Pre-NaNoWriMo Character Considerations

As you decide whether you're going to dive into NaNoWriMo again this year and find yourself mulling over story and character ideas, keep the following in mind.

An opening line or scene or conflict or dilemma may catch your fancy but rather than linger there for very long, take the inspiration you're given and stretch the ideas all the way to the climax of the story.

In other words, constantly ask yourself what the climax scene may look like. In so doing, consider the traits the protagonist will need to have in order to prevail at the climax.

Such a search opens possibilities for the traits she will be missing at the beginning of the story, the flaw she'll have to overcome to be triumphant in the end and what traits she now has at the beginning that are going to interfere with her forward progress toward her goal.

This exercise will serve you well during the first week of November, which represents the beginning writing portion of the entire project and the time you'll want to incorporate the traits she embodies at the beginning to foreshadow the journey she'll have to undertake.

For step-by-step guidance into pre-plotting your novel, memoir, screenplay, refer to:
The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master

For more about the Universal Story and writing a novel, memoir or screenplay, visit the Monday Plot Book Group series (A directory to this 2nd plot series is to the left of this post and scroll down a bit) and visit the first Plot Series: How Do I Plot a Novel, Memoir, Screenplay? on YouTube. (A directory of all the steps to the 1st plot series is to the right of this post.)
and visit:
Blockbuster Plots for Writers
Plot Whisperer on Facebook (we hope you "like" it)
Plot Whisperer on Twitter

Universal Writer's Traits: Sound Familiar?

At a couple of the recent plot workshops, I asked writers to fill in a Character Plot Profile for their protagonist's Dramatic Action goals and Character Emotional Development traits, the antagonist's, and for themselves as a writer, too.

Following is a random sample of the responses in relationship to themselves as writers:

Dramatic Action Plot

• Long-term goal: Write a book, finish, publish book
  
• Standing in the way: Family, job, poor discipline, distracted, lazy, nothing, integrating two characters and timeline
  
• Stands to lose: No sense of accomplishment, disappointment, not much, self-respect
  

Character Emotional Development Plot

• Flaw: Perfectionist, procrastination, resistance, lack of clarity, impatience, falls in love with my words, disorganized, not knowing where it's going
  
• Strength: Imagination, use of words, language, dialogue, action, short stories
  
• Hates: Solitary act of writing, starting, loneliness, emotionally painful, doing it, internal critic, judgment, first drafts, rewrites, self-doubt, getting stuck
  
• Loves: Translating ideas into words, losing myself in the process, first draft, rewrites, magic, fun
  
• Fear: Can't do it, that it's no good, words won't move people. be bad at it, not good enough, I'll never finish, negative feedback, that it's lousy, triviality, no one will care, that criticism of my writing is a criticism of me, rejection
  
• Dream: to be remembered by a child
  
• Secret: I'm as afraid of praise as I am of criticism, write in my head first and then on paper
  

Any of this sound familiar??

First Draft versus Rewrites

I twittered recently about how at first writers often give their full attention to one plotline alone. Subsequent rewrites, we are able to multitask.

The plot line that first comes to a writer generally reflects the writer's strength and preference.

This particular writer gives great thought to the action plot line -- outer plot -- and to the romantic plot line -- romance plot (not necessary in every book, though this particular writer is a romance writer, so... Also, because romance fiction is selling well despite the economic downturn, seems to make sense to include some romance??)

Same writer struggles with the character plot line -- inner plot. She balks at filling out the character profile as it applies to the character traits and has done little to explore the protagonist's inner life. Thus, the character shows no transformation in the end. The writer especially resists coming up a flaw -- "I've never been any good at that."

Quick assessment of the key scenes:

1) Launch
2) End of the Beginning
3) Halfway point
4) Crisis
5) Climax
6) Resolution

The scenes themselves point to the character flaw.

As soon as we know the flaw, it is possible to determine how to rewrite each of the key scenes (and all the other ones, too), at least in relationship to the inner plot -- the character emotional development plot line.

**Beginning (1/4):
Introduce the flaw

**Middle (1/2):
Deepen the readers' understanding all the different ways the flaw is revealed. Expand upon all the ways her basic flaw sabotages her from achieving her long-term goals. Yes, the Middle (1/2) is the territory of the antagonists and of the exotic or unusual world, but both of those elements serve to underline the flaw in no uncertain terms. Antagonists serve to challenge the protagonist, but generally speaking our inner issues and beliefs directly influence the growth and development of the flaw and that flaw does more to sabotage us than any external source. (Can't help it, the plot work I do gives me valuable insight into not only character's behavior but our behavior as writers, as well.)

**End (1/4): Shows the character becoming conscious of flaw and the steps she take to remake herself = character transformation.