Character Arc, part 2: the Lie, the Want, the Need

In a previous post, character arc was discussed. According to KM Weiland, gaining an understanding of how to write character arcs is a game-changing moment in any author’s pursuit of the craft. Weiland is the creator of the Helping Writers Become Authors blog, a deep well of information on the multiple aspects of the writing craft.

Weiland devotes over a dozen articles to character arcs, linked here. A story should begin with The Lie Your Character Believes. This lie is the foundation for the MC’s character arc. It’s his “normal” and is what is wrong in his life. Everything may be grand for the MC (or not), but festering just under the surface is The Lie.

People hate change. We hang out safe in our comfort zones and our characters are no different. They resist change just as we do. Weiland says that is okay because out of resistance comes conflict, and out of conflict comes plot. Plot is more than just a protagonist working toward an external goal. It’s about the MC’s inner goal, the thing he can’t get all because of The Lie.

A protagonist should start the story with something lacking, some way he is incomplete internally. He probably doesn’t realize it, or at best, has a vague understanding of it. He may not be affected by it or in denial of it until the inciting incident. Weiland compares it to a tooth cavity, shiny on the outside but decayed just below the surface. A writer should introduce The Lie early and show how the MC is deeply established in it through his “normal” world. In A Christmas Carol, Dickens sets Ebenezer Scrooge’s normal as one of work, work, work. There is no time for Christmas and other such folly. The poor and destitute have only themselves to blame and will get no help from him. This establishes his Lie: that a man’s worth is only measured by money. 

The next leg of the character arc is what Weiland calls What the Character Wants/What the Character Needs. It is related to The Lie.

Every plot line features a protagonist striving for a goal, something external. When creating character arcs there needs to be two, the surface goal and something that matters to the character on a deeper level. The Lie is at the heart of the secondary goal. The Thing Scrooge Wants - money and lots of it - bolsters his Lie of personal worth is measured by wealth.

At the story’s beginning, the MC doesn’t realize he has a problem. He believes chasing the Thing he Wants will bring fulfillment. Yet, pursuing it only entangles him deeper in his Lie. He can only find contentment in seeking the Thing he Needs. What he needs is the truth.

Your main character will spend the story unknowingly seeking the Thing he Needs, while in pursuit of the Thing he Wants. What he Needs is usually not physical. Often What he Needs is merely a realization, a new perspective that will change the way he views himself. He Needs the truth. Without it, he will not grow. He’ll either stagnate in the negative beliefs that’s holding him back, or he’ll digress even further. Ebenezer Scrooge Needs to see that true wealth comes not from money, but from a connection with his fellow human beings.

Characters are complex little creatures. They’ll lie to themselves, wish for things they think they need, and ignore the things they need.

(This article also posted at http://writetimeluck.blogspot.com)

Character Arcs

A question came up in my writer’s group. One of my critique partners asked, would not my main character behave differently in that particular situation? That led me to wonder where the MC is along their character arc, which in turn caused me to ponder character arcs in general.

What the heck is a character arc?

For the simple answer, I turned to a favorite expert, KM Weiland. Her Helping Writers Become Authors site is excellent chalk full of great advice on many aspects of the craft. But Weiland’s stuff on character arcs was not simple at all, rather a fifteen part series on the topic. 

Weiland says character evolution is at the heart of any good story. Whether the protagonist is changing herself or the world around her, character arcs are the whole point of fiction. The journey from one spiritual/emotional/intellectual place to another is the story of humanity. The author’s primary job is to learn how those fundamental changes work in real life, then present them in fiction with enough realism to connect with readers.

There sometimes is a debate among writers as to the importance of plot vs character. Weiland says they are connected. “The character drives the plot, and the plot molds the character’s arc. They cannot work independently.”

But that is not all. Plot and character are related to theme. The three of them are symbiotic and can’t work alone. Weiland says that the character arc is the theme. 

There are three type of character arcs. In the positive change arc, the protagonist starts with varying levels personal dissatisfaction and even denial of the lack of fulfillment. As the story proceeds, she will question her beliefs about herself and the world until she finally defeats her inner demons. In flat character arcs, the MC tries to change the world around her. She is already a hero operating from high moral ground and are often a catalyst for change in others. The negative arc is similar to the positive arc except the MC changes toward a more darker side.

Writing a great character is more than just a character changing over time. Writers need to learn how to structure a character arc. Gaining an understanding of how to write character arcs is a game-changing moment in any author’s pursuit of the craft.

In the next few weeks, Weiland’s fifteen part series will be boiled down and presented here. Clicking on the above link above will get you to her site where she can explain the whole thing in full detail.

(This article also posted at http://writetimeluck.blogspot.com)

Outline quickie

NaNoWriMo is coming.

Pantsers will jump into a brand new story with merely an inkling of an idea. They can stop reading this post right now. Plotters should have started a few months ago. As a born-again plotter, I need to go into the month with more than just a notion. And, as a person whose been busy the last few weeks (haven’t we all), I need something quick.

Remembering a recent Writer’s Digest article, I pulled it up. It is called “7 Steps to Create a Flexile Outline for Any Story” and written by K.M. Weiland, a plotting guru.  

The seven steps are:

1. Craft your premise

2. Roughly sketch scene ideas

3. Interview your characters

4. Explore your settings

5. Write your complete outline

6. Condense your outline

7. Put your outline into action

KM uses this approach in a more drawn out fashion. She may spend as much as six months filling three notebooks to complete step 2. We’ve only got two weeks. My goal now is to slap something down, taking the rough ideas thats been bouncing around in the head for a while. The following is my interpretation of Weiland’s suggestions, watered down for quick application to your NaNo story. Go to the article for complete details.

1. Craft your premise

Weiland and John Truby advocate developing a strong premise, the basic idea of the story. It should answer these questions:

-Who is the protagonist?

-What is the situation, the hero’s personal condition at the beginning? How will that condition be changed by the hero himself or the antagonistic force?

-What is the protagonist’s objective? What moral choices will they have to make to gain the objective?

-Who or what is the opponent that stands in the way of the hero achieving their goal?

-What misfortune or disaster must the hero overcome?

-What conflict will arise from the MC’s reaction to the misfortune? What is the logical flow of cause and effect action throughout the story?

2. Roughly sketch scene ideas

Write a list of the ideas you have thus far for the story. It is not important to have all the details worked out or know the order of the scenes, just record them. I would suggest brainstorming session of possible scenes and events if the story is undeveloped. Weiland says to look back over the list and highlight any ideas that raise questions. Last is to go back and address each of the highlighted questions.

3. Interview your characters

In order for your characters to carry the plot, you will need to know all about them, not necessarily for their hole lives, but as they are when they come into the story. Work backward from the moment they become involved in the plot, at the disaster listed in the premise. What events have led them to this moment and caused them to react to it as they do? There are online resources that have a list of questions, or you may go freestyle, asking each character questions and then allow them to answer.

4. Explore your settings

You will need to intimately know your setting before you begin to write. Scenes can can shift from place to place, but the time and world where your story occurs should be fundamental to your plot.

5. Write your complete outline

Armed with this basic understanding of your story you’re ready to seriously plot your story. Using the ideas listed in step 2, develop a linear timeline, scene by scene, molding the existing ideas into a solid structure. You can be as extensive as you like, writing out a single sentence or something detailed, identifying the key components of each scene’s structure. These include, who the narrating character is, their goal and obstacles to the goal, the outcome and character’s reaction, and the lead-in to the next scene. Watch for possible lapses of logic or blank areas.

6. Condense your outline

As the outline may have a lot of rambling and thinking out loud, condense it down to the main points so that you have something easier to deal with as you write. You may want to write out the scenes on index cards, or do so using a program such a Scirvener or yWriter. 

7. Put your outline into action

Armed with a highly organized plan, you are now ready to write. Begin each writing session by looking over the outline and reading the notes for that scene. Work out any remaining issues before writing.  This is just a guideline to direct the session’s writing. Should an unexpected idea pop up, feel free to pursue it, knowing you can always fall back to the outline if that new venue does not work out.

Okay, that was easy. Now all yew have to do is plug in a story. We’ve got 14 days. Go.

(This article also posted at http://writetimeluck.blogspot.com)

Antagonists

The next project is a rescue. This flat story that has sat in writer purgatory for a few years, waiting for motivation to do something about it, longing for the inspiration to remedy it.

I’m there ready to take it on, its finding the cure that is the problem. Thus, it is back to basics. Characters, stories are about characters. Check. Plot, protagonist wants something, antagonist keeps him from it. Wait, that could be it. I don’t have an antagonist, at least not in the traditional sense. 

John Truby (The Anatomy of Story: 22 to Becoming a Master Storyteller) is my go-to guy at a time like this. He says the hero, of course, is important. So, too, is the opponent along with the rest of the cast. Truby focuses not on the main character in isolation, but looks at all the characters as part of an interconnected web. Writer’s Digest this week had a quote by mystery writer Elmore Leonard who says “the main thing I set out to do is tell the point of view of the antagonist as much as the good guy.”

Hmm. Good points, but I still don’t have a traditional antagonist. There is no detective and no criminal to pursue, my Harry Potter has no Voldemort. My protagonist has only his own shortcomings to trip over. Truby doesn’t directly address such a thing. He does illustrate his points with story examples from movies. The likes of A Streetcar Named Desire, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, andTootsie, don’t have traditional antagonists. 

Another valuable resource, KM Weiland, discusses an “antagonistic force” and says, “nowhere is it written that your story has to have a bad guy (or girl, as the case may be).” She says there are several non-human antagonists. They include:

-Animal - King Kong and Jaws comes to mind

-Self - the age old existential quandary of man as his own worst enemy in which the MC must overcome his own problems before he can deal with the external one

-Setting - survival stories in which the hero goes up against nature. Cast Away is a good example. Weather related tales are an offshoot of this.

-Society - dystopia is the extreme example here, but simpler themes in which the protagonist faces poverty or inequalities of some sort

-Supernatural forces - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button would be of this sort.

-Technology - a lot of sci-fi uses overarching technological forces as antagonists.

Non-human antagonists can be anything that throws obstacles in the way or the hero getting what he or she wants. They could be a thing, an idea, or any inanimate object that the protagonist must overcome to reach the end goal of the story. As long as you have conflict (to have a story is a must) you have an antagonist.

Weiland says one mustn’t limit themselves to just one antagonist and most stories will use a combination of several.

Think Sharknado.

(This article also posted at http://writetimeluck.blogspot.com)

Story structure, part 2

It’s been said that there are only a few basic plots in all of literature. Every other story is a variation on these plots. Oodles of writers have penned zillions of stories, all different and unique. 

Yet the best of them follow a specific pattern. This post is a continuation on last week’s discussion of story structure. John Truby (Anatomy of Story) lists twenty-two elements of successful stories. KM Weiland (Structuring Your Novel) boiled Truby’s down to ten, the last five of which are below.

The First Half of the Second Act: The second act is where the MC reacts to the first plot point. Up until that point, life for the MC was steady and predictable. Now the MC has had his life upended. The second act is a series of events dictated by how all the characters react and counter-react to various events. Equally important here is how the antagonist shows their strength in thwarting the protagonist. Half-way through the first act comes the midpoint. This is a second inciting incident which changes the MC from reactive to proactive. After reacting to interference by the antagonists, MCs here go on the offensive and move into attach mode.

The Second Half of the Second Act: After the midpoint, things should start to heat up in your story. Your MC is becoming someone new, realizing his power and discovering what he can do with it. He’s finding strength to do battle in spite of inner conflicts that may be getting in the way.  He may not be in control of his destiny but at lest he’s doing something about his lack of control. Characters should grow and change and the second act is where that change is orchestrated so that it doesn’t abruptly appear in the third act. The second pitch point occurs here at which point the antagonist shows his power and potential ability to defeat the protagonist.

Third Act: The last quarter of the book is short, yet a lot has to happen in it. Act 3 is what the story’s been building up to all along. All character arcs are satisfied, subplots tied up, foreshadowing fulfilled, protagonist and antagonist plans played out, the MC’s inner demons faced. It opens with a bang and never lets up until final resolution. The writer must be cruel author must throw down every obstacle; all seems lost until MC rises from the ashes with wisdom and a new inner strength. 

Climax: As dramatic events have been happening all along, and racketed up in the third act, the climax is the final thrust of the MC to accomplish all of their objectives. The reader wants a satisfactory ending, one they can say, “yep, that’s just how it should have ended.” Weiland goes one step further. Contrary to the inevitability a good ending can fulfill, she says a story should end with the unexpected. Rising from a logical extension of things foreshadowed, you also want the reader to say, “wow, did not see that one coming.” Again, it must make sense to the story and can not be pulled out of nowhere.

Resolution: After the climax comes the bittersweet moment of the resolution. It is where the writer says goodbye to their characters and where the reader says goodbye as well. After the emotional stress of the third act and climax, they want to see the MC rise up and move on with life. They want to see how the ordeal has changed the MC and glimpse of the new life the character will live now. And if you’ve done your job right, says Weiland, readers will want to linger just a moment longer with the characters they’ve come to love.

Take a look at your WIP. Which stage is it at right now?

(This article also posted at http://utahchildrenswriters.blogspot.com)

(This article also posted at http://writetimeluck.blogspot.com)

Story structure, part 1

Ever had those moments when the  writing just doesn’t want to happen? Perhaps you’ve spent days or weeks spinning your wheels trying to write through the problem. In times like this I turn to study of the craft and pull out writing books or link to various articles online.

One of the biggest reasons my writing stalls is due to lack of direction.  KM Weiland is the one to seek on that matter. She’s got some stuff on her site about story structure and outlining. The two go hand in hand. Story structure is the framework around which the tale is spun. Outlining, or plotting, is the blueprint for that structure. John Truby’s The Anatomy of Story is another source to turn to, though Weiland presents it in a simpler manner.

Think of it like a new home under construction. Rising out of the foundation, framing goes up that defines the size and location of each room. Load-bearing walls on the perimeter and down the center support the roof rafters.

Stories need a firm foundation, a logical premise for a character’s tale to be told. Upon that, walls of setting and protagonist and antagonist support the roof of storyline.

Once the framework is in place the builder adds the brick and wood trim, windows, heating, electricity -  details that make the house a home. Writers similarly add story details that marks their creation different than the thousands of other books written.

Weiland, in her Structuring You Novel: Essential Keys for Writing an Outstanding Story, says many authors are unaware of story structure, yet write using many of its elements. There are several basic components that all good stories employ. She and Truby site effective uses of the components in literature ranging from Pride and Prejudice to The Godfather.

Truby presents twenty-two elements of structure that Weiland has boiled down the the ten listed below. I’ll address half of them here.

The Hook: Ideally the hook forces a reader to ask, what the heck is going on here? Curiosity engages the reader and invites them to read further.

Act 1 - Setting the Scene: Besides grounding readers within the story world, “a well-planned setting can empower your story with continuity and resonance.” (Weiland.)

Act 1 - Introducing Characters: Stories are about people. Without people you have no story. In the first quarter of the book, you should introduce your main characters and give readers a chance to learn about them. Be sure to include the goals the MC is striving for. Martine Leavitt calls this their object of desire - both physical and physchological. Most importantly, give readers a reason to care about characters.

Act 1 - Introducing Stakes:  As your characters first walk on stage, they should bring their objectives and the stakes involved to accomplishing it. Your first authorial duty to torture you characters happens here.

Plot Point #1: This is the point that moves the story forward from the introduction and set-up to meat of the tale. Stories are a series of scenes and the plot points are the major ones, the game changers that significantly alter the course of the story and jolt the MC into action. Some refer to this as the inciting incident. 

Next week, the remaining five: The First Half of the Second Act, The Second Half of the Second Act, Third Act, Climax, and Resolution.

(This article also posted at http://writetimeluck.blogspot.com)

A start

The end is near and I know I’m not going to make it.

NaNoWriMo 2013 is heading into its last week. I’ve been working on my piece but it won’t be completed by next Saturday night. Nor will it be 50,000 words, but I will have a story.

It should be about two thirds finished when NaNo expires yet what I have now I feel very good about. Unlike my others, this story has been outlined. Actually, it is still being planned out. The likes of KM Weiland have touted the advantages of outlining.

Plotting is a time consumer, that is for sure. Trying to plunk down 50,000 words in a month is tricky in and of itself. Sharing that precious time with an off-task not actually writing can be discouraging. But the is big pay off is big.

Sitting at the keyboard with a clear understanding of where the story is to go allows a confidence to write. Fingers tap away heading in the general direction of the outline, yet there still is room for the story to find it’s own way and take those unexpected turns to surprise the author as it should the reader. My pantsing days are over.

A nice addition to the outline was a return to story basics. As I plotted the book, I took more time with a little research into simple story structure. A Google search for “3 act structure” produced a lot. There are articles on it, or clicking on the images tab pulls up graphic representations of the concept. With multiple interpretations of the concept one can quickly grasp an understanding with a minimum of effort. The story structure has been around since the ancient Greeks began entertaining.

I’ve thrown down 20,300 words and won’t be able to double it in a week. Yet with a basic understanding of story structure and a little time dedicated to plotting, by NaNo’s end I will have the start of a solid novel. By June, I should have something to workshop at WIFYR.

(This article also posted at http://writetimeluck.blogspot.com)

Premise

I’ve been NaNo-ing all week. I feel good about my progress even though behind on word count. After a week, I’m at 4829 words. That’s about three day’s worth at the average count of 1,667 words daily.

I’ve come to value the process of outlining and now am outlining on the fly. Its been interesting. Some of my actual writing minutes have been sacrificed for organization. That has paid off with productive time on task.

Then on Sunday and Monday, in the presence of that after-the-fact plotting, I spent way too much time perfecting the first chapter. This is NaNo with it’s write fast, fix it later mentality. Yet, I need to make sure my story gets off on the right foot. I’m not revising the beginning as much as adding missing things. Not all of it will be kept for the final book, but I’m still using it for my word count.

As the novel evolves, I keep updating my premise statement. Both K.M. Weiland and John Truby espouse the wisdom of so doing. The premise statement is the essence of the book, a single sentence that conveys the plot and theme. Weiland includes it in her Outlining Your Novel:Map Your Way to Success book and Tuby in his The Anatomy of Story. The idea is to nail down the whole book in a sentence or two.

As I work with the concept, it has helped me see what the book really is about. From there, I can see where characters are at the beginning and where they’ll be at the end. I realize that some things should be in place before the book begins. Others are inciting incidences that move the characters/story arcs. This allows me to use my first chapter to set the rules for “normal” in this world and lay out the incident that knocks things off kilter. As I have several things going on, I can plot out the each story or character arc.

Now I’m taking this premise device to each chapter. Before I sit to write, I try to see which of my premises next need to be advanced. Then I set chapter goals to deal with them.

It has taken time, but I can’t emphasize enough how a little organization up front has given me clear direction for how and where the story leads. I’m still new at this outlining thing and being pressed for time I can not give this story the full outlining it needs. NaNo is here and that means we tap, tap, tap those keyboards to churn out the daily word quota. Once I get the story set-up, it should run at a good clip.

That’s the theory, at least.

(This article also posted at http://writetimeluck.blogspot.com)

NaYes or NaNo?

All week long I’ve debated. To NaNo or not.

I didn’t have a story idea and I’ve got a couple other works-in-progress I’m ready to attend to. Should I work on them and count them for NaNoWriMo?. Technically, that would be cheating. 

One day I’m in, the next day I was out. I woke up Wednesday morning and said definitely no. By the end of the day I had an idea. So much for plotting. I did have one day, Halloween, to throw together a very rough outline. Scary.

Officially, I’m in. One day down, 29 to go.

I worked on it for about three hours today and managed to get almost 900 words. Not all of the time was spent on actual writing. Planning and plotting took up the remainder. Outlining seems to be the way to go. It took up time, but 900 words in an hour and a half is fast for me and I credit that to knowing where the story was going. KM Weiland spends weeks or months outlining, so I feel I got good mileage out to of the little I put into it.

How about your NaNo day #1? Hope it went well.

(This article also posted at http://writetimeluck.blogspot.com)

Outlining

NaNoWriMo is just around the corner and I’m trying not to repeat mistakes made in 2012. 

Last year was my first time with it and I failed miserably. I would write, write, write like mad for three days then run out of story. A few days later I would find it and go great guns until it ran out of steam again. This went on all month. (A year later and I’m still having the same problem with it.)

Writers generally fall into two camps: outliners and non-outliners, the “plotters” or the “pantsers” - those writing by the seat of their pants. I’ve been a pantser all along. With the fits this piece has given, perhaps it’s time look at outlining.

The writing guru I have been interested in lately is KM Weiland. In addition to craft how-to books, she has a great site appropriately titled helping writers become authors. 

Weiland extols the virtues of outlining. An argument non-outliners use is it stifles creativity, preventing a story from evolving as they write. I know how they feel. I love when the story I’m working on assumes the lead and takes off in directions I hadn’t planned. Weiland argues “a good outline should be the a spur for creativity, not a stumbling block. The author is the master of the outline, not its slave.” She says outlines can encourage creativity, daring experimentation, and focused inspiration. 

Weiland notes the advantages of outlining. Outlines:

-ensure balance and cohesion

-prevent dead-end ideas

-provides foreshadowing -  how can an author foreshadow an event of which she has no idea?

-smooth the pacing

-indicate preferable POV -  allows the author to see which characters’ POV best advances part of the story

-maintain consistent character voice - writing without an outline, the author discovers the character’s voice along with the readers. We should know the voice before we begin.

-offer motivation and assurance - outlines give the assurance that we do indeed have a story to be crafted.

A problem with outlining is the time involved. Weiland averages three months to properly put an outline together. She says she gains it back with less rewrites and time not wasted on aimless rambling down dead end streets. Been there, written like that.

Three months? NaNoWriMo starts in two weeks.

(This article also posted at http://writetimeluck.blogspot.com)