Don’t Let Common Writing Missteps Hold You Back

Don’t Let Common Writing MisstepsHold You Back Anna Staniszewski

Common Misstep Number 1 Not Creating an Emotional Journey

Why it’s a problem • If your character doesn’t change over the course of the story, there’s no reason s/he can’t solve the problem at the start. • If your character isn’t striving for something, we won’t be rooting for him/her. • If your character won’t be changed by his/her experiences during the story, his/her journey won’t feel satisfying.

Warning signs • Critique partners say they’re not connecting with your main character. • Your work is labeled as “too quiet.”

According to John Truby: -Need is under the surface and emotional, and the character is unaware of it at the beginning of the story. -Desire is on the surface; it’s what the character thinks he wants and what we at first think the story is about. -The character’s need is the internal change that needs to occur over the course of the story in order for the character to get what he wants.

Solution Give a sense of how the character is “failing” at his/her life in some way from the beginning so that s/he will have room to grow.

Chapter 1 – No Thanks Before Bean met Ivy, she didn’t like her. Bean’s mother was always saying that Bean should try playing with the new girl across the street. But Bean didn’t want to. “She’s seven years old, just like you,” said her mother. “And she seems like such a nice girl. You could be friends.” “I already have friends,” said Bean. And that was true. Bean did have a lot of friends. But, really, she didn’t want to play with Ivy because her mother was right—Ivy did seem like such a nice girl. Even from across the street she looked nice. But nice, Bean knew, is another word for boring.

Exercise Answer the following: -How is your character “failing” at something in his/her life before the action of the story starts? -How will s/he succeed at this by the end of the story?

Common Misstep Number 2 Starting in the Wrong Place

Why it’s a problem • Showing too much of your character’s “average” life delays the story and risks boring readers. • Starting too far into the story can leave readers feeling frustrated and like they’ve missed the “good parts.”

Warning signs • If you can take out your opening scene/chapter and not affect the outcome of the story, you’re probably starting too early. • If you use a lot of flashbacks or backstory in the opening scenes/chapters, you’re probably starting too late. • Critique partners say the pacing is too fast or too slow.

Solution -Start with or around the moment of change, or give us at least a hint of upcoming conflict in the first scene/chapter.

Before We came here by ship, you and I. I was a baby on my mother’s knee, and you were a lisping, curly-headed boy playing at your mother’s feet all through that weary voyage. Watching us, our mothers got on so well together that our fathers chose adjacent farm plots a mile from town, on the western fringe of a Roswell Station that was much smaller then. I remember my mother telling tales of the trip when I was young. Now she never speaks of it at all. She said I spent the whole trip wide-eyed, watching you.

Exercise -Consider: If your character had to trace the events of the story back to a single point, what would it be? -Fill in the blank in your character’s voice: “If only __________________, then things might have been different.”

Common Misstep Number 3 Not Balancing the Internal and External

Why it’s a problem • Too much interiority (often found in 1st person) means the character is so stuck in his/her head that we can’t see or feel the story going on around him/her. • Too much exteriority (often found in 3rd person) means the narrator is telling us what’s happening without showing us how it affects the protagonist’s thoughts and emotions.

Warning signs • Your 1st person protagonist goes on at length about things other than the current scene. • Critique partners complain that your characters are “floating in space.” • Your 3rd person narrator explains the protagonist’s thoughts and actions. • Critique partners say they don’t understand your character’s motivations.

Solution -Create a link between internal thoughts/emotions and external action.

Chapter 1 - Cassius Clay Clouds Good thing the plane had seat belts and we’d been strapped in tight before takeoff. Without them, that last jolt would have been enough to throw Vonetta into orbit and Fern across the aisle. Still, I anchored myself and my sisters best as I could to brace us for whatever came next. Those clouds weren’t through with us yet and dealt another Cassius Clay-left-and-a-right jab to the body of our Boeing 727. Vonetta shrieked, then stuck her thumb in her mouth. Fern bit down on Miss Patty Cake’s pink plastic arm. I kept my whimper to myself. It was bad enough my insides squeezed in and stretched out like a monkey grinder’s accordion—no need to let anyone know how frightened I was.

Exercise -Pick a scene in your story. -List three specific actions or physical elements you want to convey in that scene. -List three internal thoughts or emotions you want to convey in that scene. -Take one item from each list and link them together in one paragraph (written in your protagonist’s or narrator’s POV).

Common Misstep Number 4 Making the Stakes Too High or Too Low

Why it’s a problem • If the character has too much to lose from the start, where will s/he go emotionally? • If the character doesn’t have enough to lose from the start, s/he won’t feel invested enough in his/her own story.

Warning signs • Critique partners ask you what’s at stake for your character. • Being told your pacing is too fast or too slow. • You run out of steam with your story, either because you don’t know what happens next or because you’re bored.

Solution -Start with smaller stakes that matter to the character—e.g. passing a big test—before moving on to the bigger story stakes.

The screw through Cinder’s ankle had rusted, the engraved cross marks worn to a mangled circle. Her knuckles ached from forcing the screwdriver into the joint as she struggled to loosen the screw one gritting twist after another. By the time it was extracted far enough from her to wrench free with her prosthetic steel hand, the hairline threads had been stripped clean. Tossing the screwdriver onto the table, Cinder gripped her heel and yanked the foot from its socket. A spark singed her fingertips and she jerked away, leaving the foot to dangle from a tangle of red and yellow wires. She slumped back with a relieved groan. A sense of release hovered at the end of those wires—freedom. Having loathed the too-small foot for four years, she swore to never put the piece of junk back on again. She just hoped Iko would be back soon with its replacement.

Exercise Answer the following: -What “small stakes” exist in the first scene of your story? -What “large stakes” exist in the overall story? -How do the small and large stakes connect?

Common Misstep Number 5 Being Vague to Create Mystery

Why it’s a problem • Mystery is all about how/when information is revealed, but keeping things from readers just to up the mysteryis cheating. • If the character withholds things from readers, it can cause frustration and mistrust. • Unless your narrator is purposely unreliable, you want readers to trust and depend on your narrator.

Warning signs • Critique partners are confused about basic aspects of your story. • You find yourself explaining to critique partners, “Well, you find out later on that…” • Critique partners ask you how much your character knows or doesn’t know.

Solution -Give us pertinent information as quickly and subtly as possible, ideally through action and dialogue (not through backstory and exposition). -Let us know what the character knows.

I didn’t recognize the name on the street sign. Nothing about the rural road looked familiar or friendly. Tall, imposing trees and overgrown weeds choked the front of the dilapidated home. Windows were boarded up. There was a gaping hole where the front door had been. I shivered, wanting to be far away from here…wherever here was. Walking felt harder than it should be, and I stumbled off the chilly asphalt, wincing as sharp gravel dug into my feet. My bare feet? I stopped and looked down. Chipped pink nail polish peeked through the dirt…and blood. Mud caked the legs of my pants, leaving the hems stiff. It made sense, seeing as how I wasn’t wearing any shoes, but the blood…I didn’t understand why there was blood staining the knees of my jeans.

Exercise -Make a list of things you want readers to know about your story after the first scene/chapter. (Bonus: What mystery might your character be striving to solve throughout the story?)

Common Misstep Number 6 Not Giving Characters Choices

Why it’s a problem • Tension comes from characters being forced to make decisions. No choices = no tension. • The character’s choices have to feel like REAL choices, without obvious right or wrong options. • If the character is torn then readers will be torn too.

Warning signs • Your character spends a lot of time or energy trying to convince him/herself that the obvious right choice isn’t right for him/her. • Critique partners say your story needs more tension.

Solution -Since tension comes from conflicting emotions, force your character to make increasingly difficult choices and to choose between equally bad or equally good options.

In The Chosen One, Kira, a member of a polygamist cult, is forced to choose between marrying her old uncle and breaking up her loving family. If she refuses to marry her uncle, her brothers and sisters will be taken away, but if she marries her uncle, she’ll become his slave and give up hope of being with the boy she loves.

Exercise -Write about a decision that your character has to make that doesn’t have a right answer. Remember: Both options should appeal to him/her for different reasons and force him/her to sacrifice something.

Common Misstep Number 7 Letting the Story Happen to Your Character

Why it’s a problem • Readers won’t root for a protagonist who’s a passive participant in the story. • If the character doesn’t solve his/her own problem, the resolution won’t feel earned. • The character won’t have a satisfying emotional journey if his/her actions don’t force him/her to change.

Warning signs • Critique partners ask if your character solves his/her own problem. • Your character’s actions are all reactions to external forces. • Another character has to tell your protagonist what s/he should do next.

Solution -Force your character to take action and make decisions. (Remember: Choices help create tension!) -Give a naturally shy or docile character a spark at the beginning that grows into real strength by the end.

In The Giver, Jonas is initially a character who questions the discoveries he makes about his world but is hesitant to act on them. When he finds out that someone he cares about is in danger, he finally finds the strength to take action.

Exercise Answer the following: -What action does your character take that embroils him/her in the conflict so s/he can’t get out? -What action does the character take at the end of the story to show readers that s/he’s changed?

Final Thoughts • Remember that no one avoids these 7 missteps in a first draft. • Characters need to make mistakes and so do writers. In the end, that’s what makes us stronger.

Questions??

Bonus Exercise Author Carrie Ryan says, “At the beginning of my stories I take my characters and force them to endure some sort of ‘test.’ They always fail. Then, they spend the course of the book going through all of these various experiences during which, hopefully, they learn something. At the end of the book that character faces another test—almost parallel to the one in the beginning (but not exact)—and he either passes the test (because he learned the skills necessary over the course of the book) or he fails (because he refused to change and grow).” For your story, write down: -The test that your character fails at the start of the story. -The testthat your character fails/passes at the end of the story. -At least 3 choices your character makes throughout the story that prepare him/her for the test at the end.

Don’t Let Common Writing Missteps Hold You Back