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The Steve Laube Agency

The Steve Laube Agency

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Home » Writing Craft » Page 10

Writing Craft

Characterization – Part Five

By Lynette Easonon August 23, 2023
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We’re back on the topic of characterization. I’m getting close to wrapping up this topic and moving on to plotting, but I have a few more things to say about building characters. But for the moment, let’s summarize.

When starting a story, I come up with my main characters and write a short summary of what the story is about. Then I do a deep dive into who the characters are by doing character sketches. After that, I go even deeper, getting to know them by figuring out how their Most Painful Life Moment (MPLM) has shaped them into who they are when the story starts. I start fleshing out their goals and motivations. In other words, what’s driving them? And finally, I really get to know them by figuring out their personalities. What makes them tick? If you haven’t read these former posts, feel free to go back and start at the beginning.

Today, I want to take all of what we already know about our characters and talk about the “character arc.”

But what exactly is the character arc?

So glad you asked. The character arc is how your character is different by the end of the story. How did they change from beginning to the end? Super simple, right? In theory, yes, very simple. But it takes a lot of work and thought to get the character from point A to point B. 😊

However, the cool thing about this step in the story process is that if you’ve done the previous work, then this is kind of a walk in the park. If you haven’t done the previous work up to this point, then it might be a bit tougher, but definitely not impossible.

So, here we go. In crafting the character arc, the first step is to understand where you character begins. What is their normal, everyday life like? Who is he/she before the story opens? Well, if you’ve filled out the character sketch from the previous post, you know that.

You’ll definitely know step two, which is identifying their need/want. See post #4 if you don’t know what this is.

Next, you’ll need to know the inciting incident and how that challenges their normal, everyday life.

Then, as the story progresses and the character faces the challenges and conflicts that push them out of their comfort zone, you’ll have to decide—based on the personality test you gave them—how they’ll react to those challenge conflicts. And it’s in these reactions that you’ll reveal the character’s flaws and shortcomings. Which is great because this is all part of the arc as the character fails, then picks herself up to keep going.

Next, you have the character facing the black moment. They feel defeated, beaten down, at their “stick a fork in me cuz I’m done” moment. All is lost; and the character is now facing their biggest fears and flaws, searching for escape or the right decision to show they’re no longer the same person—that they’ve learned their lesson.

And here we arrive at the epiphany, the realization that the character comes to. The “I need to change” moment that reveals the true hero or heroine inside.

Armed with this new realization, the character has a confrontation with the main external conflict or the antagonist and they use their internal growth to overcome this final obstacle.

Congratulations, you’ve reached the end of the story with the character having undergone a significant change. And if it’s the hero or heroine, they’re a better person than when the story started.

Keep in mind, through all of this character arc building, you must stay true to the character you’ve created. Their motivations and actions should always be believable and consistent with their personality.

Think about your character arc in your current work in progress. If your story is finished, did your character change and grow? Does the reader see this as a natural progression throughout the story? Who are some of the most memorable characters you’ve read about or seen in a movie who have  stuck with you through the years?

And I believe that will wrap up our characterization topic. Come back next time as we move on to conflict and how to really mess these lovely characters up in a major way.

 

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Category: Writing Craft

A Is for Attribution: And, With, or Ghost?

By Steve Laubeon August 21, 2023
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Sometimes it is helpful to review publishing terms to make sure we are all talking about the same thing. The cover of a book invariably will state the author’s name. Every once in a while there are two or more names listed (i.e., Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins). The use of “and” or “with” is the code word that tells the reader what type of professional relationship is between these names on the …

Read moreA Is for Attribution: And, With, or Ghost?
Category: Book Business, Steve, The Publishing LifeTag: Collaboration, ghost writing

Conference Hacks for First-time Writers

By Megan Brownon August 17, 2023
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When I attended my first writers conference, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. In 2017, a mentor author awarded me a scholarship, purchasing my ticket to the Speak Up Conference with Carol Kent. I had never written an article, much less had any idea how to begin the process of writing a book. In my limited understanding, someone who was interested in writing a book just had to sit down in a …

Read moreConference Hacks for First-time Writers
Category: Conferences

Who Owns Whom in Publishing?

By Steve Laubeon August 14, 2023
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Updated August 2023 (first created November 2011) For a comprehensive list, check out The Christian Writers Market Guide. Available in print at your favorite retailer or as an online subscription (updated frequently) at www.ChristianWritersMarketGuide.com. My emphasis in this post is the Christian publishing industry. There are many fine commercial publishers that do not publish Christian books …

Read moreWho Owns Whom in Publishing?
Category: Book Business, Defense of Traditional Publishing, Get Published, The Publishing LifeTag: Book Business, The Publishing Life, Traditional Publishing

Characterization Part 4

By Lynette Easonon August 9, 2023
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Give your characters a personality In the last post, we worked on figuring out what made our characters tick. We talked about Most Painful Life Moment, goals, motivations, and the difference between the last two. Today, I want to continue the discussion on characterization. So, by now you should know your characters pretty well when it comes to their “why”; now let’s talk about their “who.” WHO …

Read moreCharacterization Part 4
Category: Craft, Writing Craft

Characterization – Part Three

By Lynette Easonon July 26, 2023
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Welcome to part 3 of crafting characters. I did warn you there might be quite a few posts on this topic, but I hope you’re enjoying the journey. In the last post, I talked about building our characters and all of the things we needed to start doing that. If you haven’t yet, visit the post and take a look at the list/template I provided. Once I have most of the template filled in, I jump right to …

Read moreCharacterization – Part Three
Category: The Writing Life, Writing Craft

Endorsements: How Important Are They?

By Steve Laubeon July 17, 2023
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How important are endorsements? (Those “blurbs” on the back of a book that exclaim, “A real masterpiece!”) Let me answer with a question. When browsing a book title, do you look at the endorsements or notice who wrote the foreword or the introduction? I suspect you do without realizing it. And if you are unfamiliar with the author but you know the endorser, then you are …

Read moreEndorsements: How Important Are They?
Category: Book Proposals, Writing CraftTag: Endorsements, Get Published, Proposals

Writing Your Novel: Characterization Part 2

By Lynette Easonon July 12, 2023
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As I discussed in the previous post from June 22, when beginning work on a new novel, I go straight to my characters. Central to any story are the protagonists, antagonists, and supporting cast who drive the narrative, evolve throughout the story, and captivate the reader’s imagination. So, where do I start when it comes to character development? For me, it’s backstory. If I don’t know my …

Read moreWriting Your Novel: Characterization Part 2
Category: Writing CraftTag: Characterization

Everyone is a Critic

By Steve Laubeon July 10, 2023
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One of the burdens an artist must bear is the scrutiny of public opinion. It can either be exhilarating or devastating. At the risk of oversimplifying the issue, let’s look at some categories that define this topic. Opinion Everyone has an opinion. The problem for the author is to determine how much weight to give to those opinions. One mistake a writer will make is to ask someone or a group of …

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Category: Book Business, Book Review, Career, Craft, Creativity, Writing CraftTag: Career, Critiques, reviews

One Agent’s Loves and Hates

By Bob Hostetleron June 29, 2023
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I recently posted on social media about my (possibly unhealthy) love for em dashes—that is, the dashes that are the width of the letter m, often used to set off examples, explanations, or descriptions, as I did in this sentence. (See how beautiful it is?) An editor friend named Linda commented, “This is so me. I love the em-dash. Nothing aggravates me more when editing than when a writer …

Read moreOne Agent’s Loves and Hates
Category: Craft, Grammar, The Writing Life, Writing Craft
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