Have you signed up to be a DIY MFA Radio Insider yet? This is an exciting new monthly newsletter especially for our podcast listeners. Every month, you’ll get an email from our podcast producer with recaps of the most recent episodes, a curated Listening List of episodes on a particular theme, and other fun goodies we only share via email. Best of all, it’s free to join! The theme for April is Picture Books, and you can become an insider by signing up with your email at diymfa.com/insiders.

In this episode Claire Stanford and I discuss:

• The meaning of happiness, its relationship with social media, and how that plays out in her novel.
• Why she classifies her novel as literary fiction as opposed to speculative.
• How she navigated writing a novel about a character who is strongly opposed to change.

Plus, her #1 tip for writers.

About Claire Stanford

Claire Stanford’s fiction has appeared in Black Warrior Review, The Rumpus, Third Coast, Redivider, Paper Darts, and Tin House Flash Fridays, among other publications. Her work has received fellowships and grants from the Jerome Foundation, the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, the Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts, and the Hambidge Center for the Creative Arts & Sciences.

She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Minnesota and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in English at UCLA, where she studies science fiction/speculative fiction, narrative theory, and novel theory. Born and raised in Berkeley, she lives in Los Angeles.

Her debut novel, Happy for You, will be published April 19, 2022.

You can find her on her website or follow her on Twitter or Instagram.

Happy for You

Four years into work on a still-unfinished philosophy dissertation, and anticipating a marriage proposal from her long-term boyfriend, Evelyn Kominsky Kumamoto feels stalled. Meanwhile, all around her, everyone else seems to be getting on with their lives: her corn-fed, relentlessly optimistic boyfriend, Jamie, has no hesitation about committing to a shared future, and even her reserved father is energized by a new relationship—his first since her mother’s passing.

Looking for a change, Evelyn accepts a job as a researcher at the third-most-popular internet company, where her team is tasked with developing an app that will help users quantify—and augment—their happiness. Confronting Silicon Valley’s norm-reinforcing algorithms and predominantly white culture, she struggles to find belonging: as a biracial person, as an Asian American, and as a person who doesn’t know how to perform social media’s vision of what romantic partnership, motherhood, and womanhood should look like. But when an unexpected development in her personal life upends her assumptions about the future, Evelyn must embark on a journey towards authentic happiness all her own.

If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

(Right-click to download.)

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The post Episode 405: Change vs. Stasis: Character Development in Literary Fiction – Interview with Claire Stanford appeared first on DIY MFA.

Whether or not published in a book or jotted down in a first draft, scenes that feel flat often lack a source of plot advancement or character development. Often the reason for this is because they lack one or more of the five commandments–important beats driving a scene, which I review in depth in my Story Grid Scene Analysis article here. 

As a writer hoping to learn how to read with a purpose, mastering the five commandments when doing scene analysis is a great start. The reason for this is because when the five commandments are applied, the scene contains a moment that forces a protagonist or leading character into a Crisis Decision, and this decision is made in response to the obstacle (that is an Action or Revelation) preventing them from achieving their present goal.

And when this decision is made, the characters (and the forward moving plot) are changed on an internal and external scale.  

For example, in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast’s famous Climax (when Beast is finally transformed back into the body of a human), multiple characters are changed on an external and internal spectrum. It’s important that both are achieved, and the concentration on both is what makes the scene extra memorable.

Ultimately, a scene will likely direct a stronger focus on a character’s internal or external shift. When doing a scene analysis, the two types of change should be viewed in how they support one another instead of as two separate details. 

Why Scenes Need an External and Internal Change 

There are two types of change in a character from the beginning of the scene to the end: an external change and an internal change. 

An external change is a change in a character’s physical state of being. This focuses on the character’s position tied to their mortality and position–something that, looking at this with its most extreme perspective, determines a character’s relation to life and death. 

An internal change relates to a character’s internal thoughts according to their external surroundings. From this angle, we’re looking at how a character is mentally/psychologically doing. How are they feeling, and how is that feeling altered from the beginning of the scene to the end? 

When doing scene analysis, writers and readers should keep in mind how important it is that a character or characters undergo both an internal and external shift in each scene (even if the external shift or internal shift takes precedence depending on the surrounding factors supporting the scene). When both an internal and external change is experienced, we see the plot move forward (externally) and the character(s) developed (internally). 

And in some cases, the external shift and the internal shift might belong to different characters in the same scene. Super cool! 

Let’s turn back to Beauty and the Beast to see this as an example. 

The Five Commandments in The Transformation Scene

Before looking at how Belle and Beast, the protagonists, internally and externally change in the Climax of Beauty and the Beast, consider how the five commandments work in this scene:

Inciting Incident: Causal. (In Medias Res) In the scene before this one, Gaston stabbed Beast. Although Gaston is dead by the beginning of the transformation scene, the knife stabbed in Beast’s back acts as a causal disturbance to Beast’s physical state and Belle’s internal one. Belle finds Beast dying on the balcony. 

Turning Point: Action. Beasts dies (this throws Belle into a Crisis Decision). (You could also argue this is when Beast transforms into a man.) 

Crisis: Best Bad Choice. Belle can leave Beast’s body behind or declare her love for him as she mourns. (You could also argue that her Crisis is after Beast transforms, and she debates whether or not to believe Beast is who he says he is.) 

Climax: Belle declares her love for Beast (this shows her acting on her Crisis Decision) before the last rose petal falls. Beast is transformed back into a man and Belle recognizes him for him. They kiss and the enchantment falls away from the castle and servants. Beast and Belle celebrate with everyone. 

Resolution: Belle and Beast (and the castle servants) are united as humans. They live happily ever after.   

Notice how there are a couple of ways that you can do scene analysis, based on how some different options determine the Turning Point and Crisis Decision in this scene. Regardless of what option you prefer, each supports an internal/external shift in Belle and an external/internal shift in Beast; thus, there’s a victory for love, life, and a worldview change in the scene and for the characters as a whole.

To understand this a bit more, read on to see how the internal shift in Belle unfolds because of her Turning Point and Crisis Decision, and how Belle’s decision also creates an external shift in her state of being–and Beast. 

The Internal Change in Belle 

At the beginning of this scene, Belle is devastated. She feels responsible for the raid on the castle (she was the one who showed the townspeople there was a beast), and Beast is dying because of Gaston. She holds Beast in her arms, and he smiles at her.  He’s surprised and pleased that she has returned to him, even if he is only getting to see her one last time. Belle holds out, hoping that Beast will survive until he dies.

Looking back at the five commandments, this is when an Action (Beast’s death) throws Belle into a Crisis Decision–she can leave or stay with him. Belle stays and whispers that she loves Beast, despite knowing that her words fall short because he’s not alive to hear them.

But there’s hope! Since Belle pronounces her love for Beast before the last rose petal falls, the enchantment is lifted. Beast not only comes back to life but is turned back into a  man. What a Climax!

This is when Belle looks at Beast and determines that he is the man she loves. They kiss, which further lifts the curse that traps the castle and the servants. 

Finally, Belle and Beast–deeply in love–find their happily ever after. Belle shifts from an internal state of devastation to joy and euphoria and on an external scale of alone to united with the man she loves, although I think Belle’s internal shift is the louder change in this scene, compared to Beast, whose external shift is greater.

The External Change in Beast 

Following the same commandments, Beast moves on the external scale from severely injured/death to life. He also experiences an internal shift from hopeless to victorious since Belle’s love for him restores his external state of being as 1) the physical form of a cursed beast, and 2) dead. 

While both Belle and Beast experience internal and external shifts, I’d credit the focus of this scene on Belle’s internal shift because Beast’s changes are a direct result of her decision and actions, instead of the other way around. Together, you could also argue that the greatest change in this scene is based on how Belle and Beast move from love to intimacy–they’ve gained the highest level of romance because of the sacrifices they’ve made for one another, and their worldview shifts. 

The Big Takeaway

While you can debate whether or not the internal shift in a character or external shift in a character’s state of being is more important in a scene, that same character must be forced into a Crisis Decision by an obstacle in order to experience either. Also, whether or not you think the internal or external shift is more important is secondary to the importance of how both exist because of the other. 

Think of internal and external changes in a character more as a cause-and-effect rather than two separate entities existing in the same moment. They work together to illustrate an advancement in plot and development of character, and because they do, the scene gains great meaning.    

Now It’s Your Turn

Now that we’ve looked at how internal and external shifts work for multiple characters in the Climax of Beauty and the Beast, see if you can identify an internal and external shift in one or more characters for another scene in the movie. Pull out the five commandments in your scene choice and identify how the Turning Point and Crisis Decision determine the internal and external changes in a character. Once you’re done, share your analysis in the comments section so we can all practice how to read with a purpose!

P.S. I’d love to hear more about your scene analysis from another Disney classic (or book favorite). Visit my website at www.abigailkperry.com to connect with me and share your thoughts. I can’t wait to hear from you!   ]

Abigail K. Perry is a Certified Story Grid Editor with professional teaching, literary agency, and film production experience. In addition to writing masterwork guides that help people learn how to write, read, and edit like a writer, she works as a freelance developmental editor/book coach and diagnostic editor, and is a monthly columnist for DIY MFA. Abigail also teaches Genre-Focused writing workshops for the genres she specializes in, which include Women’s Fiction, YA Fantasy, Upmarket Fiction, Historical Fiction, and Scripts. As a podcaster, she’s a passionate advocate for the butterfly effect stories have on the individual and world, which she shares with listeners on her podcast, STORY EFFECT. Visit Abigail’s website if you’re a writer looking for an editor who will help you grow as storyteller, and who has experience in differentiated instruction, traditional publishing, and film.

The post Scene Analysis: The Importance of External and Internal Value Shifts in Characters appeared first on DIY MFA.

But what about our characters’ jobs? How much thought do we put into that?

We authors recognize the importance of strong characterization, agonizing over the smallest details and collating pages and pages of information about our cast members. But unless the story calls for a certain career, their occupation is often an afterthought. We pick something that’s interesting—a career we admire or think is cool and unique. And we end up with a character who has a cool and unique job that does absolutely nothing for the story.

This is shortsighted. The details are what make a story shine. When we hand-select the ones that tie into numerous elements, they anchor everything together, building a sturdy foundation for a story with depth. One detail that can accomplish this is the character’s job.

But just like in the real world, there are gazillions of jobs your character can choose from. I know, because Angela and I have just written The Occupation Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Jobs, Vocations, and Careers and, honestly, it almost became The Occupation Encyclopedia, because there were so many dang jobs to choose from. It was agony figuring out which ones to include and which ones had to be cut. 

I know how hard it can be to settle on the right job for a character. Today I’d like to share some factors to keep in mind to help you find the perfect job for your character and your story.

What’s My Story About?

This one is obvious, so let’s get it out of the way. Sometimes your story requires a certain job, so the decision about your character’s career is super easy. James Bond had to be a spy. Raiders of the Lost Ark needed an archaeologist. The Wedding Planner…you get the picture.

So if your story is about a person in a certain career field (It’s about a homicide detective who goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher), or you’re writing a specific genre such as courtroom drama, espionage, or military thrillers, the occupation choice very often has been made for you.

For most stories, though, it won’t be this simple. There are literally dozens of careers that your character could have. Rather than picking one randomly, choose one that will serve your story by tying into an element of characterization. Consider the following details about your character, and make a list of careers that make sense for each. We’ll discuss what to do with those lists in a bit.

Positive Traits

People choose jobs because they fit their personality, so it’s smart to take this into account. Do you know your character’s dominant attributes? If not, figure that out. Then make a list of jobs that would be a good match for someone with those traits. For more information on how this can work, see the Speed Dating reference at our blog.

Talents and Skills

Unless there’s an underlying reason for doing so, characters will often choose a job that they’re good at, one that plays to their strengths. Athletes are skilled at their respective sports, mechanics are good with their hands, and a chef should be able to make tasty food. Consider your character’s aptitudes and abilities, and see which careers might make sense for them. If that talent or skill will specifically be used to help them achieve their story goal, make note of that. Any detail that does double duty in this way should have more weight in the decision-making process.

Interests

Many people will choose a job in a field that piques their interest: science, antiques, shopping, working with children, etc. What passions or hobbies does your character have that they might naturally turn into a career?

Values and Beliefs

Does your character hold strong ideals that may motivate them to pursue a certain career path? If they want to make a difference in the world, serve a segment of the population, pursue justice, or right a wrong, those desires can drive them toward a particular job. Explore the character’s important values and beliefs to see if this will play into their decision.

Missing Human Needs

This one, I think, may be the most influential (though subconscious) factor when we choose a job. When any of our basic human needs are missing, we start trying to fill the void. Our actions and decisions are driven by missing needs—and this includes choices about work and careers.  

A missing human need will often push the character toward (or away) from a certain job. Based on what you know about your character’s past and who they are at the start of your story, which of those needs is missing? Love and connection? Safety and security? Self-fulfillment? What job might the character pursue to fill that void?

Emotional Wounds

On a related note, emotional wounds from the past can also influence a person’s choice of job. Someone who was a victim of violent crime may choose a career that will enable them to bring criminals to justice or protect the innocent from similar victimization. A character who was raised by a harsh and cruel parent may choose a radically different career path as a way of separating him or herself from that caregiver.

Unresolved Wounds

Unresolved wounds—past ones the character may not have dealt with or even recognize—can also play a subconscious part in this decision. Someone who experienced a humiliating failure may avoid their preferred career and choose something that will allow them to underachieve so they won’t have to risk failing again. A character desperate to please a parent may follow in their footsteps out of a desire to gain their approval, even if it means embarking on a career that will make them miserable. Unresolved wounds are often at the root of a missing human need, so if this kind of past experience is influencing your character, take both factors into consideration.

Putting It All Together

By this point, you hopefully have a few lists of job possibilities that relate to various aspects of characterization. Take a look at your options and circle any careers that appear on more than one list. Those are good prospects because they tie into multiple characterization details, making them realistic options that will provide depth. You now have a shortlist of jobs that make sense for your character and your story.

If pulling multiple characterization details together to find the perfect job seems daunting, we’ve created a tool that simplifies the process. You can download a blank copy of this Career Assessment from our website, and if you’ve picked up a copy of The Occupation Thesaurus, you can see a completed sample there.

Real people don’t typically choose jobs randomly, and characters shouldn’t either. Don’t make careers a background detail. Bring them to the forefront and put them to work for your story.

How have you chosen your characters’ jobs in the past? Were they tied into any aspects of characterization to enhance your story?

Becca Puglisi is an international speaker, writing coach, and bestselling author of The Emotion Thesaurus and other books for writers—including her latest: The Occupation Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Jobs, Vocations, and Careers. Her books have sold over 500,000 copies and are available in multiple languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world. She is passionate about learning and sharing her knowledge with others through her Writers Helping Writers blog and via One Stop For Writers—a powerhouse online library created to help writers elevate their storytelling. 

The post Choosing the Right Job for Your Character appeared first on DIY MFA.

But, first, what is a character arc? Where does it come from? How do you create this in your fictional stories? More importantly, do you even need one?

What is a Character Arc?

The answer to the first three questions is fairly straightforward. A character arc simply means the change that the character goes through over the course of the story. Something happens in the character’s life that pushes it off balance. It might be a shark feeding off the shores of Amity Island or two robots showing up and babbling about some character named Obi-Wan Kenobi. It might be a group of armed criminals taking over a small hotel on Key Largo, along with an approaching hurricane just to make things worse. Regardless, something comes into the character’s life, pushes it off kilter, and the remainder of the story is that person trying to rebalance things. As this journey unfolds, the character changes, learns something about himself, reaches a different level of understanding or compassion or ability to act.

As a writer, your job is to create these characters, put them through their paces, and in the end move them to a different level. This is not always positive. There can be negative character arcs. An excellent example is Michael Corleone in the Godfather series. Michael transformed from an easy-going ex-soldier into a ruthless mafioso. A solid character arc will satisfy readers because they see change come about in a character they have grown to care for.

Character Arcs in a Series

But what about a series character? A character that must move through five, 10, 20 or more novels? Do the protagonists of such series undergo a character arc? Should they? And if they do, will the most loyal readers recognize them after the 20th installment? It’s something that’s argued about in writing conferences year after year.

Did James Bond ever really change? Did Jack Reacher? The answer, of course, is very little if any. Bond is always Bond; Reacher is always Reacher. If in each story, these iconic characters were confronted with situations that caused a massive change in who they were on a deeply personal level, and these changes piled up story after story, they would become unrecognizable very quickly. And readers would revolt. We read these stories because we like the main character and we don’t want him to be someone else.

So, if a series character doesn’t change, what’s the story about? It’s about this character, who we know and love, facing very difficult circumstances and successfully solving the riddle. The character doesn’t have to change dramatically to do this, nor does he need to have some earthshaking revelation about himself or the world or even someone else. What he needs to do is use whatever skills he possesses to correct the situation and put the story world back in order. 

For James Bond, it’s often saving the world from Ernst Stavro Blofeld. For Jack Reacher, it’s taking on the troubles of the little guy and his fight against the big guy or the bad guy. Reacher is basically Shane. The quiet hero who comes into town and saves the day. And we like that. We don’t want him to change. Same for James Bond. When James Bond returns to London or Reacher sticks his thumb out and hitchhikes to the next town, they are the same person they were at the beginning of the story and indeed the story before and the one before that. They don’t change, they use their skills to solve problems. And we relish being along for the ride.

Writing a Steady Protagonist

These are the same principles I employ in my Jake Longly series. These stories are more humorous than hard-boiled. Mainly because of Jake’s quirky take on the world around him, his complete contentment with his life as it is, and that, despite his resolve to avoid real work, the circumstances he repeatedly finds himself in. Jake is an ex-professional baseball player who now owns a bar and restaurant on the Gulf Coast. His life goals are to run his bar, hang out with friends, and chase bikinis. He is who he is. This seemingly lack of ambition creates tension with his father Ray, who wants him to be more serious about life and to join him in his private investigation firm. Jake will have none of it. Jake does not change. He’s the same low-key, lovable character through each story. 

So what is the story about if not change? This series is basically about Jake and his girlfriend Nicole Jamison and best friend Tommy “Pancake” Jeffers, who actually works for Ray as a P.I. Actually, so does Nicole. Well, sort of. Though Jake twists and turns and does all he can to avoid it, Ray, Pancake, and Nicole continually drag him into quirky situations that involve crime and corruption, even murder and mayhem. Jake is always a fish out of water and continually finds himself in deeper water. His abilities, or lack thereof, to handle these calamities plus his off-kilter view of the world, is where the humor lies in this series. 

So, does Jake change? No, and yes. His basic nature and his belief system remain unaltered, but his relationship with Nicole does trigger some evolution within Jake. Before meeting her, a long-term relationship for him was maybe three weeks, yet he and Nicole have been together for over a year. And they are content with each other. But in the big things, the earth-shaking things, Jake doesn’t change. And that’s the way it should be.

So, while character arcs work very well, and indeed are essential, for many stories, for a series character, they can spell disaster. I think the best advice for writers is that for your series characters you should pressure them, make them adapt, make them use their skills to solve the problem and save the day, but be wary of fundamental changes in who they are. Your readers will buy your next book because they like your protagonist. Don’t make him a stranger.

DP Lyle is the Amazon #1 Bestselling; Macavity and Benjamin Franklin Award-winning; and Edgar (2), Agatha, Anthony, Shamus, Scribe, Silver Falchion, and USA Today Best Book (2) Award-nominated author of 20 books both non-fiction (Murder, Mayhem, Forensics for Dummies, Forensics and Fiction, More Forensics and Fiction, Howdunnit, Forensics and ABA Fundamentals: Understanding Forensic Science) and fiction, including the Samantha Cody thriller series (Devi’s Playground, Double Blind, and Original Sin); the Dub Walker thriller series (Stress Fracture, Hot Lights, Cold Steel, and Run to Ground); the Jake Longly thriller series (Deep Six, A-List, Sunshine State), the Cain/Haper thriller series (Skin in the Game) and the Royal Pains media tie-in novels (Royal Pains, First, Do No Harm and Royal Pains: Sick Rich). His essay on Jules Verne’s The Mysterious Island appears in Thrillers: 100 Must Reads his short story “Even Steven” in ITW’s anthology Thriller 3: Love is Murder, and his short story “Bottom Line” in For the Sake of the Game. He served as editor for and contributed the short story “Splash” to SCWA’s anthology It’s All in the Story.

He hosts the Crime Fiction Writer’s Blog and the Criminal Mischief: The Art and Science of Crime Fiction podcast series. He has worked with many novelists and with the writers of popular television shows such as Law & Order, CSI: Miami, Diagnosis Murder, Monk, Judging Amy, Peacemakers, Cold Case, House, Medium, Women’s Murder Club, 1-800-Missing, The Glades, and Pretty Little Liars.Visit his website, and connect with him on Twitter and Facebook.

The post Do Series Characters Change? appeared first on DIY MFA.

1) Give Your Character an External Problem (Goal)

Things should not be all happy and rosy for your hero. Whether he’s fighting for his life, for respect, for rent money, or to perfect his fried rice recipe, each character should have a problem he needs to solve.

At times this goal may seem pretty obvious and integral to the central plot of the story. (For example, he needs to save the world.) Yet it’s important to personalize this problem for each character. What reasons do each of them have for trying to save the world? What are their roles in that?

Smaller goals can also add interest and create empathy for our characters, such as trying to fit in with a group or struggling to learn a new skill. As Kurt Vonnegut famously said, “Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.”

2) Give Characters an Inner Problem (Baggage)

Along with their external issues, a character should have personal baggage she’s bringing along with her.  We all have faults. No one likes a perfect goody-two-shoes who never does anything wrong. We resonate with flaws.

Our characters need to make mistakes because of their faults. They need to fail when they try to solve their problems. After all, if they solve their problems and achieve their goals on the first go round, they weren’t very big problems now, were they? Their eventual success and growth will be much more meaningful when they need to work for it.

Giving flaws also adds depth and tension to interactions. They will clash with each other- even when they’re on the same side. They will argue and have different ideas of what is right. (Sort of like in the real world.) That’s good. None of our characters should be cookie cutter perfect and even the good guys shouldn’t always agree. 

3) Give Characters a Talent

So far we’ve given our characters problems and baggage, now it’s time to give them some redeeming qualities. What is it we like about them? Are they spunky in the face of danger? Loyal and caring? Good with numbers? Expert swordsperson?

Having a strength can help us respect the character and see her as valuable. It makes us want to relate to her more because we admire those strengths. While flaws do help us connect (as seen above) we still want our characters to be likable and talented in some way.

4) Make Characters Different

There should be more to our characters’ description than hair and eye color– we want them to be vibrant and alive.

If we aren’t thinking about this intentionally, it can be easy to create characters who are all alike and often are like ourselves. But there are so many different people in the world, each with so many unique characteristics. Creating diverse characters strengthens and enriches our stories and enables us to connect with our readers in powerful ways.

We need to be careful not to stereotype, especially when writing about people who are not like ourselves. We need to do our research and approach the topic with humility and due diligence. But we should definitely be striving to make our characters represent all types of people, and seeing how that fits into our stories in interesting ways.

Regardless of the specifics, each of our characters needs to be distinguishable and unique from each other so that readers don’t get confused. Good descriptions help readers picture characters more clearly and make them come alive.

5) Make Characters Change

Change is a big part of life and it makes our characters stronger when they aren’t static faces on a page. Instead they should be interacting with things around them, developing new strengths, being challenged, and ultimately being realistic individuals that readers can resonate with.

Characters may start with baggage but as they learn new things they evolve and grow. This evolution is often called their character arcs. Some characters may grow to be more caring, may discover new ways to do things, and hopefully ultimately they can overcome their problems. Others may grow bitter, selfish, or refuse to change for the better. (Hopefully that’s your villain, not your protagonist.)

Character arc is an important aspect of creating powerful characters -and ultimately powerful stories- that readers can resonate with.

Bonus Tip! 

Our heroes shouldn’t be the only engaging and dynamic characters in our stories. Even minor characters should want something and be more than just a stereotype.

This is especially true of our antagonists! Dynamic, relatable, and engaging villains make the entire story stronger.

What about you? What are your favorite tips for creating engaging characters? Share below in the comments! And best of luck with your writing today!

Bethany Henry writes YA fantasy and blogs about writing and living well. You can often find Bethany on the frisbee field or at the local library with her two little girls. Check out her website at www.bethany-henry.com or follow her on Pinterest and Facebook.

The post #5onFri: Five Tips for Creating Engaging Characters appeared first on DIY MFA.

I had the opportunity to hear literary agent Donald Maass speak at a conference, and it was in listening to his talk on building strong characters that I discovered what I now refer to as the “opposite attracts” theory. According to Maass, there are 3 basic types of protagonists. While there are differences in labels, I call these protagonists types the Ordinary Joe (or Jane), the Larger than Life Heroine/Hero and the Misunderstood Character (or sometimes the Anti-Hero). And he talked about his approach to getting to know your protagonist by showing the opposite is possible.

So what does that mean? In getting to know a character, the first most obvious step would be to figure out who the character is, right? Wrong. Actually, Maass suggested the exact opposite. For each of the three types of protagonists, he said we should look at who the character could be, not necessarily who the character already is.

Ordinary Joe (or Jane) Character:

For the Ordinary Joe character, this means trying to figure out what makes this character inspiring, what pushes him to rise to the occasion. Instead of focusing on how “normal” or ordinary this character is, the writer needs to pinpoint this character’s ability to be extraordinary, even if it’s only in a small way. Sometimes all it takes is a little push, one button that you press to send your character out of inertia and make him or her respond. For example, remember the movie Back To The Future? The protagonist, Marty McFly, often resists getting into fights but all it takes is for somebody to call him “chicken” and he springs into action. With Ordinary Joe characters, you often have to find the equivalent of calling them “chicken,” that breaking point that makes your character go from ordinary to extraordinary.

Examples of Ordinary Joe (or Jane) Characters: Frodo, Dorothy from Wizard of OZ, Harry Potter

To make an Ordinary Joe character come to life, ask yourself the following questions:

• What would it take for this character to “rise to the occasion”?
• What kind of situation can I put this character in that would make him or her go above and beyond?
• What’s this character’s breaking point, that button you can press to make him or her take action?

Larger than Life Heroine/Hero:

With the Heroine/Hero, the goal is a bit different. Sure, this character is extraordinary–maybe even superhuman–but what makes him or her normal? How can the writer show us a hint of this character’s humanity? It’s up to the writer to give the Heroine/Hero character a soft spot, something that brings him or her down from the pedestal and lets the reader think: “I can relate to that.” Movie-makers call this the pet-the-dog moment. The pet-the-dog moment is where the tough guy protagonist pets a stray dog in the alley, smiles and says “Better get outta here, little Fella. There’s gonna be trouble.” That small action shows us the character’s human side and makes him sympathetic to the audience.

Examples of Larger than Life Heroine/Hero Characters: Superman, James Bond, Harry Potter

When dealing with a Heroine/Hero, ask yourself:

• What is this character’s soft spot or vulnerability?
• How can I create a pet-the-dog moment for this character to show this quality?

Misunderstood Character: (AKA Anti-Hero)

Finally, with the Misunderstood Character, you need to show a glimmer of light. This character is wounded, lost, or condemned to suffer (or maybe he’s just whiny, we’re never quite sure), but we have to see a moment where he or she can find hope. This is true for villains as well as Anti-Heroes; in fact, many Misunderstood characters are actually antagonists in the story. Remember, it’s important to give our villains depth by showing the opposite is possible, and not just do that for our protagonists. After all, if a villain is totally evil to the core, then that makes for a flat character, but if we see a hint of goodness in the character it makes the villain come to life. With misunderstood characters, it’s all about seeing that moment when the clouds part and we see a little bit of hope, even if things still end up going down the tubes in the end.

Examples of Misunderstood Characters: Darth Vader, Severus Snape, Holden Caulfield, Harry Potter
(Notice that some characters–ahem, Harry Potter–can fall into more than one category. Interesting…)

If you’ve got a Misunderstood Character on your hands, try these questions:

• What will it take to bring this character out of that dark, dark place?
• What’s this character’s source of hope?

Why does the Opposite is Possible Theory work?

Because it shows the reader the character’s potential for change. We’ve all heard writing teachers tell us that our protagonist needs to change, but rarely do they ever tell us how to do it. By using Maass’ character archetypes and showing hints that the opposite is possible, we show that the character may not be as simple as they seem and that gives them the chance to change. In other words, the ordinary character needs to have the potential to do something extraordinary, the superhuman character must become at least a little bit vulnerable, and the condemned character must discover a glimmer of hope.

Sometimes it’s scary when our characters turn around and do the opposite of what we want them to do. I know when that happens to me, it seriously makes me question my sanity. But the truth is, when our characters misbehave or surprise us, that’s when we know that they’re becoming real.

The post The Opposite is Possible Theory of Character Development appeared first on DIY MFA.

Today I am so excited to have bestselling co-authors Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi on the show!

Angela and Becca co-founded the popular Writers Helping Writers site, a hub where authors can hone their craft, as well as One Stop for Writers, an innovative online library built to help writers elevate their storytelling. I happen to be part of their current cohort of Resident Writing Coaches on Writers Helping Writers and have been a longtime fan of their work.

They are also both writing coaches and international speakers, and their books are available in five languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world.

Angela and Becca’s popular Writer’s Thesauruses series is now up to fourteen books in total with their latest edition, The Emotional Wound Thesaurus, which is available now.

Listen in as we chat about their latest thesaurus, and dig deep into what an emotional wound is and how to use to create more believable characters.

In this episode Angela, Becca, and I discuss:

• Tips to find and use a character’s emotional wound to draw your readers in.
• Avoiding the research rabbit hole, finding what you need to know to write the story.
• What “show don’t tell” really means and how to do it right.
• Backstory, when to use it and why.
• The want, the wound, and the desire,how to combine them in your characters.

Plus, each of these ladies’ #1 tip for writers.

About Angela Ackerman

Angela, an apologetic Canadian, lives near Calgary, Alberta, nestled close to the Rockies. She enjoys traveling with her family, exploring new and unusual places, and is constantly amazed at how the universe seems to help her connect to the very people she needs at just the right time.

The author of 6 bestselling resource books printed in 6 different languages, Angela has a passion for writing craft. She is a writing coach, international speaker, and a firm believer that writers succeed best together. The desire to help writers in new, innovative ways is a love she shares with Becca Puglisi and Lee Powell, and together the three created One Stop for Writers®, a unique site filled with custom tools and writing resources built to help writers elevate their storytelling.

About Becca Puglisi

In her former life, Becca Puglisi was a teacher—elementary, because six-year-olds are easy to push around and the math isn’t too hard. She read roughly a gajillion picture books to her students, and it was her love for these books that originally motivated her to become an author, though she’s since moved on to young adult novels.

Now, Becca is a YA fantasy/historical fiction writer and co-author of a number of descriptive thesauruses for writers, including the bestselling The Emotion Thesaurus and it’s latest sequel, The Emotional Wound Thesaurus. She also is co-founder of One Stop For Writers®, a unique online resource containing many helpful tools, craft tutorials, and the entire Writers Helping Writers thesaurus collection (cross-referenced and searchable!). Becca is an international speaker who enjoys teaching workshops and presenting various writerly topics. Her books are represented by foreign rights agent Marleen Seegers of 2 Seas Agency.

During her free time (ha), Becca enjoys playing video games, watching movies, teaching Bible studies, baking, and adding to her stash of emergency supplies. She has always enjoyed contemplating the What if? scenario, which served her well when she lived in south Florida and will help her survive the winter now that she’s moved to New York.

To connect with both Angela and Becca check out their website at www.writershelpingwriters.net. And to gain access to their numerous writing resources (including the entire thesaurus series) check out onestopforwriters.com.

The Emotional Wound Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Psychological Trauma

Readers connect to characters with depth, ones who have experienced life’s ups and downs. To deliver key players that are both realistic and compelling, writers must know them intimately—not only who they are in the present story, but also what made them that way.

Of all the formative experiences in a character’s past, none are more destructive than emotional wounds. The aftershocks of trauma can change who they are, alter what they believe, and sabotage their ability to achieve meaningful goals, all of which will affect the trajectory of your story. Identifying the backstory wound is crucial to understanding how it will shape your character’s behavior, and The Emotional Wound Thesaurus can help.

Inside, you’ll find:

• A database of traumatic situations common to the human experience
• An in-depth study on a wound’s impact, including the fears, lies, personality shifts, and dysfunctional behaviors that can arise from different painful events
• An extensive analysis of character arc and how the wound and any resulting unmet needs fit into it
• Techniques on how to show the past experience to readers in a way that is both engaging and revelatory while avoiding the pitfalls of info dumps and telling
• A showcase of popular characters and how their traumatic experiences reshaped them, leading to very specific story goals
• A Backstory Wound Profile tool that will enable you to document your characters’ negative past experiences and the aftereffects.

Root your characters in reality by giving them an authentic wound that causes difficulties and prompts them to strive for inner growth to overcome it. With its easy-to-read format and over 100 entries packed with information, The Emotional Wound Thesaurus is a crash course in psychology for creating characters that feel incredibly real to readers.

If you decide to check out The Emotional Wound Thesaurus, The Emotion Thesaurus, or any of the Writers’ Thesauruses listed below, we hope you’ll do so via these Amazon Affiliate Links, where if you choose to purchase via the links DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

• The Rural Setting Thesaurus

• The Urban Setting Thesaurus

• The Positive Trait Thesaurus

• The Negative Trait Thesaurus

• The Emotion Amplifier Thesaurus

And remember to check out Angela’s and Becca’s other thesauruses only on onestopforwriters.com.

Link to Episode 185

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio or Google Play and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.

Also, remember that sharing is caring so if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please tell them about it or leave us a review so other listeners will want to check it out.

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 185: Understanding the Emotional Wound — Interview with Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi appeared first on DIY MFA.

Robin is the author of two dark, sexy, romance novels, and is a super advocate for the romance genre. Her next series, of three dark stalker suspense romances,  releases this summer through St. Martin’s Press Swerve, beginning with Stranger.

In our interview, Robin and I dive into the rarely spoken of domain of sex in romance writing, and tease apart the numerous craft elements of this complex and often overlooked genre.

In this episode Robin and I discuss:

• Why sex should or should not be included in a romance novel, and how to craft sex scenes the right way.
• How to create tension and faster pacing by switching back and forth between the hero and the heroine.
• How to craft a sympathetic anti-hero your readers will want a happy ending for.
• How to use the inner conflict within a character—the wanting and not wanting—to create steamier love scenes.
• What the business and legal aspects of romance writing entail, and how organizations like the Romance Writers of America (RWA) champions the genre.

Plus, Robin’s  #1 tip for writers.

About the Author

Robin Lovett writes dark, sexy contemporary romances, and her next series releases this summer through St. Martin’s Press Swerve, beginning with Stranger.

Robin enjoys writing romance to avoid the more unsavory things in life, like day jobs, housework, and personal demons. When not writing with her cat, she’s busy embracing untamable curly hair and adventuring in the outdoors with her husband.

She’s a super advocate for the romance genre and co-host of #RWChat, a weekly Twitter chat for romance writers. You can check out her monthly writing column on DIY MFA. She is represented by Rachel Brooks of the L. Perkins Agency and can be happily reached on Twitter @LovettRomance. To learn more about Robin and her books, visit her website at www.romancelovett.com

Stranger

Warning: This book is a scorching, intense romance novel featuring an anti-hero out to get revenge against the trust-fund woman whose family destroyed his life.

This isn’t supposed to be a love story. She doesn’t want him to sweep her off her feet, and he is far from her knight in shining armor. He wants to ruin her life. But even the simplest plans for revenge can go wrong.

Check out this teaser…

I like the way he watches me, this man I don’t know. It’s something I’ll never confess to, never tell a soul. But with one look of those penetrating eyes, I feel as if he’s unwrapped me, turned me inside out, rubbed away at my trust-fund-holding, good-girl exterior until I’m raw and exposed.

He looks like he wants to destroy me. Like he wants to obliterate me and my shallow, perfect life until there’s nothing left.

And once I meet Logan, I want him to.

I hate Penny Vandershall.

I hate her money and her family and her privilege. I hate her innocence and her smile and her shine. I want to annihilate her lightness and consume her with my darkness, my anger, my red-hot rage until there is nothing left of her.

I know the truth about her, the truth that will make it easy to bring her down. To ruin her for good. But through the blinding haze of my hatred, my burning need for revenge, she’s starting to get to me. She looks at me in wide-eyed fear, like a girl approaching the tiger’s cage. And yet she refuses to walk away; edging closer until she can meet the beast who wants to rip her apart.

And even though I set out to ruin her, she may be the one to destroy me.

If you decide to check out Stranger—or you’d like pre-order Deceiver and Keeper—we hope you’ll do so via these affiliate links where if you choose to purchase DIY MFA makes a small commission at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

Link to Episode 151

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio or Google Play and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.

Also, remember that sharing is caring so if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please tell them about it or leave us a review so other listeners will want to check it out.

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 151: Let’s Talk About Sex (in Romance Novels) — Interview with Robin Lovett appeared first on DIY MFA.

Today I’m delighted to have K.M. Weiland on the show.

K.M. Weiland is an award winning and internationally published author with a passion for helping writers become published authors. Through her award winning website, Helping Writers Become Authors, she has mentored numerous writers. She is also the author of several books on the craft of writing.

In our interview, we dive into her book Creating Character Arcs, and the craft elements that make characters of all types pop off the page.

In this episode K.M. Weiland and I discuss:

• How to create a strong character arc that works with your plot, and why there is danger in not structuring your characters.
• Why theme is an important element in your story, and how to use for maximum effect.
• What the three types of character arcs are, and how to recognize and craft each type.
• How change occurs in a flat arc, and why these characters resonate with readers.
• How to fix a story with no character arc, and why a no arc story can work.
• How to craft change in a story on both internal and external levels, and why the power of choice is important to all types of character arc.

Plus, her #1 tip for writers.

About the Author

K.M. Weiland lives in make-believe worlds, talks to imaginary friends, and survives primarily on chocolate truffles and espresso.

She is the IPPY, NIEA, and Lyra Award-winning and internationally published author of Outlining Your Novel, Structuring Your Novel, and Creating Character Arcs.

She also writes historical and speculative fiction from her home in western Nebraska and mentors authors on her award-winning website Helping Writers Become Authors. Click the link to connect with K.M. Weiland.

Creating Character Arcs

Have you written a story with an exciting concept and interesting characters—but it just isn’t grabbing the attention of readers or agents? It’s time to look deeper into the story beats that create realistic and compelling character arcs. Internationally published, award-winning novelist K.M. Weiland shares her acclaimed method for achieving memorable and moving character arcs in every book you write.

By applying the foundation of the Three-Act Story Structure and then delving even deeper into the psychology of realistic and dynamic human change, Weiland offers a beat-by-beat checklist of character arc guidelines that flexes to fit any type of story.

Gaining an understanding of how to write character arcs is a game-changing moment in any author’s pursuit of the craft.

If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase DIY MFA makes a small commission at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

Link to Episode 146

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio or Google Play and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.

Also, remember that sharing is caring so if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please tell them about it or leave us a review so other listeners will want to check it out.

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 146: Create Compelling Character Arcs — Interview with K.M. Weiland appeared first on DIY MFA.