Mind Mapping works for me:
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| My Mind Map |
In a critique group I asked the writers to list the people they’d rubbed shoulders with that day or that week. I also took the challenge and drew out my diagram. Each of us were amazed at the lives we touched.
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| Joyce, Karen, Audrey |
The same happens with our fiction characters. If I want my main character to amount to anything, the reader needs to see them connecting with others:
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| Hiding Goals? |
- Those who appreciate them and those who don’t.
- The people they choose to ignore.
- The neighbor they haven’t spoken to in years.
- The childhood friend who disappointed them.
We also need to see their dreams and goals.
- Will they see the dream come to pass?
- How will they respond if they never see the dream fulfilled?
- Are their goals realistic?
- Do they share their goals or hide them, afraid others won’t understand?
I’ve written and sold non-fiction, but last November I took the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) challenge to write 50,000 words in one month. I managed to first draft over 68,000. What a great reminder on character building. One of my big problems—I have a couple faultless characters.
New goal—create flawed humans!
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| Not Necessarily Physically Flawed |