Wants, Whys, Lies,& Ghosts: Use these vital story elements to reveal your characters!

going for it

What do characters want?! Spend an hour with other writers or take a writing class and you will hear this advice: Figure out what your protagonist wants! Variations phrased as questions include: What does your hero desire? What does he yearn for? What does she lust for? What is her story goal? Easy Peasy Sounds easy enough, right? Your intelligence operative wants to stop an imminent terrorist attack. Your detective wants to solve the crime. Your au pair wants to fall in love. Your corporate V.P. wants to finally earn the damn promotion! Your archaeologist wants to dig up the treasure after decades of searching! Want something? …

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Action-Tracking Outline: Best Writing Tool Ever

this is not your grandmother's outline

Not your grandmother’s outline Today’s post focuses on what I call the action-tracking outline, an outlining/tracking tool that might change the way you think about the “O” word. I’ve published seven novels with the big houses and I’m the author of two upcoming novels in their final stages of revision and polish–and this tool is one of the best in my writer’s toolbox. Yes, I’m talking the “O” word We’ve all heard the debate about ‘pantzers’ and ‘outliners’ and you can find many wise bloggers waxing on pros and cons of one or the other or both. That’s not what …

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