The Place For My Writers Notes

Original posting 8 July 2010

Huh... short, and to the point. Over here http://writersdigest.com/article/motivate-your-characters-like-a-pro there's a short article summarizing an approach to character motivation. Pretty simple, really. Start by deciding where a character fits at the beginning of the story in each of these dimensions:

1. Tough guy to whiner
2. team guy to rebel
3. artist to dreamer
4. Smarty to dummy
5. blooming rose to wallflower
6. grinder to lazy dog
7. Goody to baddy
8. believer to doubter

Then think ahead to where you plan the story to end. Where will the character belong in these dimensions after the story arc has made them change? In most cases, the character will change in several or even all of these dimensions.

I need to think about those eight dimensions (intelligence, extrovert/introvert, work ethic, goodness?, belief... but are artist and dreamer really endpoints?) but it's an interesting approach.

So, give it a try. Take a look at your current work in progress (short story, novel, whatever) and see if this helps. Or perhaps try laying out a short story using this as a way to put together the character and the character arc? Or, look at a book or movie and see how well this helps you understand what they did.

Hope you're enjoying the summer sun -- it's raining here today!