The Motivational Editor

Helping Writers Go from Unpublished to Published

Writing Skills

Creating Unforgettable Characters, Part 5 Conflict

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conflict between two menConflict.

In real life, most people try to avoid it, but a story without conflict is like a latte without coffee. In fact, if your story has no conflict, you haven’t got a story.

Let’s first look at conflict from a big picture view: external and internal.

External conflict comes from outside your character—the people, circumstances, or forces of nature your protagonist faces in reaching the story goal.

Internal conflict comes from within your character. Fears, lack of confidence, false beliefs, and more that hinder your character reaching the goal. Quite often, the internal struggle isn’t apparent to your character until later in the story.

The conflicts (external or internal) must be plausible and legitimate, not contrived. Think about [Read more…] about Creating Unforgettable Characters, Part 5 Conflict

Creating Unforgettable Characters, Part 4 Body Language

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body languageIf you close your eyes during a meeting, what message are you sending your colleagues? Is that message universal?

Body Language

While there are several facial expressions universal to the world, the interpretation of body language varies from culture to culture. Misinterpreted body language opens the door to miscommunication. For the fiction writer, this means the opportunity to advance the conflict between your protagonist and antagonist.

Do you consider yourself adept at deciphering body language? [Read more…] about Creating Unforgettable Characters, Part 4 Body Language

Creating Unforgettable Characters, Part 3, Culture

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culture around the world
Image by Prawny from Pixabay

Culture impacts your story more than you might realize. Distinct cultures exist even within the US, just as there are many dialects.

A person’s name often indicates one’s heritage, and thus culture. Did you know the name Dobby, a character from the Harry Potter series, was a real word?

I discovered quite by accident one day playing Scrabble that the word is a British dialect meaning fool. No doubt J.K. Rowling’s British readers knew the importance of the word. To me it was [Read more…] about Creating Unforgettable Characters, Part 3, Culture

Creating Unforgettable Characters, Part 2, Temperament

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Harry Potter temperament
Image by Ryan_Stekken from Pixabay

We’ve all met them: Miss Sunshine, Mr. Easy Going, Mrs. Bossy, and Ms. Perfectionist. We often chalk it up to “that’s just who they are,” but these titles describe specific temperaments. If you’re not careful, they can become stereotypes.

The Merriam-Webster Unabridged Collegiate Dictionary defines temperament as “characteristic or habitual inclination or mode of emotional response.” Experts consider it innate (we’re born with it). Personality is acquired. Read this article to better understand the differences.

Determining Temperament

The four types above are sanguine (Miss Sunshine, cheerful), phlegmatic (Mr. Easy Going, laid back), [Read more…] about Creating Unforgettable Characters, Part 2, Temperament

Creating Unforgettable Characters, Part 1

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How to create unforgettable characters like Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler.Without unforgettable characters in a story, do you lose interest? I do. But how do you create these characters?

Today begins a series on that topic.

Let’s get real, whether we do it consciously or unconsciously, we want to connect with story characters. We want to discover something about them that we share–their life goals, ethnicity, age, life experience, etc.

This shared connection draws us into the story and helps us care about what happens to the characters.

To Create Unforgettable Characters Give Them Depth

Humans are three dimensional beings—spirit, soul, and body. But we often fail to show all three dimensions in our story.

So, let’s start by analyzing your fiction work in progress (WIP). [Read more…] about Creating Unforgettable Characters, Part 1

Are You Making This Critical Error with Your Article Submissions?

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Debra L. Butterfield discusses missing contact information. Imagine, for a moment, that you’re a magazine editor. You’ve just finished reading a submission that’s perfect for next month’s online issue.

You start to notify the submitting writer, but discover you can’t.

The writer failed to put her contact information in her article.

Oh, but there’s the writer’s email to refer to, you might be thinking.

Nope, because you’ve recently started keeping your inbox at zero.

Whether you write books, short stories, flash fiction, or articles for magazines, it’s vital you [Read more…] about Are You Making This Critical Error with Your Article Submissions?

Writing More Than Books

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Hand-written text stating "I am a writer." Writing more than books.Earning a living income from writing only books takes time—you need more than one book to contribute to your royalty payments. And, let’s admit this, you have to sell a lot of books.

But you can earn a living writing more than books. Finding your niche might take time, but if you know your skills, it’s easier to hone in on the right markets. [Read more…] about Writing More Than Books

How to Plan for the Many Jobs of a Writer

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Unshakable Faith book cover, plan your projectMy newest book, Unshakable Faith: Living Strong in the Kingdom of God, launches on kindle tomorrow. It’s a Bible study that was essentially decades in the process—probably true for a lot of writers. Decades of walking with God, one year of studying and growing in the principles discussed, and one year of actual writing.

But even though it’s launching, I have struggled to put together a marketing plan.

I’ve been sidetracked with writing, getting the book formatted, proofreading, and creating bonus material for the launch. And in between all that, working to earn a living.

There’s no getting around it; writers wear a lot of hats, especially those who independently publish.

Even if you aren’t the one [Read more…] about How to Plan for the Many Jobs of a Writer