To continue reading or watching, readers and audiences need to understand and care about the characters. Yes, the action has to be compelling and there must be meaning attached to the writing. People identify most with character emotion -- the characters and the emotions they convey. Action as a Emotional Response One way to help a reader connect is to "show" the character's emotional response to the conflict and action. By this I don't mean the character's internal monologue about how …
The Middle
I recently worked with a writer who, when she hit the Middle, lost the passion for her story. When the allure of the Beginning is over, the story starts getting messy. Characters act out. Everything she writes seems boring to her. All her fears about the unworthiness of her project interfere with her ability to create new scenes. She wants me to give her the scenes or at least give her ideas for the scenes.My advice for this writer is to list the themes she's interested in exploring in her …
Help Your Readers/Audience Connect
In most plot consultations, I never read a writer's work. Instead, the writer tells me their story scene-by-scene or chapter-by-chapter. I find I can better "see" the plot and structure minus the words. Sometimes, however, in an on-going plot consultations after we have worked our way through the first draft and I understand what the writer's vision for the project is and have a pretty firm idea of the overall plot and structure, I will read and comment on the manuscript itself.In the case of a …
Character Consistency & Writing in Scene
Two recent consultations. Two common problems.1. Telling rather than showing. A scene shows. A summary tells. The difference? A summary puts distance between reader and character (this also applies to bloggers who blog about themselves). A summary is necessary for a variety of reasons, but scenes are where the story plays out. Invite your readers in by setting the stage and creating a compelling reason to stick around (character dilemma) and read more (dramatic action). Do this in scene and …
Addendum to Previous Post
I ran into a couple of writer friends yesterday, one of whom usually comments on the blog. They each said they had read the last post, but hadn't left a message.Too chaotic to ask why not, but I wonder -- did the subject of breaking through emotional walls put them off???I find the quest in the question posed in last week's post a worthy one. The closer we get to ourselves emotionally, the closer we can get our characters. I found a list of emotions I'll share below. Try exploring these …
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