times you get knocked down as long as you get back up. I’m sure that someone famous made that quote and I’ve just butchered it, but it’s something I keep in mind as I write. I want my character to keep fighting against the odds. I want them to grow despite everything that is against them.

It’s the resilience of human spirit that enjoy writing about.

Dark Secrets
Six years ago, Haidyn Mast left his home and his betrothed Anisa to follow his magical calling. Too weak to join the Arcane Guild and too ashamed to return home, he has made a life as a prostitute—to all outward appearances. In truth, he sells his mind but not his body, using magic to let his clients experience their most secret fantasies while his hands stay clean. Even the Lawman, the arbiter of justice in Reseda, is one of his clients, but Haidyn would rather not know the extent of that man's depravity.

Though successful, Haidyn is shunned as a whore and his lack of formal training is causing his power to grow out of control. He's ready to retire and leave the city, but when he sees his Anisa standing at the Lawman's side, he knows he must rescue her from the abusive enforcer. Risking his life and his sanity, he devises a plan, knowing that failure will mean death for him, and a lifetime of torment for her…