Don't worry--if you are a Poe fan, I'm not here to bash him; just to point out a problem with how the character was drawn so you can avoid it in your own writing.
Poe Dameron is surprisingly one of the most popular characters in the new Star Wars universe and, considering he didn't get a lot of screen time and absolutely no character development, I'm assuming his popularity is due to his fun personality and impressive fighter pilot skills. Personally, I thought the whole movie long that he was a bad guy. And after thinking it over, I think I've figured out why he came across that way.
Don't worry--if you are a Poe fan, I'm not here to bash him; just to point out a problem with how the character was drawn so you can avoid it in your own writing.
0 Comments
Think of a few of your favourite stories. Then try to remember the precise moment when you first KNEW this story was going to be good.
I watched Hercules the other day and that moment was when Hades walked into the party and delivered some shady opening lines. Good stories aren't always obvious at first, but the moment is sure to come when you tuck in your elbows, squirm a little deeper into your arm chair, and think, “Yisss, this is going to be good.” This point is the hook. It's what grabs your readers and gives them a good reason to keep reading your book, even if you get a little carried away with a boring description or decide to kill off everyone's favourite character. The most important thing you can do for your story is to give it a good hook.
What is a writer? Someone who's been published? Someone who writes every day? Someone who's actually finished a project?
I think the most dogmatic you can get without becoming subjective is to say that a writer is someone who writes. Once you start defining a writer by projects accomplished or method of writing it's only your opinion. So why am I talking about this? Well, because of a blog post I recently read which spawned this counter-post (a riposte?).
All credit goes to Hannah Heath for starting this amazing link-up/blog challenge. Thanks to Gemma @ Chasing Daisies for tagging me!
The idea is to help writers create realistic characters by sharing an insider's view of your own particular Meyers-Briggs personality type. I'm excited to share about the INTP; partly because it's the type I understand and relate to the most and partly because it's my type so it must be the best. One disclaimer before I begin: I don't know any other INTPs so some of the traits I'm going to share may be true only of myself. If you're an INTP and you notice any inaccuracies, that's why. So here we go.
I enjoyed the recent post by Jenny @ The Penslayer about romantic tropes and how you ought to avoid them. I couldn't agree more, especially after reading the complete list of tropes she was talking about.
It’s a common thread in stories. In fact, it’s almost its own genre. And I have to admit I love the unlikely friendship. It’s a beautiful thing to see two totally different people learn to work together and learn to care about each other in the process. It’s fun to watch people become friends.
I had an unlikely friendship in my Nanowrimo novel which, while it's not pivotal to the story line, is important to both of the character arcs of my characters. So I began to try to take apart this common trope and find out what exactly how to pull it off convincingly in a story. Since it’s National Novel Writing Month, I will take a break from feverish word counting and toss out some advice to fellow Nano-ers.
One of my major problems when writing (during Nano or any time) is focusing too much on getting my characters from point A of the plot to point B. They go here, they go there, they do this thing, they do the other thing... but all that’s happening is happenstuff. I completely forget to include setting details, characters’ thoughts and emotions, foreshadowing, and a whole host of other important elements.
Nobody likes to fail. Most people don't even like to read about failure. But as painful as it is, failure is one of the most powerful tools you can use to develop your protagonist's character and make his story matter.
|
Categories
All
AuthorA. M. Potter Some other great blogs...
Chasing Daisies Go Teen Writers Helping Writers Become Authors To the Barricade! Life of Lily Archives
November 2017
|