It’s the third week of this winter’s writing group!
LET’S DO THIS.
Week Three Goals:
Alena:
I had a productive week — but not for my writing. Fortunately, I have a real deadline to force me to make some headway because one of my short stories will be due as a homework assignment next week.
Anne D.: Coming soon…
Anne H.:
I did finish reading and watching Get Shorty, and I’m going to continue this week with reading and making notes on Save the Cat.
Cynthia:
Since it’s the beginning of the new semester, I’m going to use this week to do some fleshing out and editing of the most recent two chapters of my novel and see how that goes. Being kind to myself the rest of the week. 😊
Laura:
I finished my short story! I haven’t submitted it anywhere yet, so I’m behind on that, but since this week will be busier than usual (Cynthia already mentioned that the new semester starts this week), I can do some quick submissions. My goal, other than submitting, is to work on continuing to develop my new course outline.
Lisa:
I was able to get a few pages done this week. It feels like a miracle.
I plan to do this same this week.
Matt:
It’s been a week of dogged progress, mostly restricted to two stories in the group. My plan for next week is just to keep going.
Noëmi:
My Week Three goal is to finish the first week of a Coursera course, Creative Writing: The Craft of Plot.
Rachel:
My Week Three goal will be the same as my Week Two goal (just had one of those weeks at work 
I’ll blame Friday the 13th and the full moon): to write a first draft of my essay.
Robert:
This week’s progress: 5,300 words
next week’s goal: 2,000 words
Sarah:
Week Three Goals: 10 more pages which will include the conclusion (insert panic). Then edit, edit, edit. I believe I will be just a page or two shy of the minimum page requirement but I have some sections where I have just been putting place holders until I could get back around to the topic. I have never been very good at jumping around in my writing, I am a start to finish kind of writer.
This week’s “advice” will be short and sweet.
I’ve written before about Lisa Cron’s book on writing, Wired for Story, and I wanted to mention her advice about protagonists. She says that writers must know what their protagonists want, and why they want it. This is important because the protagonist’s motivation must inform every action they take, every decision they make. And as a writer, you must know why your character wants what they want. Is your main character being honest with herself that she really wants her family to reunite and be happy; but does she really just want to prove her mother wrong in front of the rest of the family? Now, make sure that everything your protagonist does is fueled by that motivation.
Cron also mentions that everything in the story must be put there to give your protagonist an opportunity to act, react, and make decisions. If it’s not purposeful, then it’s just a device for drama, and that’s ultimately not very interesting.
I found this glaringly obvious in a book I just finished reading, Ruth Ware’s The Woman in Cabin 10. The protagonist of Ware’s book was beset by all sorts of obstacles that increased the drama, but none of them really tested her character in any real way. Because she didn’t really have a character to speak of. She was murky from start to finish, so every new complication was just a complication, and I yelled at every decision she made because she was just a dummy doing dumb things and I didn’t care about her.
So, don’t do that! But do read Lisa Cron’s book — it’s full of interesting and straight-forward writing advice that you can use for large and small pieces.
Come back mid-week for Rachel’s guest post, and good writing, everyone!
Cron, Lisa. Wired for Story: The Writer’s Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 2012. Print.
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