I was chatting to Shona today on fine-tuning plots and turning points in our WIP’s and she reminded me of the very insightful Donald Maas task: ‘What would your hero/heroine never say, think or do? Then make them do it.’
It seems so simple but is anything but. It can provide a turning point when the H/H recognises the choice between the external goal and the internal desire. When I thought about it, I could see such a scene for my hero before the ‘black moment’.
In my story, he’s totally committed to regaining and restoring his estate. His feelings for the heroine are real enough but less important until he realises she might marry another man. Then it hits him. He would exchange his estate for her love. He takes a risk to secure her love that puts his estate in jeopardy. A much better plot twist than the one I’d been planning on.
Now, I have to think about a similar twist for her. What would she find herself doing to gain or keep his love even if it is contrary to her beliefs, goals or assumptions? Dunno yet-but I’m working on it.
Sometimes I sit on the bus or train into work, lost in the minds and actions of my characters. Something brings me back into the “now” and I wonder with a quiet giggle what my fellow passengers are thinking about as we all head for the day ahead. Plots and twists?
1 comments:
Great blog, Cath. My hero is proud of his family and his heritage. He would never tell his father he hated him.
What fun it was to wrote the scene where he did just that.
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