I\u2019ve heard it stated over and over at conferences, in blog posts and articles, and from my editor, Paula. Good writing isn\u2019t about a character, or group of characters. It isn\u2019t even about those characters doing things. It\u2019s about those characters being prevented from achieving a goal. The whole point of a good story is the conflict. If the character doesn\u2019t struggle, there\u2019s no story.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s more, all the conflict in the world won\u2019t matter if the reader doesn\u2019t care what happens to the character. Caring + conflict = story.<\/p>\n
As simple as it seems, that was so hard for me to learn. My first attempts surrounded my protagonist with drama, but she sailed through it without any turmoil or personal angst. I\u2019m still honing this skill.<\/p>\n
I try to think of it this way.<\/p>\n
No matter how relatable or lovable the hobbits and elves and dwarves and other characters, regardless of rich storybuilding, The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings would never have become a classic if:<\/p>\n
Do you see?<\/p>\n
Readers want a vicarious experience. They want to fall into a great tale well told and live it through the characters\u2019 joy and pain and anguish and success or failure.<\/p>\n
So how do we, as writers, give that to them?<\/p>\n
First and foremost, we need a relatable protagonist, someone the reader can connect to on an emotional level. Whether the character is human, alien, animal or something else, if the reader has absolutely nothing in common with that character, they won\u2019t care what happens to her. There must<\/em> be some connection for the story to work, even if it\u2019s only that the character has some compelling or sympathetic trait to hook the reader.<\/p>\n Second, the protagonist needs a goal, something more important than finding every item on their grocery list. Think young girl who longs to live an average life. Think scientist who wants to complete a routine mission with his teammates. Think aspiring female journalist who seeks a successful writing career in the 1960s.<\/p>\n Third, the antagonist (which is sometimes an environmental element) must do whatever it takes to prevent the protagonist from achieving her goal. What\u2019s the absolute worst thing that can happen? The young girl who wants an average life is forced into an arena where she must fight to the death against other children until only one of them remains alive. The scientist is stranded alone on a hostile alien world with an inadequate supply of food and no hope of rescue for four years. The journalist decides to write about the plight of the black maids among her racist white socialite neighbors, and must convince the maids themselves, who have everything to lose, to help her.<\/p>\n Ah, now the stories take on life, substance, empathy. The reader roots for the protagonist and lives through her struggle and eventual success or failure. That is what will interest an agent and, eventually, a publisher. That is what will sell the story and hook our readers.<\/p>\n And that<\/em> is what a writing career is all about.<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019ve heard it stated over and over at conferences, in blog posts and articles, and from my editor, Paula. Good writing isn\u2019t about a character, or group of characters. It isn\u2019t even about those characters doing things. It\u2019s about those characters being prevented from achieving a goal. The whole point of a good story is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog-posts"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8n0kX-2U","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":891,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2018\/07\/02\/know-your-characters\/","url_meta":{"origin":180,"position":0},"title":"Know Your Characters","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"July 2, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"If you are writing fiction, you must know your characters better than anyone else does. It\u2019s helpful to get a good start on that before you plug them into the plot. Why? Because you can\u2019t use them to their (and therefore your) best advantage if you don\u2019t know everything there\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Character-232x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1169,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2018\/11\/26\/one-challenge-to-inclusive-fiction-in-a-diverse-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":180,"position":1},"title":"One Challenge to Inclusive Fiction in a Diverse World","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"November 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"In September of 2017, I blogged here about an idea for a transgender character, and how my initial inquiries to trans or genderfluid friends and contacts led me to reconsider that story as too stereotyped. Since then, I\u2019ve danced around the inclusion of non-binary characters in my fictional works. It\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/FacePaint.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/FacePaint.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/FacePaint.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/FacePaint.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/FacePaint.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":383,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2017\/09\/25\/writing-diverse-characters\/","url_meta":{"origin":180,"position":2},"title":"Writing Diverse Characters","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"September 25, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Before you read today\u2019s post, please note: This can be a sensitive topic. It\u2019s one in which someone may find offense, so please, please know that everything herein is from my own personal search. I offer my words with the utmost regard for individuals and groups involved, and with genuine\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":583,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2018\/02\/05\/up-the-tension\/","url_meta":{"origin":180,"position":3},"title":"Up the Tension","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"February 5, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019ve read it over and over, heard it in workshops and plenary sessions. A good story isn\u2019t about any one character or group of characters. Instead, it\u2019s about those characters doing things. Striving, reaching, hurting or being hurt, trying and failing and trying again, coming, going, living, learning. It\u2019s about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":594,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2018\/02\/12\/a-god-in-ruins\/","url_meta":{"origin":180,"position":4},"title":"A God In Ruins","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"February 12, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"By Kate Atkinson Back Bay Books, ISBN: 978-0316176507 Paperback, \u00a92016, 480 pages Ex-bomber pilot Teddy, a.k.a. Edward Todd, has settled into an expected post-war role of husband and father, living out his days in small-town mediocrity with enigmatic wife Nancy, unlikeable daughter Viola, volatile grandson Sunny and pragmatic granddaughter Bertie.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/GodInRuuins-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":79,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2017\/02\/05\/going-with-the-flow\/","url_meta":{"origin":180,"position":5},"title":"Going with the Flow","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"February 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"As I said last week, my initial foray into writing fiction was flawed. In the science fiction market, the genre for my first novel, acceptable manuscript word count tops out at around 120K as a maximum for a first-time author; mine was greater than 800K and still going with no\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Blog Posts","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/blog-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":181,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180\/revisions\/181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}