Tamela Hancock Murray

Your Conflicted Characters

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon March 5, 2015

I am blessed to work with many talented authors with great ideas. Recently one of my clients, Renee Andrews, submitted a wonderful chart outlining her characters’ conflicts. You may have seen similar charts before, but I especially like the way Renee laid hers out:

[Character Name]	INTERNAL	EXTERNAL
Goal — What?
Motivation — Why?
Conflict — Why not?

Renee is a very successful author at the point in her career where she discusses projects with editors before writing, so I’m not suggesting that new authors should include this chart in formal proposals. What I am suggesting is that this is a good exercise for authors to undertake while plotting out novels.This was repeated for each character. By filling out six boxes for each character, Renee had laid out key elements that will keep readers pursuing her story. I’m sure the exercise had the added benefit of helping Renee get to know her characters better before writing her books.

Of course, this is only the beginning. As authors know, writing any novel takes hard work, perseverance, and talent. But isn’t this a great layout to begin?

Have fun!

Your turn:

Do you have other suggestions on how to lay out your character’s goals, motivation, and conflict?

What resources do you recommend with helping authors with this part of the process?

What is the best conflict you remember seeing in a novel?

Dear Abby

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon February 26, 2015

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In my current stage of life, I find it freeing not to feel compelled to share my opinion about every topic and to defend that opinion to the verbal death. I don’t feel the urge to prove my rightness through verbal sparring. Joy, indeed! In everyday life, a friend may ask any number of questions. “What do you think of this dress?” means you should say, “Wow! You look …

Category: Agents, Book Business, Get Published

My Book is Due and My Life is Falling Apart

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon February 19, 2015

Sound familiar? Even most unpublished authors wouldn’t envy the published author this type of pressure. But over the course of a career, the likelihood is great that one or many events will throw off a writer’s schedule. There are times when work has to take a temporary stop. No doubt about it. When major stress hits, be sure to pray and meditate each day. You don’t have time not …

Category: Career, Get PublishedTag: Career, Deadlines

Pets and Personality

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon February 12, 2015

Do any of the characters in your novel have pets? When I read about pet ownership, the choice of animal and where they live may say a lot. The use of animals in a story can lend some wonderful texture to your character. It uses some common assumptions about various animals. A few examples: A large dog on a farm means a carefree, rambunctious animal roaming about the place, showing up on the back …

Category: Craft, Creativity, Writing CraftTag: Craft, Creativity, Writing Craft

Personality Quirks

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon February 5, 2015

We all have personality quirks. These are part of our charm. Some people may think that the fact I have named my three houseplants is a personality quirk. But what other modern living beings would put up with the monikers Perpetua, Magnifica, and Scholastica? When I ask my husband, “Did you water Perpetua?” he knows what I mean. We inherited a large peace lily from one daughter’s …

Category: Craft, Creativity, Writing CraftTag: Characters

In the Garden – A Creative Exercise

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon January 29, 2015

Some writers tell me that ideas flow so fast they don’t have time to write them all. Others say the muse can be reticent. One thing both types of writers seem to have in common is a love of the creative exercise. Through my devotional reading, I entered into a creative exercise that I think many writers will enjoy. Would you like to join me? The idea that your soul can be compared to a …

Category: CreativityTag: Creativity

Suspending Disbelief

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon January 22, 2015

After watching a television series about the life of St. Teresa de Jesus, my husband and I viewed the special bonus about the making of the film, in the early 1980s. One scene showed travelers, using conveyances common to the 16th century, moving toward several parked trucks. Another scene showed vehicles parked behind a village facade. An outtake showed St. Teresa speaking, with a contemporary …

Category: Book Proposals, Craft, Creativity, Writing CraftTag: Craft, Writing Craft

Watching History

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon January 15, 2015

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Over the holidays, my husband and I viewed an epic series about the life of St. Teresa de Jesus, filmed in Spanish, though English subtitles were provided. For eight hours, we were taken back to the 1500s in Spain. As a writer of historical novels, I’ve researched many eras. However, being immersed in an era for such a length of time brought to life many facts: 1.) Even in the best of …

Category: Genre, Writing CraftTag: Genre, Historical, Research

Tamela’s Year – 2014

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon January 8, 2015

Once again, the Lord has blessed me with much more than I deserve. My family and I are healthy and happy and He continues to provide abundantly. I am grateful to you, my readers, and so to help you, I offer my perspective on the business: Heartsong At the start of 2014, I happily represented a robust list of Heartsong authors. As we all know, the line is poised to shut down this year. I appreciate …

Category: AgencyTag: 2014, Agency

Unlikeable Characters

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon December 18, 2014

In a recent blog, I touched upon the problem of unlikeable characters. I mentioned that I stopped reading a published book because I didn’t like any of the characters. So when do I think a reader will keep reading about unlikeable characters? I’d say one or more of the following will save a story: 1.) The protagonist has been victimized and the reader can root for her to overcome being …

Category: Craft, Writing CraftTag: Characters, Writing Craft